Point of no return?

[helxen 0]

Question is mostly about solo performance flights.

Flight plan is as following: Jump run goes upwind, you exit and fly 90 degree to jumprun, then make u-turn and fly back to dz. You go crosswind all the time and wind itself drags you back to dz, so you can concentrate on flight itself.

Guys, how do you determine the point of u-turn in your flights? Answer "Practice." would suffice, of course, but it will be nice if you would share some tricks/thoughts.

Thanks in advance,
Vlad.

[Professor 0]

First, fly back to an offset from the spot, not the DZ. This will keep you away from canopies which may be open high, and still allow you to make it back. Then, just take your usable altitude and divide it in half. If you're getting out at 13,000 ft and pulling at 3, turn at 8k. Adjust for fatigue and wind drift.

Ted
Like a giddy school girl.

[helxen 0]

By "back to dz" I mean spot slightly upwind from DZ, of course. As for high-openers, that's what we have eyes for, not?

As for "divide by a half", idea is to push the limits slightly - i.e. do your best and improve, also, flight goes slightly better in lower airs, that's quite pronounced in 3k-6k range, so the point is a bit further than half.

[LouDiamond 1]

This applies for solo performance flights only and is based on the assumption that there is no other traffic (drop aircraft) or terrain/flight path restrictions on the aircraft.

Ideally, you want the base leg(first left turn) to be as short as possible so you can begin your flight back. In order to do this safely, you need to take the spot as far as you can upwind (very long spot). This will give you the most separation from other skydivers, to include while under canopy and allow you to fly in as straight a line as possible.

If you find you are catching up to skydivers under canopy and have to alter your flight path, are directly over the DZ at deployment time or are over shooting the DZ you are not taking the spot far enough upwind. You should find yourself alone in the sky and upwind of the DZ at pull time.Understanding the wind speeds at altitude and their direction before going up is important as it will help you determine how long you need to stay in the aircraft and their effect on your flight when you download your data to Paralog.

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[yuri_base 1]

If you have Optima audible, you can set the three swooper alarms to, say, 10K, 8K and 6K to help you with the pattern.

Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps:
L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP
iOS only: L/D Magic
Windows only: WS Studio

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

You can do the same thing with a neptune

[notsane 0]

If you're looking to get the very best performance, the best situation is to make the fewest turns possible.

Have the plane keep going after the last freefallers are out. That's usually upwind. Get out as far as you dare from the DZ. If the pilot is willing he can can turn you back towards the DZ at that point so you make no turns at all in freefall.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

Guys, how do you determine the point of u-turn in your flights? Answer "Practice." would suffice, of course, but it will be nice if you would share some tricks/thoughts.

Is it going to be your first flight? Do not expect to much performance with the first flight, do not to go too far.

Try to make slow 90 degree turn. You might loose more altitude with a 180 U turn and even might be instable.

Have fun!

[helxen 0]

52nd to be precise.

And u-turn seems to be quite flat, not that i do a half barrel and then dive down with a flip.

[helxen 0]

Notsane, those are cool visuals when you fly downwind, but without gps or whatever you're unable to determine how effective you fly by yourself, and what's added by wind, right?

Heading 90 degree to jumprun (and effectively crosswind) would allow to clearly see, how far could you fly. And seeing how far you can get by earth landmarks looks more interesting than sitting with paralog/optima/gps/whatever, looking at numbers. That's my point.

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Even at 90 degrees the wind(depending on wind strength) adds to the distance flown...

Kris.

[helxen 0]

Quote

Even at 90 degrees the wind(depending on wind strength) adds to the distance flown...

Kris.

Of course, also in this case, my flight line is triangle's hypotenuse, while one leg is wind drift and other is my movement, right?
And then goes google earth! :)

[notsane 0]

You can go the geek route and try to figure out your true airspeed, miles covered, etc ... but when you're really pushing it and getting it right, you'll know.

It would be great to have a HUD that would display glide angle, airspeed, altitude, etc .. but until that technology is perfected your best instrument is the seat of your pants.

[skydave114 0]

I just take the spot farther & farther until I have to land downwind. 8^) The canopy accuracy trick works well too. Ya know, the angle thing. Of course if there are some nice puffy clouds to play with, then the world is my DZ!