jerry81 10 #1 January 8, 2004 I had a weird thing happen to me last week, one that got me wondering if the time has come for me to chop. I had a normal deployment and the canopy was flying straight as I collapsed the slider. Right then, I noticed another canopy flying in my direction but slightly higher, so I turned away with the left rear riser and held the turn 'till I was facing the dz (a bit less than 180°). It wasn't a very hard turn, but as I let go of the riser it got faster- I was spiraling downwards and I could feel the pressure on my leg straps increasing. My first reaction was to counter the turn with the other riser and by trying to lean the other way(I say trying because I'm not 100% sure I managed to throw my weight to the other side, but my chest strap was still tightened so I didn't have much room to move anyway). When that didn't work, I looked up, expecting to see a toggle knocked loose, but they were both still stowed. At that point I had made about two hard turns, so I reached up and unblocked the brakes, while at the same time scanning the ground below to see where my main will land if that wouldn't work. Fortunately it did and I landed without a problem, although I was flying a bit more conservatively than usual and half expecting the slider to drop down over the links at the worst possible moment. I'm flying an Impulse (same as Cobalt) loaded at ~1.6. I use harness inputs for minor corrections, usually on landing, but I've never tried holding a spiral just by leaning hard to one side, so I don't know if what happened was just radical oversteer or some other thing that I caused with that riser turn. Has anyone had something similar happen to them and do you know what could have caused it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gus 1 #2 January 8, 2004 With the brakes stowed it's relatively easy to stall a canopy with the rear risers. I wonder whether your turn to avoid the other canopy momentarily stalled one side of your Impulse? GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jerry81 10 #3 January 8, 2004 QuoteWith the brakes stowed it's relatively easy to stall a canopy with the rear risers. I wonder whether your turn to avoid the other canopy momentarily stalled one side of your Impulse? Would that explain the spiraling? In other words, if you stall one side of the canopy and put it in a turn, would it keep turning even when that side reinflated? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hooknswoop 19 #4 January 8, 2004 Just a theory: When you turned with the rear riser, you increase the G" load on the canopy and yourself. And asymetrical loading of the harness will be compounded. For example if you have 10 more poundds on the right side of the harness than the left and pull a 2 "G" turn, now the difference is 20 pounds. This can keep the canopy turning. This sounds likely since you said you had difficulty harness shifting out of the turn. Derek Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garywainwright 0 #5 January 8, 2004 When i used to fly a stiletto 135 (1.7 loading) i noticed that if i did a rear riser turn with the brakes set, when i let go of the riser the turn would continue until i used opposite input or took the brakes off. It would not recover on its own. Haven't tried it on other canopies though.http://www.garywainwright.co.uk Instagram gary_wainwright_uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,384 #6 January 9, 2004 QuoteWhen i used to fly a stiletto 135 (1.7 loading) i noticed that if i did a rear riser turn with the brakes set, when i let go of the riser the turn would continue until i used opposite input or took the brakes off. It would not recover on its own. Haven't tried it on other canopies though. My Samurai does the same thing loaded slightly less than 1.4."There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimbo 0 #7 January 9, 2004 QuoteWhen i used to fly a stiletto 135 (1.7 loading) i noticed that if i did a rear riser turn with the brakes set, when i let go of the riser the turn would continue until i used opposite input or took the brakes off. It would not recover on its own. Haven't tried it on other canopies though. Same thing happens on my CF2 @ ~1.6. Spooked me a bit in the beginning, but I'm thinking now that it's probably not all that uncommon. - Jim"Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conquest150 0 #8 January 9, 2004 i jumped a fx 120 and it did the same thing. it wasnt something i enjoyed as it was my initial jump on a xbraced canopy. but it was the sweetest flying canopy that i have flown. