WIND??? When will you sit?

[MrJones 0]

What wind speed will keep you on the ground.

Please answer for uppers and ground winds??

NUR ZUM SPASS

[okalb 79]

That depends on where and what direction. At z-hills we have certain directions where I will jump in higher winds than others. If the wind is coming from the Northwest, I will jump in much higher winds than if it is coming from the east.

-OK

Time flies like an arrow....fruit flies like a banana

[ladyskydiver 0]

Over 15 mph or gusting. Not worth it to me to risk injury. Plus if I see people with a lot more jumps than me sitting down, I'm sitting down. I want to be an old skydiver.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[Harksaw 0]

We have a test at my DZ: When the plastic chairs blow over, it is too windy to jump.

__________________________________________________
I started skydiving for the money and the chicks. Oh, wait.

[JohnRich 4]

Upper winds are irrelevant, as long as you have a good spot. Ground wind is what really counts, as that is what can hurt you.

Attached is a photo of the wind info at Skydive Houston. The top part of the white board is the winds-aloft report, and the bottom part is the log of max speed over time. As you can see, I quit jumping between 11:00 and 11:30 when the wind speed jumped from 18 to 26 mph.

I jump a low wingloading (.95), so I'm more sensitive to high wind then a lot of experienced skydivers.

It also depends upon how smooth the wind is. I might jump in 20 mph wind if it is smooth, but not in 18 that's turbulent.

And as another mentioned, direction relative to ground obstacles is important too. If you're landing downwind from trees, that's more sensitive then a higher wind coming across open land.

Yet another factor is how big your landing area is. The bigger the area, the more comfortable I am with higher wind, and vice versa.

[cvfd1399 0]

70 knots uppers 15 and gusty on the ground. That is the max I have jumped in and still made it....on the second try....first load I landed a mile out
It diddn't help that I was flying a tugboat 370 sq ft main loaded at .82:1

[MrJones 0]

Curious about your limits on Uppers if you have any?

NUR ZUM SPASS

[JumpRu 14]

ground wind speed over 20 or gusts over 10 makes me think about it... that also depends on wind direction - if it is constant from one direction then it is one thing if its blows from different directions (lets say within 90 deg.) then it is not a good sign. Those numbers are good for my current WL and canopy design (samurai at 1.5) and I would not use them for lightly loaded wings or certain canopy designs.

[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

If it is gusty, I will sit out a lot sooner. If the winds are steady, probably up to around 25mph.

You need to take into account how much penetration you will get with your canopy, and if you have the confidence to be accurate in such high winds. Also, like I said, if it is gusty or shifty, I watch loads and make a decision depending on how bad the situation is.

-A

[ianmdrennan 2]

Quote

If it is gusty, I will sit out a lot sooner. If the winds are steady, probably up to around 25mph.

pretty much the same here. If the landing area is clear of turbulence causing obstacles I've jumping as high as 30mph steady wind. It was sucky though and not much fun.

I won't go up in anything gusting 10 or more mph varience. I try to keep the max range around 5mph though, but I'll go as high as 10.

As for uppers no limit. Only requirement is a good spot.

Blues,
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[BillyVance 34]

I would say anything over 20 mph will keep me on the ground. I might could handle up to 25 mph, but I'm not gonna push it unless I was over a huge field, like Skydive Chicago's. I have jumped in winds as high as 30 mph a couple of times and was scared shitless. Even got dragged 50 yards across a wet field after a nice tippy-toe landing in which I was making ZERO forward movement. After that, my personal cut-off is 20 mph steady, or 15 mph steady with gusts to 20.

Uppers... not a problem. Just a matter of adjusting the spot to fit the skydive. On the really really strong uppers, I have experienced as high as 65 mph. You know what that calls for sometimes? CROSS-COUNTRY parachuting! I remember doing a hop and pop at 14,000 feet when uppers were between 50 and 65 mph all the way down to 3000 feet, and we got out about 6 or 7 miles upwind from the DZ, not sure exactly how far it was, but we made it all the way back, and wind ground speed was 15 to 20 mph. It's a weird sight following the interstate highway below and seeing that you're going faster than some of the cars on it!

Blue Skies
Billy

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[ianmdrennan 2]

Quote

It's a weird sight following the interstate highway below and seeing that you're going faster than some of the cars on it!

Yeah I LOVE that. It more than makes up for the impending sucky (low speed) landing

Performance Designs Factory Team

[GTAVercetti 0]

I will jump up to 19 steady

If there are gusts, it still has to be below 19 and the gust cannot be more than 6 mph.

