Skydiving landings are executed with precision using advanced parachutes, making them generally smooth and not physically taxing, often feeling like stepping off a curb or sliding feet-first. A landing is conducted by flaring – pulling the toggles to decrease forward speed and descent – to come to a stop at a designated area. 

A skydiving landing isn’t as intimidating as many people make it out to be in their minds! When you see the mechanics behind it, you’ll no longer wonder about how skydivers jump multiple times per day, or if a skydive landing takes a major toll on the body. Skydiver landings are done with intentionality and precision (and really good parachutes). Let’s take a deeper dive into how skydiving landings work. 

What Is A Flare? 

When we land a parachute, we do something called flaring. This is when the steering toggles are pulled down, causing the steering lines to pull the back (or tail) of the parachute slightly down and slow the forward speed and descent rate of the parachute. 

To envision this, think of a parachute like a bicycle. When you use the rear brakes on a bicycle, you can feel the rear wheel slow down significantly and eventually come to a complete stop, while the front wheel still has some momentum, similar to the nose of the parachute. 

What Does A Skydiving Landing Feel Like? 

Does it hurt when you land after skydiving? Typically, no! Of course, mistakes can be made and injuries can happen – after all, skydiving is an extreme sport with inherent risk. We’re just diligent in mitigating those risks wherever possible. 

A typical skydiving landing has the potential to feel like a few different things, depending on the type of jump you make:

• Tandem & Solo Skydivers
  
  Hopping off a curb and taking a few steps. Sometimes, tandem skydiving pairs stand up their landings! These landings entail taking a few awkward steps (there are four legs working at once!) and coming to a stop.
  
  Sliding – feet first. Sliding in is the most common way to land a tandem skydive, as it’s generally the easiest. Think: a really docile baseball slide.
  
  How are you supposed to land when skydiving tandem? It depends on a few factors, such as wind speed and the ability of the tandem student. For example, tandem students who don’t have the ability to lift their legs to slide in may be asked to stand up on landing. Tandem students have one priority while landing: Listen to your instructor. 

• Solo or Experienced Skydivers
  
  Running. Many experienced skydivers choose to stand up or run out their landings. Depending on how fast they’re going when landing, they will either take a step or two, or go into an all out sprint!
  
  Tucking and rolling. When skydivers are learning how to skydive solo, they’re figuring out the timing of their flare. Solo skydiving courses account for this learning curve by teaching skydiving how to land safely without the finesse someone has with hundreds of jumps. They do this with something called a Parachute Landing Fall (PLF).
  
  A PLF is a technique that distributes the force of a rougher landing across stronger parts of the body. It is conducted by keeping your keet and knees together, your knees bent, and rolling over your shoulder and to your back with momentum from when your feet touch the ground.
  
  Geez Louise … how hard do you hit the ground when skydiving? On a normal skydiving landing, not very hard at all! But, if a student hasn’t figured out their flare timing, they may feel like they’re jumping from a chair or countertop, rather than a curb, which would result in performing a PLF! 

What Is A Landing Pattern? 

A landing pattern is the pattern flown by a canopy pilot (a skydiver under their parachute) before they land. Similar to airplane pilots, skydivers fly a downwind, base, and final leg to landing. Why? Predictability! Flying this pattern makes you a predictable skydiver, which is critical for the other people landing at the same time as you. Here’s a deeper look into each leg of the landing pattern: 

• Downwind. Although experienced skydivers may make adjustments to the altitudes associated with their landing pattern, the downwind leg is started right around 1,000 feet. 

• Base. Skydivers will make a 90 degree right or left hand turn onto their base leg around 600 feet. 

• Final. From the base leg, skydivers will make another 90 degree turn onto their final leg around 300 feet. They will use this remaining time to suss out exactly where they’re going to land, and they will eventually reach an altitude of about 10 feet to start their flare to land! 

Throughout the entire landing pattern, skydivers are keeping their eyes on where they intend to land, other canopies in the sky, and their altitude. Their heads are always on a swivel! 

As a solo skydiver, if you find yourself landing with the wind instead of against it, what should you do? Just land as you normally would! Your landing will be a bit faster, but  remember your landing priorities! 

1. Land with the wing level.
2. Land in a clear area.
3. Flare symmetrically to at least half brakes.
4. Land into the wind.