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hooknswoop 19 #9 January 9, 2004 QuoteWhen i used to fly a stiletto 135 (1.7 loading) i noticed that if i did a rear riser turn with the brakes set, when i let go of the riser the turn would continue until i used opposite input or took the brakes off. It would not recover on its own. Haven't tried it on other canopies though. There has to be some force that causes the canopy to continue to spiral, otherwise it would fly straight. Derek Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garywainwright 0 #10 January 9, 2004 I know it doesn't make sense Derek but i tried it time and time again! Like i said though only when the brakes were set. I was thinking initiallly that i was sitting differently during a spiral but then i tried to stop it with opposite harness input - it didn't work! I mentioned it to Scott Miller (who has probably got a few more stiletto jumps than me!) and he had never heard about it so maybe it was something i was (subconciously) doinghttp://www.garywainwright.co.uk Instagram gary_wainwright_uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PD126r 0 #11 January 13, 2004 QuoteI know it doesn't make sense Derek but i tried it time and time again! Like i said though only when the brakes were set. Could your brakelines be out of trim? If you over time neglect to remove the twist, it might settle in the line(s). And if you lay your canopy down to the same side on every jump the twist will settle more on one side than the other. I guess this is a pretty far fetched idea, I'm just throwing in whatever I've got here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites btucker 0 #12 January 15, 2004 during a canopy school, we did an exercise, doing harness turns with the brakes set and then again with them unset. The purpose of the exercise was to teach us that the canopy (albeit square) will turn much easier with brakes set. My team mates stilleto just spins in one direction on opening [if you do nothing] - I think one leg strap is slightly different to the other. Once you blow the brakes it almost flys straight. - I should untwist my brake lines too, now that we have been reminded of it! Blues Benno Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Velocity84 0 #13 February 7, 2004 I'm not sure of the explanation, but this is common on most of the canopies I have jumped. The spectre (tapered 7cell at a 1.5 loading) was actually the most extreme case over heavier loaded ellipticals. On the spectre, I would experiment it with that same thing. Pull one riser down until a turn is innitiated with the toggles still set. When you let up it will continue to spin faster and faster (much faster than could be done with a toggle turn). I never saw much to worry about since undoing the toggles seemed to instantly correct this. Just don't let it go for too long... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites gus 1 #14 April 19, 2004 I was reminded of this post by something that happened on Saturday. I did a couple of jumps pulling at 10k to fly around on my new xf2 and sound it out a bit. On the 2nd jump I left the brakes stowed and was trying turns on the rear risers, there I was having a blast being quite suprised by how quickly it would turn with a small input when I gave one particularly hard input - and put the canopy in to a spiral! I looked up, both brakes still stowed, spirals getting harder and harder, gone round a few times, popped the brakes and it recovered without any further input. Weird. I'd like to try it again up high because I'd hate to do it by accident at 2k. BTW this canopy rocks! GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
btucker 0 #12 January 15, 2004 during a canopy school, we did an exercise, doing harness turns with the brakes set and then again with them unset. The purpose of the exercise was to teach us that the canopy (albeit square) will turn much easier with brakes set. My team mates stilleto just spins in one direction on opening [if you do nothing] - I think one leg strap is slightly different to the other. Once you blow the brakes it almost flys straight. - I should untwist my brake lines too, now that we have been reminded of it! Blues Benno Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Velocity84 0 #13 February 7, 2004 I'm not sure of the explanation, but this is common on most of the canopies I have jumped. The spectre (tapered 7cell at a 1.5 loading) was actually the most extreme case over heavier loaded ellipticals. On the spectre, I would experiment it with that same thing. Pull one riser down until a turn is innitiated with the toggles still set. When you let up it will continue to spin faster and faster (much faster than could be done with a toggle turn). I never saw much to worry about since undoing the toggles seemed to instantly correct this. Just don't let it go for too long... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gus 1 #14 April 19, 2004 I was reminded of this post by something that happened on Saturday. I did a couple of jumps pulling at 10k to fly around on my new xf2 and sound it out a bit. On the 2nd jump I left the brakes stowed and was trying turns on the rear risers, there I was having a blast being quite suprised by how quickly it would turn with a small input when I gave one particularly hard input - and put the canopy in to a spiral! I looked up, both brakes still stowed, spirals getting harder and harder, gone round a few times, popped the brakes and it recovered without any further input. Weird. I'd like to try it again up high because I'd hate to do it by accident at 2k. BTW this canopy rocks! GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
