another body position thread

[jannas 0]

Tried my stiletto 150 for the first time the other day. When I pulled I was looking at it open, and I saw it open slowly and at the first stage of the opening I noticed it turned slightly to the right. When it then opened full it went in to a quite fast right turn wich I had to correct with the rear riser.

My question is, should I try to shift my bodyposition in the harness to prevent the first turn during the first stage of the opening (this was what I tried to do, but didn´t quite know how). Or should I try to adjust my body position to follow the turn with my body so that the final opening is on heading relative to myself? It only turned 10-20 degrees during this stage.

Other than that, the stiletto was sweet! Used to fly a pd 9-cell the same size and I´ve never flew this long or landed this smooth before!

[parachutist 1]

Quote

should I try to shift my bodyposition in the harness

PD answered that question:
http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/stiletto.pdf

Quote

(this was what I tried to do, but didn´t quite know how).

Counteract the turn to make it stop... but give just barely enough weight shift to stop the turn. It's easy to overdo it and end up turning the other direction fast. Sometimes you'll have to shift right, then left, then a little more right.

How to do weight shift: If the canopy's turning to the left, just "sit" more on the right side. When it starts to go right just sit more on the left. Looking up at the canopy is not a good way to figure out where to shift your weight. Intead watch the horizon all the way from deployment and keep the horizon level.

[jannas 0]

Thanx! I read it the same day before the jump, but I didn´t read far enough.
Is watching the horizon really enough to see if the canopy starts turning? Looking forward to trying this.

[parachutist 1]

Quote

Is watching the horizon really enough to see if the canopy starts turning?

Quote

Even better because you can stop a turn as soon as it begins. For example: imaginge that you just deployed your pilot chute... your canopy comes out of the container, then lines stretch.. then the canopy comes out of the deployment bag.

At this point the canopy will begin to inflate, and more than likely one side will inflate fater than the other (no matter how carefully you packed it). So if the right side inflates faster than the left, then there will be more drag above you on the right side and the right side will begin flying forward, while your left side is still more in freefall and not flying forward yet. That means a left turn is starting.

So if you are watching the horizon, pitch out the pilot chute... feel line stretch and initial pull of the canopy out of the bag... keep watching the horizon.... if the horizon is high on the right side, then sit on the right side enough to bring it level again. This will prevent that left turn that was about to start happening.

***********
By the way... this method worked fantastic with my Stiletto, and with several other canopies I've flown... but then I tried carrying it over to my X-braced canopy and it was better to just act like a sack of potatoes (thanks to Kolla for that advice). So this weight shift technique is very helpful for some canopies but isn't best for all of them.
***********

• Quote

Share this post

---

Link to post

Share on other sites