browncow 0 #1 April 23, 2007 does anyone know the roughly how fast a canopy (say 100sq ft for arguments sake) descends after it is cut away. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
breadhead 0 #2 April 23, 2007 If you hang in deep brakes after a cutaway, you land about the same time as your freebag and slightly before your main. This suggests a cutaway main descends about as fast as a canopy in brakes. Having flown around other people's cutaway mains a few times confirms this. If you need a number, I would say 10-15 feet per second, but the variation is probably quite wide. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #3 April 23, 2007 I'd say there are plenty variables involved. I have 20 cutaways. Sometimes the main is down WAY before me. Sometimes I can't stay with it regardless of how much/long I stay on brakes. Freebags can be more consistant, but sometimes they telescope into themselves and go really fast. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karenmeal 0 #4 April 23, 2007 Highly variable. The thing is changing positions all the time and will sometimes partially inflate on the way down. It also depends on the air, I've seen a cutaway main literally hang in the air on a thermal for about 15-20 minutes. Most of the time, it seems to land close to the same time as the person who cut away. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
everymansaved 0 #5 April 23, 2007 It obviously goes without saying that it varries highly on the type of malfunction that was cutaway. Obviously a baglock will beat a fully inflated wing that was cutaway due to linetwists to the ground any day.God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZigZagMarquis 9 #6 April 23, 2007 Like folks up thread have said... its tough to say / depends on a lot of things. Generally, I'd agree with BH that said at chopped main comes down about as fast as a canopy in deep brakes, but that too depends on what kind of canopy it is you're in deep brakes under... Anyway, I've chased down many a person's cut-away main and freebag and two of my own. Chopped mains can do some really weird shit as they're falling. Freebags / pilot chutes are more predictable, but I've seen them come out of the sky like a rock if once the reserve is out of the bag, the bag and bridle tangle up with the pilot chute and choke it... conversly, I've seen freebags / reserve pilot chutes go nearly miles on a windy day if the reserve pilot chute stays inflated. If I'm chasing someones trash down and I see both the chopped main and freebag / reserve PC, I tend to try to land closer to the freebag / reserve PC and keep an eye on where the chopped main is going to land relative to where the freebag/PC go... all things being equal, good landing area, etc... since the freebag/PC is the smaller of the two and tend to "hide" better under bushes and such after landing... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trae 1 #7 April 27, 2007 I had a cutaway a couple of weeks ago and the main beat me to the ground by a few hundred feet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 279 #8 April 27, 2007 As others said, descent rate of a chopped main varies a lot. Last weekend when spotting for an intentional cutaway, the chopped main (a big 190 square footer) descended very roughly about 60 % faster than the wind drift indicator did -- but who knows how fast the WDI had really descended. This came from checking the start and landing locations & altitudes for both. That seems maybe a little fast, if compared to what people are saying about staying with a chopped canopy in deep brakes (...depending on one's own canopy too). But when following a main, people may be making wide turns or a tighter spiralling turn, complicating the issue. For intentional cutaways, I'm more concerned with the amount of drift. Based on that one data point, the next time when I determine the regular 'spot' with a WDI from 2500', that spot may be about right for a cutaway with a bigger canopy at about 4000'. I don't have much data yet but that'll be my starting point. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #9 April 27, 2007 Quote It obviously goes without saying that it varries highly on the type of malfunction that was cutaway. Obviously a baglock will beat a fully inflated wing that was cutaway due to linetwists to the ground any day. Yep. Mostly open canopy - very slow. Tangled ball of shit - pretty fast. For what its worth, I once saw a cutaway baglock clang off someone's truck hood. Made a pretty good dent in it. "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