How Does Wing Loading Affect Landing? 

Different canopies at different wing loadings will have different flight cycles. Whoa, what? Let’s break it down. 

• Canopy. Not all parachutes are created equal. Some are designed to fly aggressively and with a steep dive, while others are more docile. 

• Wing loading. The ratio of the weight of the jumper plus the weight of their gear compared to the size of their canopy. A higher wing loading results in a quicker descent rate. 

• Flight cycle. A flight cycle is the act of a parachute going from full flight to a full flare, and then back to full flight. When a flare is released (when the toggles are returned to their neutral position and the skydivers arms are extended upward) the canopy will go into a slight dive as it refills with air – think of it like the flare making the canopy want to gasp for air and diving head first into the sky to do so. This all happens in a few seconds, and after the canopy is happy again, the flight cycle is over.

If a skydiver is loading their canopy highly, the flight cycle may produce a steeper dive or a quicker loss of altitude than a lesser wing loading. This is why people increase their wing loading as they gain experience and expertise in the sport and not when they’re first starting out. 

Where Do You Land When You Go Skydiving?  

Skydivers land at the landing area, which is usually back at the dropzone (where they took off from)! Modern-day canopies are easy to guide around the sky and make where we land easily predicted. 

What if you exit the airplane too far away? Ah, the long spot! Because parachutes are so advanced, they’re designed to be able to be responsive to the skydiver’s inputs. For example, if the skydiver wants the canopy to stay afloat as long as possible, they can do so. And, if they want to get to the ground as quickly as possible, they can make that happen! 

If a skydiver exits the airplane far away from the landing area, they’ll maneuver their canopy in specific ways to make it back. These ways vary depending on if they’re upwind or downwind from where they want to land. 

If a skydiver is going toward the landing area with the wind (they are upwind), they’ll go into half brakes. This means that they will pull their steering toggles midway down (not all the way – that would be a flare!) and coast with the wind back to the landing area. A canopy in half brakes going with the wind will have more lift than a canopy flying at full flight. 

Contrarily, a skydiver who is going toward the landing area against the wind (they are downwind) will initiate rear riser input to maneuver their canopy in a way that gets the most efficient forward movement and the least amount of descent. 

Ready to come see what a skydive landing is all about? Book your skydive today! 

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In Summary
Choosing the right skydiving canopy depends on your experience, currency, goals, and exit weight. Size, wingloading, and canopy type all affect performance and safety, making it important to understand your options. Canopy courses are strongly recommended — especially when changing wings — and at Skydive Perris, you can demo or purchase canopies on-site.

There’s something so exciting about investing in your very own skydiving canopy. It’s more than a piece of gear – it’s your wing, your ride back to Earth, your partner in the sky! Choosing the best skydiving canopy is as intimidating as it is thrilling, so it’s totally normal to have questions. That’s why we’re here! 

This guide will break down everything from the significance of parachute size and what to look for when buying a canopy, to answering the question, “How long does a skydiving canopy last?” The decision on what to buy and when to buy it is more personal and strategic than many may think! Let’s dive in. 

Note: This article discusses main parachutes and is not referring to reserve parachutes.

Factors To Consider When Choosing A Canopy 

There are a few major factors that can help to determine the best parachute for you: 

• How many jumps do you have? 
• How current are you (and how current do you plan on being throughout your time in the sport)? 
• What are your goals in the sport when it comes to canopy flight? 
• What is your exit weight? 
• How much training do you have? 
• What canopy/ies have you previously jumped? 
• How much time have you spent in the sport? 

Each of these factors go into play when choosing a canopy. 

Why does jump number matter? 

Someone with 10 skydives isn’t going to be placed on a high-performance wing! Someone with hundreds, or thousands, of skydives may have this as an option. That being said, if someone has hundreds of skydives but often falls out of currency, the jump number is in some ways, trumped.  Although jump number doesn’t necessarily directly correlate to skill level, it’s definitely a factor. 

What is currency? 

How current you are refers to how often you skydive! Are you skydiving once per month, or 10+ times per month? Choosing a more forgiving and docile wing is better for those who often become uncurrent. Although, to maintain a high standard of safety-mindedness for yourself and others, currency should be of top priority. 

