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Perky77

What is your wind limit?

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for you to jump. Tried to give some range situations but don't know how I can put gust and consistant as factors in this pole, this can't be perfect since the landing area and everything go into my and most peoples decision.

If your an instructor or videographer would you jump in winds that are higher working than you would fun jump in?

Just courious because the winds have been wild a few times over the last month and I know of at least one incident posted here because of winds.

"Sacrifice is a part of life. It is supposed to be. It's not something you regret . It's something to aspire to." Mitch Albom

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If I can't take a tandem up in the winds then its unlikely that I'll be fun jumping. I'll jump in winds I won't let students jump in, but anything over 20 with gusts on the ground I'll sit out.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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I load my canopy pretty light, so I generally sit down when students are put on a wind hold. About the only time I'll keep jumping in winds over about 15 is if I'm doing a camp or special series of jumps and the group is continuing to skydive.

I won't ever jump in winds over 25 though.

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My fun jump limit is 20mph, and at that it needs to be a jump I really want to be on... 25 is my working limit, knock off 5-10 if it is gusty... $30 ain't worth getting hurt or breaking a camera... I've jumped in 30mph... coming straight down under a velocity is not much fun... my highest was about 46mph... the winds came up after take off, and word did not get to the plane before most had already exited...

J
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

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Since I have a pretty new license, and am still jumping a big ol student canopy... if the instructors say I probably shouldn't jump, I don't jump. That generally happens at anything higher than gusts around 15.

Oh, and if I see the tandems come in straight down, I definitely don't jump, since they have instructors flying them and generally a higher wingload than I do.

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$30 ain't worth getting hurt or breaking a camera... I've jumped in 30mph... coming straight down under a velocity is not much fun... my highest was about 46mph... the winds came up after take off, and word did not get to the plane before most had already exited...

J


my thought exactly, I ask because I have some friends, also videographers that will jump in alot higher winds working than fun jumping. Myself, learning to fly camra, didn't completely agree.

I have landed in 35+, and it was not over 15 when we took off or when we left the plane, but we could see it coming, got out low to beat it, NOT FUN!! but probably the most I have ever learned about flying my canopy in one jump.

my limit is about 20ish, depends alot on gust and turbulance.

"Sacrifice is a part of life. It is supposed to be. It's not something you regret . It's something to aspire to." Mitch Albom

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I ask because I have some friends, also videographers that will jump in alot higher winds working than fun jumping. Myself, learning to fly camra, didn't completely agree.



Ooooo . . . lot's of interesting stuff going on there.

I wish the USPA had something akin to the FAA tools when it comes to this issue.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Gust to 25 when it's blowing 20 is ok (or even 30/25). But gust to 25 when it's blowing like 10 or 15? No way.

It's that big shift that'll get you. Not the steady breeze.

I look at the steady wind and base that relative to forward drive and canopy size. But I look at the gust 'minus' the steady wind for safety's sake.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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It depends on how badly I want to jump and if it is steady or gusty. If it's high and steady I don't really care how high the winds are but I don't enjoy the jump as much because you can forget about swooping. If it's high and gusty, I'll usually not bother unless I really, really want to jump (like this past week). I've jumped in very high, gusty winds and am obviously here to tell about it - but it's a crap shoot. You can be the most skilled canopy pilot in the world but if you catch some crazy nasty turbulance that collapses your canopy at twenty feet - good luck.
If you aren't feeling comfortable, don't jump in it. It doesn't matter if other people are or not. Use your own head and only jump when you are comfortable.

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I did not know my limit until my last trip to Eloy. It was so windy, the last load had people backing up under canopy. We were at the runway waiting on the plane. The skyvan came in for a chinaman's landing(onewinglow). It was so windy, the skyvan could not land and had to do a go around, exceeded the crosswind component I guess. I said "That's the sign I was looking for!", and headed back to the dz. Then the dz shut down. So if the plane can't land safely, neither can you!
_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

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14 mph.

My instructors told me "when we ground the students, there's a REASON we ground the students. Wait til you have quite a few more jumps under your belt to make that call for yourself."

I should have my A in a few weeks, but I'm still going to pay attention to what the school does with the students. If they're grounded, I'm grounding myself until I'm DAMN sure about my canopy control, because if the winds make me land out in a tight spot, I want to be sure I can do it safely.

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Why are some of the "working limits" higher than the "fun limits"? I guess if you are making more money you can afford the injury?????

I do not set a wind limit and say when it hits 19 I'll quit, I look at canopies and evaluate my experience and comfort level under the conditions.

Gust are the greatest factor for grounding myself. You just don't know when you'll run into one, do you?

Blues,

J.E.
James 4:8

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Why are some of the "working limits" higher than the "fun limits"? I guess if you are making more money you can afford the injury?????



Did I mention that there was a LOT of interesting stuff going on there?

Hopefully the pros know their limits and still have a healthy margin of error when working. However, if they are not working and there isn't quite the need, they might increase the margins so as to mitigate injuries.

Unfortunately, some people look at things the other way round. Set standards for "normal" situations and then "push" them when it comes to paycheck time.

Not a great idea.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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I chose "I don't have no stinkin' limit.

I don't come to the DZ with a windmeter and I rarely bother to check the one that they have. The decision to jump, or not to jump is usually made by evaluating the winds, what canopies in the air are doing, who's on the ground, and most importantly how I feel that day. I've jumped in some pretty strong winds and felt safe, I've jumped in lighter winds and felt scared. I don't have a simple rule that if the winds are X that I'm not jumping.

-
Jim
"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

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a good observation method for judging this factor is the windsock. most of the ones i've seen are 17 mph socks, so if it's being blown out straight and not dropping every few seconds, it might be time to wait for another day. always know your weather perimeters for the area you'll be jumping prior to traveling to the DZ. there are weather URL's everywhere you look. some DZ's have wind speed indicators, and some don't, i carry one with me, it's a handheld one, but it works, it was originally designed to get wind speed for offshore rig helidecks, but works great for this as well.

to answer the question, 20 mph max, with 25 mph gust. i did the jump in excess of this ONCE, right after Debbie told me not to, the landing was very interesting. B|
--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

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