Eloy Landings

[vt1977 0]

A group of us at my home DZ who are going to Eloy for the Holiday Boogie were discussing what the landings are going to be like. My understanding is that Eloy is about 1,500 feet up and my home DZ isn’t! So… what should we expect? Faster landings I know, but how much faster and any good advice?

(btw – apologies is this has already been discussed, but the Eloy threads are just so long…)

Vicki

[aneblett 0]

Fly by feel!

A very wise person once told me the following while speaking on this subject of landing at different dzs :

If you don't perceive a difference, then there isn't one..

EsG

S.E.X. party #2

..It is far worse to live with fear, than to die confronting it.

[sunshine 2]

To me i would say it's the equivalent of downsizing to the next smallest size of your canopy.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[alanab 0]

woah! that just scares me

[sunshine 2]

Not trying to scare you, but definately take precautions when jumping there. Last year it was a real eye opening experience for me. There's hardly ever any wind, and you come in FAST!!! Betsy is wonderful about giving people a briefing before they jump. She'll take care of ya!!

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[AggieDave 6]

See, I didn't think you come in *that* fast.

I felt like my straight in at Eloy was lightyear's slower then any of my swoops are after a good fat 270.

A bit faster and the flare might feel a little "mushy" to you, but just realize that and deal with it.

What gets some folks is that the main landing area is land left or right, not into the wind, thus folks crosswind the landings and may not be used to the speed/drife/etc. If that's you, go to the 2nd landing area or the desert to land.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[dove 0]

Quote

A very wise person once told me the following while speaking on this subject of landing at different dzs :

If you don't perceive a difference, then there isn't one..

I have to agree with this. I have jumped at places and learned afterward of a ground level difference and didn't even realize it. Of course, at a new dz I will pull slightly higher on my first jump there and I ALWAYS do a few test flares after opening. If you get too worked up about it and let your mind run wild with the notion that it is horribly different and scary then it will be! Think of it this way though, many a jumper has made his/her first student jump at Eloy and landed just fine.

Fall in dove.

[adamsr 0]

i went to a boogie an airfield call karlovy vary in the czech republic. the airfield is just under 2000ft above sea level, plus is was very hot and pretty much nil winds all week.

The landings did seem much faster than my home dz (in england 300ft above sea level, bloody cold and usually windy!) especially for the first few jumps, but after the first days jumping i was used to it, with only a few grass stains on the butt of my jumpsuit after sliding it in a few times!

so basically just be conservative for the first few jumps and just get used to the increased speed, but after that it'll feel like the norm, and when you go back to your home dz, the landings will feel slow!

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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woah! that just scares me

Don't be scared. It's not like you'll be jumping in Calhan in 100 degree weather with a field elevation of 6500 feet MSL. Your Eloy landings will be a little faster, but not too bad. Don't worry about it and you should be fine. But if people do want to land in the main landing area, they need to make sure that they are comfortable with cross-wind landings as the landings are done in Eloy (in the main landing area) only to the east or to the west. If people don't like cross-wind landings, they can always go to the alternate landing area, or there are plenty of places to land off in the dessert adjacent to the DZ.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[bbarnhouse 0]

The landings in the North area are faster than most as they are generally cross wind landings.
The South area is into the wind.
Most days the winds are less than 5 mph.
If you are coming in on double fronts, you can bet its gonna be fast.

[mujie96 0]

I went last year with a little over 50 jumps, all in Hawaii (which for those of you that don't know it, is at sea level). The air felt cleaner, if that makes any sense but I didn't find my landings especially fast by comparison.
Just don't do anything dumb. And please, please follow the direction of traffic. Or land off. Off in AZ is a lot like not off except a nice man in a truck usually gives you a ride.

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming....

[WrongWay 0]

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To me i would say it's the equivalent of downsizing to the next smallest size of your canopy.

SWEET!!!!

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[Nick 0]

When I went to Eloy in Feb this year I did notice a difference against the UK (height and air temp) and I'd agree with the comment that it's about the same as going down one size.

Another thing to remember is that It's been winter here so you've been used to thick winter air which may make it worse.

Also remember all that for when you return to the UK, you'll get a lot more from your flare.

Nick
Gravity- It's not just a good idea, it's the LAW!

[quade 4]

Assuming your home dz were at sea level and all other conditions were the same then, for the 1,500 foot gain in altitude your true airspeed during landing will increase by about 3 percent.

This doesn't sound like much, but is noticable to most people.

My guess is a larger factor may be the temperature difference.

For painful detail in how this all works, see THIS PAGE.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[freeflir29 0]

I didn't think Eloy was that fast. Of course, I'm coming from about 970Ft. Eloy is at 1500. It was still fairly warm out...about 103 or so. Landed down wind every time. I just did a nice easy 180 carve for my first landing. No big deal...just be a little conservative your first couple landings. Now Perris....Perris seemed fast. It was about 107 and I seemed to lose A LOT more altitude in turns than I am used to. Since it's winter out now...I bet you won't notice too much difference. Just be careful!!


PS- I like to slide my landings out on my feet. Don't bother trying this while swooping. The grass is WAY too dry!

[gremlin 0]

Did my AFF course in Karlovy Vary. Great place - didn't realise it was 2000ft above sea level - mind you the winds were constantly so high that landing speed was never a problem.

I'm drunk, you're drunk, lets go back to mine....

[mcrocker 0]

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A group of us at my home DZ who are going to Eloy for the Holiday Boogie were discussing what the landings are going to be like. My understanding is that Eloy is about 1,500 feet up and my home DZ isn’t! So… what should we expect? Faster landings I know, but how much faster and any good advice?

(btw – apologies is this has already been discussed, but the Eloy threads are just so long…)

Vicki

My Home DZ is about 130' MSL so Eloy is quite a bit higher. I never really paid attention to it until I was coming in for a landing. Everything was normal for me (Spectre 170 loaded 1.1:1) but a bit faster. In other words I came in with a bit more forward speed than I'm used to. Was kinda fun actually, got a bit more surf.

One time I did over shoot the landing area and had to pop my flare to clear the telephone pole guard rail. I crashed and burned on the gravel road . Thankfully I had leather palmed gloves on that took most of the damage.

Of course, I only had 100 jumps at the time so it could all have been in my head

[Aviatrr 0]

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woah! that just scares me

There's nothing to worry about.....you're coming from Ohio, where the elevation is roughly 1,000ft anyways. Eloy is 1500ft. It's only 500ft difference. You won't even notice the difference.

Mike