What goals are we talking about?

eEach canopy has different characteristics – some have a really great recovery arc, while others don’t, and some are incredibly responsive, while others are less twitchy. If there’s a specific canopy-focused discipline you’d like to go into, the class of canopy you buy may directly represent this. 

What is your exit weight? 

Exit weight refers to your body weight plus the weight of your skydiving gear – it’s how much you weigh when you exit the airplane (which is the same weight you’ll be under your parachute)! 

How much training do you have? 

Have you taken a canopy course or trained with a canopy coach? Understanding the flight dynamics of your current canopy can help you understand what you may be looking for in a new wing. 

What have you previously jumped? 

If you’ve only ever jumped semi-elliptical canopies, and you’re looking to downsize, it would be recommended that you transition to a smaller semi-elliptical canopy, rather than changing sizes and platforms. Consider what your experience level is on certain types of canopies! 

How long have you been skydiving? 

This one is a bit controversial, as everyone is different. Some people may do hundreds of jumps in their first year jumping, while others may do 50. That being said, time in the sport plays a part in understanding certain canopy flight foundations. Simply put, the longer you’re around something (in this case, the skydiving world), the more you know about it! 

Does The Size of A Parachute Matter?

The size of a skydive canopy matters … a LOT. A higher wingloading (AKA, a smaller wing) is less forgiving, as the canopy is more responsive, whereas a lower wingloading is more docile and has a slower rate of descent. 

The skydiving canopy size chart by the USPA (United States Parachute Association) provides skydivers with recommendations of canopy sizes based on jump number and exit weight. Like we mentioned above, there are other factors that go into play when determining the right canopy for you – such as currency – but this chart provides a great basis. 

What is wingloading? 

Wingloading is the ratio of a skydiver’s exit weight to the surface area of the parachute. In the US, we calculate wingloading by dividing the skydiver’s exit weight in pounds by the canopy’s surface area in square feet. 

Does someone with more jumps have a small wingloading? 

Downsizing – the act progressively using smaller parachutes as experience, jump numbers, and time in the sport increases – is not synonymous with higher jump numbers. What we mean is: Skydivers with more experience have the opportunity to downsize, but they don’t have to. Upsizing or maintaining your current wingloading is cool! 

Does The Class of Parachute Matter? 

Yes, the style (or class) of canopy matters! Parachutes are designed for different purposes, such as CRW work, accuracy, or high-performance landings (AKA, swoops). Each canopy has specificity to its design (that’s why there are so many on the market!) that affects the lift, pitch (or dive), yaw, openings, roll, and so much more. 

What is considered a high-performance canopy? 

Any canopy sized at 150 (square feet, that is) or smaller is considered high-performance across the industry and by the USPA. According to the USPA, any canopy can be considered high-performance based on the wingloading, regardless of parachute size. 

What is the difference between a 9-cell and 7-cell canopy? 

Two cells, hehe! Seven-cell canopies have fewer cells, ribs, and lines, and generally pack a bit smaller. Nine-cell canopies are known for having higher flare power and for gliding a bit further when coming in for landing, and canopies with 7 cells are great for flying in deep brakes and sinking in – woo-hoo skydiving canopy control and accuracy! Deciding between a 7-cell canopy and a 9-cell canopy is simply personal preference. 

When Should You Take A Canopy Course? 

Anytime that you have the opportunity to indulge in a canopy course, DO IT. At a bare minimum, experienced skydivers should be taking canopy courses for their USPA B License (as this achievement places a high concentration on canopy skills and knowledge) and every time they change wings. Even if you’re upsizing? Yep! Receiving instruction on how to effectively and safely fly your parachute is paramount. Whether you’re downsizing, upsizing, or changing platforms, a canopy course is a smart move. 

At Skydive Perris, we have a gear store on-site where you can demo canopies and buy gently used ones! 

The post How to Pick The Best Skydiving Canopy For Me appeared first on Skydive Perris.

If you’ve been at this skydiving thing long enough to get to the B-license stage (read: not very long at all!), you already know that canopy education is essential. After all, you won’t get far without it: the USPA requires everyone who wants that B to pass a canopy control course. But why? It couldn’t be more obvious, really, that a successful reunion with the land is inarguably the most crucial skill any skydiver will need to perfect — and a canopy control course is where you earn that skill. The idea of participating in a skydiving canopy control course is to learn about the details of the equipment and the various inputs used to move the parachute around its environment in specific ways. That empowers students to fly much more safely and confidently in dynamic, challenging environments. Simple enough, right?

