Theoretically, but possibly not practically, you could increase the glide distance over ground. Example 1: 30 mph head wind with a full flight airspeed of 30 mph In Ex. 1, without any input to the canopy and pretending the head wind is consistent your ground speed would be 0 mph. If you were to flair a little you could decrease your airspeed to 25 mph, causing your ground speed to be 5 mph. This would be going backwards, of course. If you were to pull down on the front risers you could increase your airspeed to 35 mph. This would again cause your ground speed to be 5 mph, however it would be in a more desirable direction. This would, however, cause your descent rate to increase. In the example it would clearly be beneficial to use front riser input if you found yourself over an object you didn't wish to land on. If necessary, flaring could also be used if the object didn't extend behind you. With a PLF, of course. Example 2: head wind 27 mph with a full flight airspeed of 30 mph In this example your full flight ground speed would be 3 mph. Flairing the same about as in Ex. 1 would cause your ground speed to be 2 mph., flying backwards. Pulling down your front risers, again the same amount as in Ex. 1, would cause your ground speed to increase to 8 mph. This is where it gets complicated. Your ground speed has increased, however the angle at which you are approaching the ground has also increased. What you would need to determine is: can you cover more ground distance at 3 mph and a 45 degree angle, or can you cover more ground distance at 8 mph and a 60 degree angel?You could create an equation to determine at what altitudes, airspeeds, and ground speeds each method would work but I will leave that to someone else. There are, of course, other factors such as the recovery arc after releasing the risers, changing wind speeds, how you plan on landing, etc. The easiest thing to do is not put yourself in a situation where you are over an undesirable landing area without an easy way to clear it. Even if that means not jumping on a particular day due to high winds, etc. If you do end up in that situation use your judgment on what the best case scenario for avoiding the object is. With that said, my money is going on Ian's advice that in most circumstances full flight is your best bet!
