Canopy course jump #4

In the classroom, we are told all about canopy ‘stalling’ . Ive read the theory about this, and its been the one reason ive not pulled my brakes ‘too much’ as i simply dont want it to happen to me. For this jump, we are told the main 2 ways the canopy stalls, and, we have to intentionally make it happen. This will allow us to familiarize ourselfs with the maximum brakes before causing a stall, by knowing when the stall will happen.

The plane ride up was VERY quiet, with people looking unusually worried, with a lot of reserve handle checking, and rechecking.

At 7000 feet, i exit, nice and stable, and deploy, pump up the end cells, do my checks, check all around me, then pull the brakes right down to my knees, and hold them there. I pretty much stop, and just float. so i let the brakes back up, i grab the break lines higher than the handles, and again, pull as far as i can, and hold it. I slow right down, the back of the canopy starts to flutter, then, the center collapses, and the ends of the canopy meet as i fall backwards. HOLY SH!T!!! I gently let the brakes back up, the canopy inflates, and i surge forward, face down, vertically. AARGHHH HOLYYYYY SH!!!!TTTTTT!!!! That was worse than when the canopy collapsed, and i wasnt expecting that at all. I wait for the canopy to fully recover, check my altitude, and do it all over again. Twice.

The other type of stall is caused by pulling too much on the rear risers, so after checking all around me and my altitude, i grab the rear risers as high as i can reach, and start to pull them down. I slow down, then instead of falling backwards, the canopy simply folds in half, like a V shape where the front meets the back of the canopy, and i drop straight down. I let go of the risers gently, and the canopy simply pops back open. I do it again, but hold it collapsed for a little longer, and it pops open again, and i repeat a 3rd time, before starting my landing pattern for a good landing nice and close to the flags.

I stalled the canopy completely 6 times, in one jump, and survived 🙂 and it was great fun.