Underdeveloped canopy control skills don’t just injure newbie jumpers or overcranked adrenaline-seekers in a physical sense. Often, they end skydiving careers in a sneakier way, causing jumpers to quietly and without fanfare simply…stop jumping. The threat of injury, of grass-stained humiliation or both becomes too much. Here’s what you need to know to dodge that bullet.

Every Skydiver Can Improve.

You might think that canopy courses are for two groups: In Group A, brand-new jumpers going for that B license; in Group B, would-be swoopers with brand new sub-100’s thirsty to dig their hips and toggles into the world of 270-degree turns. In reality, canopy control courses are for Group C: EVERYBODY.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a freshly-stamped A-license holder or a grizzled vet, safety- or performance-minded, canopy-mad or canopy-meek. You’ve got to bridge the gap between yourself and your equipment, and you’ve got to stay on top of developments. A canopy course — with a refresher every couple of seasons — is the tried-and-true way to do so. Want to explore a new canopy? Want to find the “sweet spot” on a canopy you’ve been using for a while but haven’t really nailed? Want to improve your accuracy? Want to know what it feels like to do a turn in perfect form? This is how to do it.

Bad Information Is All Over The Place

Especially if they haven’t chosen to specialize in parachute-flyin’ as their main focus, skydiving canopy pilots sometimes forget that they are, indeed, pilots. You’d be hard-pressed to find a fixed-wing pilot with as little education, as many deeply held incorrect beliefs about aerodynamics and as few compulsory educational requirements as you find every day in the parachuting world. (It follows that the imbalance between pilot skill and wing performance has shot both pilot-error accidents and canopy collisions to the top of the USPA incident list.)

Skydive Perris Has Your Back

Here at Skydive Perris, we have a dream team of canopy control coaches to help keep you well away from that incident list. The Skydive Perris Skydiving School, along with Joshua Colby, will teach you the critical skills needed to safely fly and land your parachute. Courses are designed for beginner, intermediate and advanced canopy pilots, with ground training and debriefing for each level.

Remember: your next jump could be the one you need better skills to land safely. Don’t put off your training! Contact us to book your canopy control course at 951-657-1664 or book online here 

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In skydiving, several of our disciplines have the word “relative” in the title. “Relative Work” (or “RW”) is the word we use to describe “flat” jumps–where all the jumpers are oriented belly-to-earth, and the goal is to move relative to each other to take grips and make shapes. “Canopy Relative Work” (or “CRW”/”CReW”) is the word we use to describe the discipline in which several (or many) jumpers fly parachutes relative to each other and link up into shapes in comparable ways.

XRW is the newest addition to this full house of “relatives.” The acronym stands for “Cross Relative Work,” and it’s the word we use to describe the art of flying big wingsuits with tiny parachutes.

This discipline is no beginner’s pursuit. It’s a challenge right at the outset to find pilots capable of successfully navigating either the suit or the parachute. Enormous wingsuits require incredibly delicate handling (as they’re widely acknowledged to be tantamount to aircraft, albeit the most pernickety, ill-tempered aircraft on the planet) and tiny parachutes seem to relish throwing themselves into a brutal malfunction (nevermind that they always have to be landed at racetrack speeds). Putting the two elements together is nuts. In fact: There’s a relatively tiny number of pilots who have actually successfully “docked” an XRW formation.

It’s also amazing.

XRW is beautiful to watch. It’s invigorating to push the boundaries of what’s possible. And there’s much to be said for the sheer challenge of the thing: Putting an XRW jump together takes a lot of trust, preparation and practice.

This discipline is SO new. At this stage of the game, we’re pioneering the discipline in much the same way that the very first skydivers did when they were first working towards passing a baton from one jumper to another in freefall.

Watch this incredible video of an XRW jump captured at Perris:

Want To Try Your Hand At XRW?

If you’re just starting out as a skydiver, you have a long, galvanizing road ahead of you. To even put on a wingsuit for the first time, you’ll need to have at least 200 recent skydives under your belt; to fly a tiny parachute with skill (and land without a crunch), you’ll have to put in more hop-’n’-pops than you can shake an exceedingly long stick at.

