Higher wingload = greater chance of line twists?

[-SK- 0]

I thought I heard this somewhere but am not sure; will I have a greater chance of line twists during an opening with less-than-ideal body position, on a smaller canopy? Assuming make/model is the same.

[FrancoR 0]

yes.
Less mass means there is less energy required to get something to twist.
Smaller canopy means higher wingloading, higher wingloading means more speed. If one side of your canopy opens a little faster on opening than the other it will start moving forward faster leaving the other one behind --> Twist.
I am sure there are more technical reasons and i am sure you know there are ohter downsides associated with a higher wingloading.

If it does not cost anything you are the product.

[Joellercoaster 6]

...and then, now that you have twists, whatever it was going to do, it's now doing harder.

If that is diving with you on your back, whirling in circles, then it's now doing that a lot quicker too!

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[Rover 11]

High performance canopy will give you a high performance malfunction.

2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

[demon4o7 0]

Is this true even if the canopy isn't elliptical? Ie hornet 190 openings compared to a hornet 150

[Shredex 0]

Higher wingload = greater chance of death

[-SK- 0]

I suspected as much... my landings have always been spot on but my openings haven't been the best; have had a lot of line twists and off-headings. As much as I would like to downsize, I have come to the realization I need to sort out my opening issues first.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Is this true even if the canopy isn't elliptical? Ie hornet 190 openings compared to a hornet 150

1. Yes. Smaller canopies are more sensitive to control input (intended or otherwise) and more likely to end up turning if you have line twists.

2. All modern canopies are elliptical to varying degrees.

[DSE 5]

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I suspected as much... my landings have always been spot on but my openings haven't been the best; have had a lot of line twists and off-headings. As much as I would like to downsize, I have come to the realization I need to sort out my opening issues first.

This goes into the top-ten of sensible things ever said on this website.

[Willi91 0]

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Quote

I suspected as much... my landings have always been spot on but my openings haven't been the best; have had a lot of line twists and off-headings. As much as I would like to downsize, I have come to the realization I need to sort out my opening issues first.

This goes into the top-ten of sensible things ever said on this website.

Agreed!
I applaud this attitude towards downsiszing

[billvon 2,990]

Literally? No, all canopies line twist about the same in my experience.

However, line twists on a highly loaded canopy are a much bigger deal since they are sometimes not recoverable.

[ianmdrennan 2]

I agree with Bill.

Even then, I've had linetwists under my 67 a few times now loaded at 3.3 and had zero issues. Of course IF it spins it's going to go wild but I find a lot of pilots freak out when they see linetwists and just start kicking making the problem way worse. A lot of that has to do with the fear introduced about line twists in recent years.

In my experience just chilling out and staying symmetrical during the ENTIRE opening sequence is key, regardless of linetwists. Then get gently start to get out of them.

Performance Designs Factory Team