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High winds in Midwest - lessons learned

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It seems like it was windy everywhere.

Be careful folks. It is that time of year where it is sometimes windy and gusty, and if the landing area is downwind of a tree line, even if it is a long way off, it can cause dangerous turbulence. I saw some interesting landings yesterday.

One jumper had the turbulence push his canopy around while flaring to the extent that he could not control it completely, and landed skidding sideways. A very experienced jumper had his canopy dive somewhat at about 50 feet, but he knew it was happening, flared early, and did a PLF.

It was a good learning experience for one of the students that was waiting for the wind to go down to make her first jump. She very audibly gasped both times when she saw these landings.

Some other people landed with no apparent issues. That's the problem, this turbulence thing is not consistent. You can be fooled watching the good landings.

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