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Junkers87

Did the Para-commander "flare"?

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It's wierd to read the high-winds hook turn procedure, in light of recent skydiving trends.

So anyone ever hook a PC as described?



We jumped in Kansas so we were a little behind the times, and backing up a lot of times.

We did see a visiting jumper hook his PC in during high winds to get penertration for a nice standup. His timing was perfect.

Never had the gut's to try it on rounds and or even squares when I was still jumping. A person can really hurt themselves doing that stuff if they screw up:S

The grapevine back in the day was a little slower and the winds would blow the smoke signals away befor they got to far, but don't remember hearing/reading about any bad accidents. Just folks saying don't do that. So we would just land backing up with minor injuries.

The barb wire fences were useful for stopping you from getting dragged to far in case you got knocked out on landing.

R.I.P.

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I came across your reference to Bob Hill on this Dropzone site and wonder if anyone has any idea whatever happened to him. A number of his Toronto friends have been trying to find him

We would appreciate any help you can give us. We're planning a get-together and would love to include Bob if he is still around.

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28'.....American Pap........Starlite....... 300 total on rounds........always stood them up........unless the wind was 15+:S.........and you could flare if you wanted........worked best for me on the 28';)
but......... I was 6' and 130 lbs back then:othat might have had something to do with it:D:D
Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004


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No, you can not flare a PC in the sense of flaring a square. And I have the broken ankle to prove it. Stand up landings could be as routine with a PC as they are with todays canopies, but there was no flare, per se. You had to be very carefull with control inputs near the ground as it could stall and sink you into the ground. Let up too fast on the steering toggles and it would surge ahead and be on the ground before you were...ala today. Either way could be hazardous to your legs.

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Yes you can! On a hard turn the PC would pendulem slighty foward with full brakes at the bottom of the turn. Had to be done JUST right!B| No where near as much as a square! But, only with a turn as you needed the centrifical force of the turn to do it! Otherwise No!
Here's to Old Farts in the Wind!

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The Para-Commander was one of the best chutes ever made, and I think I only had 2 malfinctions on them...



I never had to cutaway from a round canopy either - never. I had a Paracommander and later a Sparrow, which was a mini 21' lightweight sort of a PC clone built for RW. Also tried one jump each on a Starlite and a Piglet II, didn't really care much for either of them.

You couldn't really "flare" a PC in the sense that you flare a ram air, because rams are wings and PC's are rounds. But I used to get fantastically soft landings with my PC and acceptable standups with my Sparrow by pulling down on the rear risers. The PC landings were so soft that I gave up on wearing paraboots (that's right kids, we used to wear paraBOOTS), for sneakers. Never tried burying the toggles, as it didn't make sense to me. Pulling the toggles down would not only stall the canopy, but would do so by releasing more air out of 6 side slots (3 on ea. side). That never sounded to good for landing a round, so I never did it. I will admit in those days I was a bony 155 lb 6'3" scarecrow, noadays I struggle to stay below 220 lbs and much as I'd love to jump one again am just too heavy for a round.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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I read in a skydiving magazine, a while back, that many old skydivers used to pull down on the rear risers at the exact instant that they hit the ground, thus lifting themselves up to lessen impact. I wonder who dreamed that up? I don't think anyone did it that way, but maybe some jumpers did. I doubt if it would help much.

Everyone I knew pulled the back risers down a few seconds before hitting the ground. A flare may not be the right name, but it did slow down your forward speed for a softer landing.

In the 70's I was a pretty scrawny guy and had no trouble standing up a P.C. I even had a couple one foot standups when the wind was just right on a Mark 1.

I hadn't jumped a para-commander in over 25 years. A friend had one at a boogie a couple summers ago. So naturally I had to try it. Even though I'm now a fat old man I still stood it up. Kind of like riding a bike....Steve1

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The PC doesn't generate lift as a product of forward speed in the same way a ram air does, thus flaring the beast would be a futile excercise. What I've found is that pulling down on the back risers just before touch down pulls down on the crown lines that invert the apex and probably force air out and down a bit faster, giving a softer landing. The down side is that if you screw it up, the small amount of acceleration required to inflate the canopy properly again could mean a harder landing.

My 2c worth....

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You couldn't really "flare" a PC in the sense that you flare a ram air, because rams are wings and PC's are rounds. But I used to get fantastically soft landings with my PC and acceptable standups with my Sparrow by pulling down on the rear risers. The PC landings were so soft that I gave up on wearing paraboots (that's right kids, we used to wear paraBOOTS), for sneakers. Never tried burying the toggles, as it didn't make sense to me. Pulling the toggles down would not only stall the canopy, but would do so by releasing more air out of 6 side slots (3 on ea. side). That never sounded to good for landing a round, so I never did it. I will admit in those days I was a bony 155 lb 6'3" scarecrow, noadays I struggle to stay below 220 lbs and much as I'd love to jump one again am just too heavy for a round.