We’re here to help! At Skydive Perris, we have a wingsuit school on campus called Lightning Flight. The school is widely acknowledged as one of the best in the world for all levels of wingsuit tutelage–from a wingsuit first jump course all the way through to coaching at the most advanced level. Uniquely, Lightning Flight offers both FFC and XRW camps to put XRW hopefuls through their paces.

Relatively speaking, if you’re located in Southern California, there’s no better place than Skydive Perris to start along the journey to joining a wingsuit and a canopy pilot in the sky. We’re looking forward to helping you take on the challenge!

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AFF is the most popular skydiving course to learn to skydive. Each year, we welcome hundreds of budding skydivers to our skydiving school near Los Angeles. Here’s everything you need to know about AFF and whether it’s right for you.

Accelerated Freefall

The accelerated freefall (AFF) program is a specially designed 8 level program to fast track you to jumping solo!

AFF stands for Accelerated Freefall. It is the fastest way to experience solo freefall because it’s the only skydiving lesson option where you jump from max altitude from jump one. It’s the most popular option for skydivers who want to achieve their skydiving license near Los Angeles.

AFF Ground School

AFF starts with 4 – 6 hours of ground training. During this training, you’ll learn everything you need to know about skydiving, from how to fly your body in freefall to how your equipment functions and what to do if things don’t go as you expect.

During the day, you’ll complete various modules during which you’ll learn the very basics of jumping out of a plane through to ensuring you’re able to exit, fly, deploy your parachute and return to the ground safely.

Our 4-6 hour ground school includes 2 flights in the Indoor Skydiving Simulator located onsite here at Skydive Perris. No other West coast skydiving center can offer this onsite experience!

AFF levels of progression

There are 8 levels of the AFF course. During each level, you are required to demonstrate the skills of body flight and canopy control. You’ll be assessed on every level before you can progress to the next.

These levels are set by the governing body for parachuting, the USPA, and all students of the AFF method complete these levels before achieving qualified status.

For the first few jumps, you’ll be supported by two instructors who hold you in the air and assist you in your parachute deployment if necessary. As you progress, you’ll move on to just one instructor. Finally, you’ll complete a series of solo jumps where you are free to practice your skills on your own in freefall.

Is AFF right for me?

Accelerated freefall (AFF) is the most popular way to learn to skydive near Los Angeles. It’s the fastest way to experience solo freefall and to jump from maximum altitude from your very first jump.

Find out more about the requirements for our AFF skydiving course or get in touch if you have any questions!

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How well do you know your emergency procedures?

I’m asking the question because it has become a big issue in the sport. Most skydivers perform their Emergency Procedures (EPs) correctly if asked to demonstrate them. Most can write down the correct answer if taking a written test. But have you trained them to the point of muscle memory? Are the perfect EPs an instinctive response to recognizing a malfunction? If faced with a high pressure, physically strenuous, time sensitive situation are you ready to execute your EPs perfectly and without hesitation? Unfortunately, the honest answer to these questions is too often ‘no’.

Far too many people do not know their emergency procedures anywhere near as well as they need to. As the DZ Manager of one of the world’s largest drop zones, any time I see someone pull too low, or have an AAD fire, I always sit them down and speak to them. Together we try to figure out how they got down there so we can be sure they know what to do differently to be certain it never happens again.

One beautiful, busy day at Skydive Perris we had two AAD fires within an hour of each other. One of the individuals had about 100 jumps and initiated deployment at 4,000 feet. He had a slow speed malfunction, cut away at a high enough altitude but didn’t pull his reserve before his AAD fired. The other had about 400 jumps, started his deployment at 3000’, had a pilot chute in tow, cut away and went for his reserve but not before his AAD beat him to it.

Since both of them had initiated deployment plenty high there was no reason they should have ended up still in freefall so dangerously low. I asked them to demonstrate their emergency procedures for me. They both did. Then I asked them to talk me through the malfunction, their thought processes and show me what they did. Neither of them executed their emergency procedures correctly! They both did something different in the air than the intended emergency procedures they had just shown me! One of them ‘reached’ before he ‘looked’. The other reached with one hand when his plan was to have both hands on both handles.

