What is supposed to happen if someone lands out of the pattern?

[Apollinaire 0]

If someone lands out of the set pattern and it was no accident, what should happen to that person? I recently saw this and because I have no experience didn't know exactly what should happen next. I could see that the person who set the pattern was upset but didn't quite understand what the consequences would be for the person who did it.

[OSOK 0]

This is very DZ-specific. Im sure some DZs care, some dont. Just whatever you do, dont do a low turn or something like that just because you wanted to land in the same pattern the person before you did. Once you go on that downwind leg, commit to it and dont change the plan.

[migliore 0]

Like he said, it is DZ specific. There are two extremes...at Perris, as soon as 2 people land in different directions, the primary landing area (grass) is closed and everyone is supposed to land elsewhere. Other DZ's won't say anything if the person was experienced, "knew what he was doing", and didn't cause a major problem.

I think that the person should be warned once and then have actions taken if they intentionally do it again. If they want to land downwind, crosswind, etc., they should do it away from others or when nobody planning to land into the wind is in the pattern.

Shane

[popsjumper 2]

What is "supposed to" happen and what does happen is two different things at nearly all DZs....

IMO, one warning then sit 'em down for the rest of the day or week.

What really bothers me is the "experienced" people who do this in the middle of everyone else, not knowing skill levels of those they cut off...more than one person has been hurt and hurt badly by this stupidity.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[mdrejhon 8]

For whatever it is worth, one day was pretty low wind. Almost zero. The windsock kept changing directions 180 degrees. People were not landing in a clear direction -- I landed in the opposite direction of someone landing in the peas (I flat turned to land about 100 feet away). The swooper traffic confused me at the time. All in all, there were three directions of landing by different people within a 200 feet area.

Then the DZO just took down the pea bowl windsock and told everyone to land in a preset pattern (there was another windsock on top of the hangar if we needed it for other reasons such as landing out). Everything became much safer then.

Just another data point to contribute.

[AFFI 0]

Quote

Once you go on that downwind leg, commit to it and dont change the plan.

Unless at say, 200 feet an obstacle comes into view that could injure you severely, then your choices become:
1) Land in the obstacle (not recommended for something like power lines)
2) Perform a flat turn so you can change your heading on the horizon while keeping the canopy overhead.
There are a lot of dead skydivers that did not learn to execute a Flat Turn and along came a day when they needed that skill and since it was never learned they pulled a single toggle down to avoid the obstacle from a low altitude and the next thing ya know I am doing my least favorite thing - attending a friends funeral...

Slow Flight (also called: Flat Flight – Braked Flight – Flying in Half Brakes):
Slow flight changes the angle the parachute glides. Holding the toggles near the shoulders (#1 position) slows down your forward speed and rate of descent.
After some practice, you will discover flight characteristics that many jumpers are unaware of. You can learn to get a whole new level of performance from your canopy, and develop skills that can save your life in a tight situation.

Flat Turns (also called: Avoidance Turns - Braked Turns):
Flat Turns are a very important canopy piloting skill to master. It allows you to change the direction you are flying while keeping the canopy over head. Make any low-altitude avoidance turns from braked flight to avoid an equally dangerous dive following a turn from full flight.
1. Pull both steering toggles evenly to the #1 position.
2. Clear the airspace you are going to turn into.
3. Pull the toggle down slightly in the direction you want to turn.
4. To make a left turn pull both steering toggles to the #1 position
5. Pull the left toggle down slightly while
6. Remember the toggle input must remain minimal to keep the canopy over your head and avoid a diving turn.

Stall Avoidance:
A stall is when the angle of attack of a wing becomes too high to sustain lift.
If a full flare is held long enough for the canopy to loose its airspeed, it will depressurize, loose its shape and will not produce lift.
No Airspeed = No Lift = Stall
The bottom skin of the canopy will begin wrinkle or pucker and the canopy will begin to fly backwards. If you were to continue to hold the toggles down, the canopy would stall and you would begin to fall. If the canopy does stall, to recover gently let the toggles back up smoothly. Knowing the stall point of your canopy will be beneficial in the event you ever need to initiate a flat turn low to the ground…

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[dharma1976 0]

you must flog them heavily with elderberry bush branches...

or you could say hey what happened and explain to that person that they did a bad thing and why it can kill themselves and others...and then if they do it again revert to elderberry bush branch option

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[riggerrob 643]

When winds are light and variable in Pitt Meadows, the default landing direction is to the West.

We send swoopers off to their own corner of the landing field.

Normally the first guy down sets the landing direction for everyone else.
People who ignore other traffic and land in odd directions must explain their actions to a senior instructor. Then they are reminded of DZ policy. If they offend repeatedly, they are encouraged to crater at some other DZ.