I've still got two pair of "Frenchies," or, "Waffle Stomper" paraboots. At some point I quit wearing them for PC jumps, unless I was carrying a smoke bracket on my foot. For landings where I'd either be in the peas or on fairly level grass, I felt that I had more control of how my feet were placed with tennis shoes than boots...sort of like a sports car not doing as well in a collision as an SUV, but maybe more likely to be able to swerve away from a collision than an SUV, I guess.

In order to truly say whether or not a PC could be "flared," I guess that depends on how you define that term. We used to refer to "flaring" as a method of landing cheapos and PCs. My own PC was a short-lined Mk 1, and I weighed between 170 and 185 lbs when I was jumping it. Before that, I had a 28' with a 7TU mod. I jumped them both the same way.

If I was making a stable and straight approach to the the point of landing, I'd pull the toggles as far down as I could reach, just a few feet before contact. If I timed it right, the canopy would be just about to stall when my feet hit the ground. That would reduce the forward speed-over-ground of the canopy. If the wind was around 5-7 mph, that sort of landing was fairly gentle. Nearly all of my landings, starting with my first jump off static line, were standups.

"Flaring" the canopy would also swing my legs forward a bit, putting my feet at a better angle to hit the ground with a little forward drive (unless the grass was wet or there was a fresh cowpie there). I tried the pull-down-on-the-back-risers technique on cheapos a few times, and on the PC once, in a high-wind landing. I remember thinking at the time that it didn't really make much difference, but stalling the canopy did. In case of an anticipated hard landing I guess that it did put your arms into a better position for a PLF, though, than having your hands down by your sides.

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I'd pull the toggles as far down as I could reach, just a few feet before contact

Interesting. My "flare" (and we all called it that) was with the back risers (see picture -- the back risers are lower than the front). I tried a toggle flare a couple of times and was unimpressed. I stood my Starlite up more regularly than the Safire I bought once I started jumping again, at least on no-wind days.

Maybe "flaring" just gave us something to do at the last second :ph34r:. I quit using boots once I started jumping more regularly, with about 70 jumps.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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Pulling down the back risers was/is the only way to land a round. Pulling down the steering toggles could leave your arms out at an awkward angle which could be trouble if your attempted stand-up goes bad.



That's a good point. I do recall a skydiver or two trying to land a P.C. with toggles, but that would be a good way to break a wrist. Doing a chin up on the back risers would be safer in that respect....Steve1

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[That never sounded to good for landing a round, so I never did it. I will admit in those days I was a bony 155 lb 6'3" scarecrow, noadays I struggle to stay below 220 lbs and much as I'd love to jump one again am just too heavy for a round.



I started on t-10's, bought a Comp PC (still have it in my crossbow), and moved on to a Strato Cloud. Still jumped the PC as a second and third rig for jumpmastering.:P

Had jumped a round since about 1984. Busted my ankle up in 1987 and so don't want to try the PC.

But.......................


In 2004 I bought a Phantom 28 on ebay ofr $60 and jumped it as a main in my modern rig.:) Glad I hit the peas though. I was about 215 naked when I jumped it. I say go for it!
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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Have you seen any of the old "grey hairs" gimpin' around the DZ that used to jump PCs? Based on the condition most of them are in today... I'd say the PC did not flare.

:P
;)
:)



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It wasn't the jumping that gave us the limp you see...

It was the partying FOLLOWING the jumping!;)












~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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Have you seen any of the old "grey hairs" gimpin' around the DZ that used to jump PCs? Based on the condition most of them are in today... I'd say the PC did not flare.


HEY! I am one of the old "gray hairs" around the dz. I have well over 2,000 jumps on a PC and I most definitely do not gimp around. I have hurt myself under a square more than I ever did under my PC. You are correct on one point...the PC did not flare.

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HEY! I am one of the old "gray hairs" around the dz. I have well over 2,000 jumps on a PC and I most definitely do not gimp around. I have hurt myself under a square more than I ever did under my PC. You are correct on one point...the PC did not flare.



Easy there Ripcord4... I'm just pokin' fun and at no one in specific... no need to go shakin' your walker at me... :P... just kiddin' around... ;)
:)

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I stood up almost every landing under my RW PC. I grabbed the rear risers and pulled down at the time of touchdown. (or I might have actually been just pulling myself up) I always had my feet and knees together just in case though. So is that a flare? Probably not. LOL!

Somebody jumped one here at Perris a couple of weeks ago. It was his first time jumping a PC. He opened at about 3500 and couldn't reach the toggles... Would you have chopped? He didn't...

He landed way out there...:S
Green Light
"Harry, why did you land all the way out there? Nobody else landed out there."
"Your statement answered your question."

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I stood up almost every landing under my RW PC. I grabbed the rear risers and pulled down at the time of touchdown. (or I might have actually been just pulling myself up) I always had my feet and knees together just in case though. So is that a flare? Probably not. LOL!

Somebody jumped one here at Perris a couple of weeks ago. It was his first time jumping a PC. He opened at about 3500 and couldn't reach the toggles... Would you have chopped? He didn't...

He landed way out there...:S



That guy must have VERY short arms as the toggles are right in front of your face on the rear of the front risers.

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