How is that possible? Skydiving equipment has advanced so much. The emergency procedures we have to do when faced with a malfunction are simple and easy to execute. Way too many fatalities – and more close calls than we can even count – happen because we don’t perform these procedures correctly within the time we have.

These three simple ideas could save your life:

#1 Practice your EPs

Emergency procedures are not practiced enough. I’ve asked many people how often they practice their EPs. The most common answer I hear is “I practice them before each jump.” That sounds like it should be plenty but the fact is, it’s not. Based on that, the jumper with 100 jumps had practiced EPs a total of 100 times. That is not nearly enough to develop the instinctive muscle memory you will need to save your life in the few seconds you have.

There are a few different ways to execute emergency procedures. Each one of them will work as long as you perform it correctly and immediately. None of them take more than five seconds. In a minute you could practice your EPs 12 times. Since your life depends on it, why not take five minutes each day and go through your EPs 60 times. We dirtdive a jump for 15 minutes but usually don’t practice saving our lives for even 5 seconds

You want to be a Badass?
Be a badass at performing your EPs.

– Dan BC

Do your EPs ten times a day for 30 seconds, or five times a day each for a minute. But somewhere in your day find five minutes you can dedicate to practicing EPs (every day, not just jumping days) and you will have rehearsed them to the point that they are totally automatic. You’ll see a malfunction and will instinctively perform the perfect procedures without hesitation.

#2 Stay one step ahead

We are too often surprised when our parachutes don’t work correctly and take too long to make the decision to cut away. Stay one step ahead. **Expect** your parachute to malfunction every jump. Be pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t. If you have any doubt at all about whether your parachute is good or not, it’s not. A good parachute doesn’t give you any doubt.
Don’t wait until you are faced with a stressful malfunction situation to decide what you are going to do. **Decide right now that if you aren’t 100% sure you have a good canopy over your head you will cut away without hesitation.**

#3 Pull at a safe altitude

If you don’t have enough altitude even well executed EPs won’t save you. USPA’s minimum deployment altitude is 2,500 feet. To deploy by 2,500 feet you need to be waving off no lower than 3000 feet. If you are lower you may not have the time you’ll need.
These three simple ideas could save your life. They’ve saved mine on more than 20 malfunctions. Please consider them and share them

www.danbrodsky-chenfeld.com

http://www.amazon.com/Above-All-Else-Skydivers-Adversity/dp/1616084464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382556172&sr=8-1&keywords=dan+brodsky-chenfeld

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As a DZ Manager of Skydive Perris, I am often approached by jumpers for my thoughts on selecting the right skydiving canopy. The common question I hear is “What should I downsize to?” As if the best canopy is the smallest one that we can get away with. That is definitely not the right question to be asking.

With a little luck and under the right conditions a competent and experienced jumper can get away with almost anything, even a really stupid mistake…

I’m a bit embarrassed to tell this story, but once when I was team training on Arizona Airspeed and we were doing back-to-back-to-back loads and I mistakingly grabbed one of my teammates’ rigs thinking it was mine. It fit great and I didn’t even realize what I had done until I looked up after deploying to find a Velocity 84 over my head instead of my Stiletto 120. I couldn’t believe how tiny it was!

I like a canopy with a little speed to it and one that can penetrate even in high winds but generally speaking I’m not a swooper. Once I’m under canopy after freefall I like to catch my breath, enjoy the flight and work in with the other canopies. Under this little Velo, there was no time for that. I was coming out of the sky like a rocket and went right past the classic Airspeed canopy formation we did on each jump like it was standing still.

I realized my time under canopy was going to be much shorter than I was accustomed to and immediately set up for a tight pattern. I was by far the first one down and there was no-one else landing at the time so I had the luxury of setting the landing pattern into a handy 5mph headwind. A high 180 degree turn to final to build up a little extra speed and maximize my flare seemed like the best plan. Fortunately, I had the grass to myself which was a good thing because I used every inch of it as I came surfing in.

My teammates got a good laugh out of my mistake, especially Christopher Irwin, the owner of the rig. He insisted, “Wasn’t that way more fun than your Stiletto.” I have to admit, flying that little Velo was fast, super fun and the landing was fine. But unless I can guarantee there won’t be any other canopies in the pattern, and I’ll be landing by myself, into a nice headwind on a long wet grass runway, then a Velo 84 is definitely not the canopy I should be jumping.

