Land with/against the wind ...

[speedy 0]

That I am posting this here and not in the “incidents” forum is only because the wing loading was light and the ground was soft.

Landing against the wind and with the pattern is what we would prefer to do. Landing on the designated landing area is also preferred. Indeed when we spot we try to make this easy to do. When the spotting does not work :

1. Do not try at all costs to reach the landing area. Pick somewhere big and easy to land as soon as you think it could be risky to reach the landing area.
   


2. If you do not follow point 1. and reach the landing area low, try to stay at the edges of the landing area and land if needed with wind.
   


3. If you cannot follow points 1 or 2 please do not attempt a 180 degree turn at 60 feet to land against the wind. This can kill.
   

I don’t see very many incident reports where the cause was landing with the wind. It’s survivable. But I very nearly saw another incident today.

Still, why bother posting this, it’s been said a 1000 times already.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[NWFlyer 2]

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I don’t see very many incident reports where the cause was landing with the wind. It’s survivable. But I very nearly saw another incident today.

Still, why bother posting this, it’s been said a 1000 times already.

Because there's always someone new to these forums who missed it the last time.

Glad it turned out to be a near miss rather than a new incident.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[FrogNog 1]

When a bad spot happens, it's hard to go against hundreds of jumps of "training": point at the LZ, fly to it, make some turns and end up landing into the wind.

I think periodic safe training for suboptimal landings / patterns would be valuable. Seeing as the ground will be wet at my DZ for the next six five months, I should put some shorts on over my legstraps and do some downwinders. )

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[speedy 0]

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I should put some shorts on over my legstraps and do some downwinders.

I sometimes wonder whether this should not be part of the training offered. If people landed more often downwind and realized that it's not such a big deal, maybe we can avoid the last minute turns to get against the wind.

On purpose downwinders might help.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[MB38 0]

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On purpose downwinders might help.

Just make sure that you do it outside of the landing area so you're not landing against the flow of traffic.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[mattjw916 2]

Solo hop and pops would be a safer idea... no traffic to worry about. I intentionally downwind/x-wind my H&Ps quite often, it's good practice.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[BIGUN 1,406]

As long as we're saying it again, perhaps it's time to read it again.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=31

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[70sdiver 0]

Ive made 2 down wind landings and I think ppl are overly scared of the outcome granted the winds were under 10 mph but i stood them both up

[flyangel2 2]

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Do not try at all costs to reach the landing area. Pick somewhere big and easy to land as soon as you think it could be risky to reach the landing area.

It's a good idea to look behind for that big feild. So many times people get focused on trying to make it back to the landing area, and if they would just look over their shoulder, there might be a big field behind them that they can land in.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[mjosparky 4]

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it's hard to go against hundreds of jumps of "training":

Start early and make your training something that works. By 1000 feet have your target landing area picked out. This is any safe place you can reach easily. It can be anything from a large open field to a large building with a flat roof. But make that decision high enough that you avoid having to make last minute panic maneuvers to land. Safe is better than pretty almost every time.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Martini 0]

Practicing/learning various kinds of suboptimal flying and landing techniques is valuable allright. Finding out how you personally deal with abnormal and stressful situations could save your butt someday. Mentioning downwind practice usually gets a look of horror as a response, how sadly shortsighted. I'll join you when I have a chance. I think I may have done a downwinder or two now that I think of it. And landed in a tight spot, made evasive manoeuvers, low braked turns, on rear risers etc. Good experience, good fun. Have yourself a ball Eugene.

Sometimes you eat the bear..............

[Reginald 0]

Well not to turn this into a WL discussion, because I know you said it was a lightly loaded canopy, but I know too many people that have trouble landing/standing up their canopies on no wind days. These are the people that won’t try down wind landings and hence are more prone to try and turn into the wind low. I truly believe that a person should not be flying a canopy they don’t have the confidence to land down wind. Because someday they will be faced with landing down wind or making a low turn…

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP