Wind Limits
Wind Limits
Feb 17By Merry Regan Gusty winds are common at Skydive Spaceland and many other dropzones. As an experienced jumper, I have thought a lot about what my personal wind limit is–in other words, when I will sit down even though the dropzone is not on a wind hold. Recently, I made the decision not to jump after watching other fun jumpers and tandems land. Later in the day, the tandems went on a wind hold. I was surprised to see that many newer jumpers flying larger canopies with lighter wing loadings than I have continued to jump that morning and afternoon, even after the dropzone put the tandems on a hold. Once you graduate STP, you are responsible for determining your own wind limit. What is safe for someone with 100-200 jumps flying a canopy loaded around 1.0 is very different from what is safe for someone with thousands of jumps on a crossbraced canopy. To quote Brian Germain,”…until your skills and knowledge are ready to fly smaller, faster parachutes, you should stay out of the sky until the winds come down. I still haven’t been hurt by a jump I didn’t do.” There are many questions you can ask yourself and ways to observe the conditions at the DZ that will help you make a safe, informed choice. I often ask myself the following: Are people with more experience than me sitting it out? Particularly, are people with thousands of skydives standing down? How are the landings of other people jumping canopies loaded similarly to yours? Are they coming straight down or landing backwards? Are their canopies “breathing” a lot or do you see their end cells folding under? What is the spread between the peak gust and lowest reading on the wind-meter at manifest? Is the wind sock standing straight up and then going limp or whipping up and down? What is the wind direction and is it consistent or changing? Are there obstacles near my target landing area that are likely to cause turbulence? Just because you can jump, doesn’t mean you should. What is your personal wind limit? What do you consider when you decide whether or not it is safe for you to jump? Factors You Should Consider How your canopy’s groundspeed will affect your accuracy and landing Consider the speed of the upper winds and the speed of the winds on the ground. If...
Flat Tracking: Fun + Survival
Flat Tracking: Fun + Survival
Jul 17There is often confusion regarding tracking dives, because different kinds of dives are called tracking dives. Is the rabbit (track dive leader) planning to maintain a steep track orientation, angle flying to keep a fast-falling group hauling butt across the sky? Or is the goal to flat track, covering as much ground horizontally as you can in a slow-falling body position? The former may be better for keeping a group together, while the latter hones the survival skills necessary to gain maximum separation from others given minimum time and altitude. These days, many tracking dives tend towards the angle flying type. But the flat track is a better body position for gaining maximum separation and safety from other jumpers at pull time, especially on a big-way, so that’s the focus of this article. First, the Myth Only tall, thin people can flat track well, right? Very wrong. Tall, thin people have the physical shape to track well by deflecting a lot of air for their body weight, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t track as well. In fact, broader body types can often track quite well because their width allows them to cup a lot of air, especially if they have wide shoulders. And no matter what your body type is, you can flat track well with proper technique. Step by Step Let’s start at the beginning. Do you dirt dive your breakoff from the formation as much as the skydive? Probably not, unless it’s a big-way–not many people do! But spend a few minutes to think about it, because having a maximally efficient plan for getting away from your friends is your best strategy for survival. Remember: Below breakoff altitude, you have no friends! Think that everyone is trying to kill you, and you’ll be in the right mind set. At breakoff, will you turn right or left? It depends on the formation you are leaving… the shortest turn to 180 from the center of the formation is best. How do you turn? Have you ever thought about this? Many skydivers don’t. But envision this: The difference between turning at the same fall rate as the formation, then diving down into a track, compared to cupping air as you turn and maintaining that altitude as you begin your track, can be huge. The skydiver diving down may cover a decent amount of ground horizontally, but he/she will...