When selecting the right skydiving canopy the question we should be asking ourselves is this:

“What canopy can I land easily and softly anytime, anywhere and under any conditions?”

The Velo 84 was fantastic to fly in the perfect conditions I was lucky enough to be flying it under. But we don’t always have these perfect conditions. More often there are times we have to land downwind, or crosswind… times we have to work with other canopies and fly in a pattern with both huge, slow parachutes as well as little rockets. There are other situations where we’re off our intended drop zone and need to land in some innocent bystander’s back yard, on the road, between the trees or even on top of a building. Don’t laugh, it’s happened more than once. Ask yourself what canopy you want over your head then.

For years I was jumping a PD Katana 107 because it did everything I wanted it to:

1. It opened softly every time – and I mean, every time. For me this is essential. A hard opening can potentially do more damage to you than a hard landing.
   
2. I could land it gently anytime, anywhere, under any conditions.

The beautiful thing is that with the wide range of skydiving canopies and the advancements in design you can choose a canopy that flies just how you want it to. Last year I had a hip replacement and upsized back to the Stiletto 120. I’m planning to get more jumps out of my new hip than out of my new canopy so trading a little speed for a guarantee of landing a little softer under all conditions was a good deal.

Many landing and canopy accidents could have been avoided had the individuals made a smarter choice of which canopy they should have been jumping. Be smart, ask the right question. Don’t cause dangerous situations for yourself and others because going fast is more important to you than everyone landing safely.

www.danbrodsky-chenfeld.com

http://www.amazon.com/Above-All-Else-Skydivers-Adversity/dp/1616084464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382556172&sr=8-1&keywords=dan+brodsky-chenfeld

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Rob Wallace is a skydiving instructor and competitive canopy pilot based at Skydive Perris and talks to us about his skydiving experiences thus far.

When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive?
I made my first jump, a tandem, at Skydive Cross Keys in Williamstown, NJ. I remember seeing it on TV and always wanted to experience what the sensation would feel like. Ironically I hated heights for a very long time, I didn’t get on a rollercoaster until I was 16.

What prompted you to make your first jump?
Actually it was spur the moment, I was with some friends talking about it, a few were hesitant, but my one friend said she do it whenever. We literally got in the car drove to the drop zone.

How did this first jump change your life?
It completely changed my life, gave me the utmost sense of freedom I have ever experienced, almost as if I was meant to be in the sky.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering making that first jump?
Embrace the moment, it will be an experience of a lifetime and who knows, it might completely change your life…

How long did it take you from your first jump, to becoming an instructor?
I made my first jump in 2006, got my tandem instructor rating in 2010 and got my AFF instructor rating in 2011.

You’ve been an instructor here at Skydive Perris for how long now?
4 years, which is the longest I’ve been at any drop zone.

When you’re not introducing students to the sport, what type of jumping do you do?
I mostly do hop and pops from 5,000ft, just concentrating on canopy flight. You might catch me doing a freefly jump here and there.

What is it about Skydive Perris that makes you want to work and play here?
Well first of all, we are lucky to have some of the best skydiving weather in the world. As far as facilities, hardly any other place comes close and also their plane maintenance is amazing! Having confidence in the plane to get us to altitude safely is very important to me.

How many first time students do you estimate you have jumped with so far?
Hard to say, I’d estimate a little over 3,000.

What do you like best about introducing new students to our sport?
It’s awesome to be able to share that first experience with students, it’s like reliving my first jump over and over again. Also the unique view when we are under canopy and just how relaxing it can be going from one extreme to the other.

What has been your favorite jump to date?
It was during an XRW jump, which I was flying my small canopy with a wingsuiter, for those who don’t know what that is. We were able to make a specific dock which no one said was possible. The wingsuiter, Josh Sheppard, was able to fly on his back and I was able to dock on his chest. We were both ecstatic about it and was the only time we ever did it. We named that specific dock as “The Sheppard.”

You’re a founding member of SoCal Evolution, how did this team come about and who are your team-mates?
Justin Judd and myself decided to put together a new team specific to the Southern California area. Our goal is to try and promote better canopy flight and have a visible entity that can be identified as canopy experts. Our other teammates are Dave Hebert and Nate Emmett.

