downplaneleggrips

[morris 0]

Can someone please explain how you have to "entangle" your legs for downplanes?
The way we do it is for sure not the best one as we aren´t able to fly it for as long as we want to.
With our "engineering" we can´t keep it together for very long, the tension just gets to strong...

[StefB 0]

Be careful with this "entanglement thing". Friends of mine had a chinese fingertrap situation with their legs during downplane... and they were scared shitless.

[mrobiette 0]

Ditto - there were 2 jumpers at our dz who took leg locks, then when the tension increased they couldn't get them apart and they ended up downplaning into the runway. Very fortunately they both survived but were both severely messed up and took a while to walk (and jump) again.

We tend to hold onto each others legs with our hands/arms, then all you have to do is let go to release the grip. I have also seen it done by one jumper wrapping his legs round the others waist, but can't comment on that method personally.

Downplanes are great fun, but be careful - it is always better to release too early than too late...

Martin

[pbwing 0]

Definitely be careful...

Even the wildlife can't get it right all the time!!

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/04/12/tech-eagle-mating-fall.html

[pchapman 261]

I'd be interested to hear more about this too.

An earlier thread about downplanes and the parabatic grip is at http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3369862

[pbwing 0]

I have attached a couple of photos.

Sorry for the quality.

I think the best photo is gav_cyr2. I think it shows the best of what it looks like.

[topdocker 0]

That is the best grip- been using it for 20 years. You can fly with three of the four hands availible, very difficult to find a handle inadvertently, and rock solid to hold over a long period.

Sucks to dirtdive though, everyone points and laughs!

top

Jump more, post less!

[pbwing 0]

Yeah, it really is the best.

You can easily transition from downplanes back to side by sides and the grip is rock solid.

It's also nice because it is easy to retighten the grips. After a few high tension moves, just fly side by side and readjust.

In a downplane, the person with the outer grip just relaxes their legs and the tension is lost causing you to split apart.

I really helps when the outside grip has longer legs. It makes it much more comfortable (at least in my opinion anyways)