Other rules of thumb I go by:

When the local skygods sit, so do I.

If the props on our Otter are spinning by themselves, I sit.

If the guy flying the kite out in the field is getting DRAGGED across it, I enjoy a tasty beverage and a sammich, on the ground.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[Reginald 0]

Uppers...no limit.

Ground wins: 25 if steady, less if it is gusty or not a consistent direction.

Jumping in Dallas, on a big open prairie, outs are not a problem. Winds around 20 are not at all uncommon in the fall, winter (as short as it is) and early spring. So, either you learn to jump in them or you don’t jump at all certain times of the year.

I got 6 jumps in this past Sunday but sat down for a few hours as the winds went from 23ish, to 28ish. After they dropped back down to 23ish I started jumping again.

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

[airdweller 0]

as long as the winds are below 30 mph I'll jump. anything over then that is dangerous in my book.

------------------------------------------------------
"From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant,
who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" C. Montgomery Burns

[Shark 0]

When the wind from the cooler reaches me.

[LawnDart21 0]

25mph ground winds limit, I can't say I have a limit for uppers.

A few weeks ago a full loaded exited further out than we had in a long time due to high winds. 4 people landed off, others landed in the paking lot. My videographer and I (under a SET 400) were the last ones out of the plane, super long spot. We both landed in the peas. Higher winds aren't a big deal if you plan for them and fly accordingly.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[skydivingwill 0]

My limit is higher then most DZs and pilots are. Which is probably good for me. I have landed a few times in winds greater then 30. My max is 32 mph. I was going backwards a bit.

It's turbulence and gusts of more then 10 mph that bother me. A sudden jerk is freaky and could kill you.

What really freaks me out is when pilot says landing because winds got to high on way up. I've only landed in an aircraft 11 times and I'd rather jump out.

It's nice and open in Clewiston, FL so not to many obstacles. But other places where landing area is tight my max is 20 mph.

 
"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
-J. K. Rowling
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[AndyMan 7]

I could not care less about uppers. They affect the spot, but not my decision to jump. At my DZ, landing out is always a safe option.

As for ground winds, my rule is dependant on the gusts. If the difference between sustained winds and max gusts is greater then 10 mph, I will not jump. I do not have a maximum for sustained winds alone.

It's possible that some day I'll jump in 30mph sustained winds, but unlikely since high sustained winds tend to have strong gusts accompanying them.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Levin 0]

I've jumped in 36mph winds that were steady with hardly any noticable variation or gust. It was just a steady bend the trees over 36mph wind. Really didn't seem that bad. What scares me are sudden strong gust and obstancles on the ground that create turbulence. If the wind is blowing 15mph and in 1 second or less it jumps to 25mph then screw that. But if the winds are blowing 15mph and then a gradual gust comes along that takes 5 - 10 seconds to build up to 25mph and stays like that for 10 - 20 seconds before gradually going back down to 15mph then that isn't that bad. If that same wind is coming across a small forest then golf courses, houses and finally a hanger then probably screw that. If it's coming across several open fields with nothing to swirl the air then not as big a deal. Wind chill is also a deciding factor for me. Although that has nothing to do with it being more dangerous.

[billvon 2,435]

Depends immensely on the situation.

I'll jump in 25mph lower winds and 100mph upper winds - IF everything else is perfect and the landing area is wide open. With a tight landing area, 15-18mph ground winds. With no outs (i.e. a demo) 30-40mph uppers. There are some low-wind days at Perris that are worse than the windy days due to dust devils.

OTOH I will not jump in contrary winds unless people know how to separate groups in such a situation (usually they don't.) We get them rarely in San Diego, but a lot of our close calls have been in such winds.

[jumperconway 0]

Depends on the landing area. At Spaceland(wideopen) I'll jump if the otter flies and I can do RW. More limit at other dz's because of spotting and obstacle(see rotors) issues.

[Sabre2th 0]

If the trees are bending 90 deg. or I cannot motivate anyone to get on the load with me...I won't jump

No really... ground 25mph or so. Uppers maybe 70kts no more

Nick.

Those who dance, are cosidered insane by those who can't hear the music.

[Morcyk 0]

10mph, cause as some AFP's found out the other day at my DZ when they went up with 11mph winds, when they were coming in for a landing it was 18mph. I'm not confident enough yet to come that close or over the max wind speed I'm supposed to be jumping in, hehe.

[skybytch 259]

Considering my wingloading (light!), I don't jump if ground winds are high enough for students to be on wind hold. I hate backing up.