You’ve just made the US canopy piloting team, congratulations! Can you tell us a little bit about your journey to this point?
This is my second time making the US team, every year has been getting more challenging to make the team. So many pilots are flying extremely well and this particular year I felt I didn’t fly all that well, but still very happy with my performance.

What canopies do you jump and why? 
For competition I’m flying a NZ Aerosports Petra 64, for work and fun jumps I fly a NZ Aerosports Leia 72. Both of these canopies open extremely well, have amazing range at both high speeds and low speeds.

What advice do you have for newer jumpers who are eager to start down-sizing and swooping?
Make sure you can efficiently fly and land your canopy in ANY situation because it’s those extraordinary situations that will exploit any weakness in your canopy skills. It only takes 1 jump to seriously hurt yourself. If you cannot land your canopy standing up, you should probably reconsider the size you’re on and upsize, there’s no shame in not wanting to get hurt. Swooping is a whole other beast in itself, not everyone should be doing it because it is extremely fast and dangerous, the ground is not forgiving. For those who do think they want to pursue it, please seek out coaching or someone who is willing to mentor you. It is a part of the sport that takes a lot of skill, precision, confidence, and most of all experience and currency.

Tell us something that is little known about your yourself?
I used to work the corporate world before I started skydiving. I had a lot of job layoffs because of the recession, got fed up with it, packed up all my stuff and moved to Texas with 30 dollars in my pocket and a tent as a roof.

What are your future goals in skydiving?
Well I have a couple things in the works I can’t really talk about, but other than that, I’m looking to continue to get better at swooping and also help develop XRW into a more common discipline.

Rob will be competing at the FAI World Cup of Canopy Piloting in Montreal, Canada, August 23^rd-30^th 2015. We wish him the very best of luck, from everyone here at Skydive Perris!

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Everyone who has made a Skydive agrees, there is nothing that compares to that first jump. You take the class, sit through the video and watch lots of people jump before you get in the plane. But even with the training and preparation, your first skydive is still the ultimate “leap of faith”.

You tried to imagine what it was going to be like, the sound of the wind, the air in your face, the incredible acceleration and speed, that moment of actually stepping out the door. You dreamt and thought about it for so long before ever jumping, but it was nothing like you expected! The adrenalin rush of your first freefall followed by the quiet serenity of the canopy flight was so completely different from anything you’d ever done before. You try to tell your friends about it but you’re at a loss for the right words and end up saying “I can’t explain it. You just have to do it.”

We hear it all the time, whether you only do one jump or choose to pursue skydiving as a new (and often lifelong) hobby, that first skydive is a life changing experience. You leave the drop zone with new confidence, ready to take the next leap of faith in pursuit of your dreams, to face your fears and tackle all challenges. At the moment of truth, when it came down to it, you had the courage to step off the plane and fly. If you could do that you can do anything.

What could possibly be better than your first jump? Your second jump!

Your second jump is a completely different experience than the first. The first jump is everything I just described. But the level of adrenaline and the sensation of freefall are so foreign to you that for everyone there is a certain amount of “sensory overload.” With so many new physical and emotional experiences happening simultaneously it is nearly impossible to absorb it all. It’s sometimes hard to tell if the freefall lasted 5 seconds or two minutes. When we think back after our first jump it is difficult to recall and to play it back in our minds as a moment by moment rerun.

On the second jump our hearts will be racing again, but because we’ve experienced it before we know much more what to expect. There is much less sensory overload. We can recall every second of it. Freefall actually seems like the 50ish seconds that it is. Because we are so much more aware during the jump we are actually able to enjoy the entire experience more. We don’t just have the adrenalin rush when we exit the plane, we remember it! We remember how we became more relaxed after exiting the plane as we transitioned into stable freefall (“relaxed” is a very relative term of course?). We remember the view of the beach and the mountains. We remember the smooth deceleration from freefall to the canopy flight as our parachute blossomed open.

With less sensory overload we are more aware and in touch with the entire experience and can remember it vividly and enjoy it even more. We can play that memory in our heads over and over again and relive it as many times as we want.

We experience the first jump, but we own the second one!
There is nothing that compares to that second Skydive.

www.danbrodsky-chenfeld.com

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