Interesting ride

[ManBird 0]

So, my first (yes, bought beer) Crossfire 109 flight didn't exactly go as expected. Dumped out the door at 13.5k. The opening on this Crossfire is fricking amazing, even that high. Even with that snivel and my crappy packing skillz, it stayed right on heading without touching the risers (no bumpers right now).

I checked everything out... looked OK. Collapsed the slider and put it behind my neck (tabs on the risers). I unstowed the toggles, flared it once (very powerful flare), turned left, turned right. Now as soon as I completed my right turn, the canopy started to go left. It went left for the rest of the jump. In order to get it to fly straight, I loosened my right leg strap a lot, and really tightened the left one, leaned to the right, and flew the right side half braked.

I spotted for the gear if I needed to chop and decided by 4k whether I would or not. Pressure on the right toggle and fatigue increased, but I decided to land it anyway. I flared it nearly two dozen times on the way down to make sure I was going to land it OK, and I did.

The canopy and lines were inspected twice before the jump, and once, very thoroughly, afterwards (inspected by a rigger once before and after). All the lines are the same length as their counterparts on either side of the canopy. No ripped ribs. No twist in the risers. Physically, everything was OK.

Any ideas what happened? I checked that canopy up and down like crazy for the flight. No lineover, but I did notice that the upper control lines on the right side had noticeably more slack in them than the left. Is it possible that there is something wrong with the lines that I don't see until my weight is suspended underneath them? I'm going to have another rigger look at again and give it another shot if it checks out. Maybe the molecules were rarified. ;)

I must say that I was impressed with Crossfire nonetheless. Even with, theoretically, 25% of my flare gone, the flare was extremely powerful on a straight in landing loaded at 1.7. Up top, I went ahead tried the front risers out a couple times. The riser pressure was higher than expected, but this also probably due to the fact that it was a right front riser turn, and the left side was essentially half braked. Even then, it got into a dive and stayed in a dive for about 700 deet (180 to double front for the remainder of the power band (at about 10,000 feet)). Not bad for a f*¢ked up ride.

(Edited for spelling)

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[Genn 0]

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but I did notice that the upper control lines on the right slides had noticeabley more slack in them than the left.

Are your brake lines even?

[Jib 0]

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In order to get it to fly straight, I loosened my right leg strap a lot, and really tightened the left one, leaned to the right, and flew the right side half braked.

Wouldn't you want to loosen the left and tighten the right to put more weight on the right side?
(I don't know the answer; so, I'm asking.)

I had something similar happen to me after a hard, riser slap to the face, line-twisted opening. It was loaded just over 1.0, but the left tail was almost flipping up and the right was braked. The only thing anyone could find wrong was the adjustable harness (rental rig) wasn't evenly adjusted.

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the depth of his depravity sickens me.
-- Jerry Falwell, People v. Larry Flynt

[andy2 0]

[QUOTE]Wouldn't you want to loosen the left and tighten the right to put more weight on the right side?
(I don't know the answer; so, I'm asking.)
[/QUOTE]

Someone correct me if Im wrong, but by loosening the leg strap you want to turn in you are slanting your body weight to rest on that leg strap, i.e. the low side, letting gravity do the work for you by putting more than 50% of the weight suspended on the side of the harness, then to the risers, connected to the lines, then to the canopy, on the side of the canopy you want to turn. I think Im right at least

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let my inspiration flow,
in token rhyme suggesting rhythm...

[ManBird 0]

You slump in the direction of the loose leg strap. I loosened the right one to turn right, because the canopy was turning left.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[LouDiamond 1]

Are you sure your leg straps were even to start with? Something as simple as that could of been enough to induce your problem.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[andy2 0]

[QUOTE]You slump in the direction of the loose leg strap. I loosened the right one to turn right, because the canopy was turning left.[/QUOTE]

Right, exactly what I said in just oh so not an eloquent way as you Thanks for clarifying that.

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let my inspiration flow,
in token rhyme suggesting rhythm...

[amir1967 0]

I don´t know what I´m saying but I would loosened the left one and then try to stay in balance in the harness , if that not enough can always lean a bit more to the right = pulling right risers down = turning right that´s my Logic

AM67

[hookitt 1]

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You slump in the direction of the loose leg strap. I loosened the right one to turn right, because the canopy was turning left.

Um... that's backwards.

To compensate to the right, Crank the right one tight and loosen the left.

To compensate to the left, Crank the left one tight and loosen the right.

---so---
If you're canopy drifts left the right side should be cranked tighter so you can lean on it.

Tim

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[eames 0]

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...the canopy started to go left. It went left for the rest of the jump. In order to get it to fly straight, I loosened my right leg strap a lot, and really tightened the left one, leaned to the right, and flew the right side half braked.

Sounds to me like you made it worse by raising the right side of the harness by loosening the right side... and worse yet by tightening up the left side. Explain again why you think that helped????

Jason

[freeflydrew 0]

backwards... Hookitt is right...

[fundgh 0]

I agree as well. It is not the direction that your harness makes you lean that compensates for the turn, it is the side that the force of gravity is being applied to.

I would like to know if there is a "Physics of Skydiving for dummies" book or article written anywhere. I think that it would be great if people who never studied physics could learn how things happen from a scientific point of view. Should I start writing...I am kind of a dummy, but I do understand physics.

...FUN FOR ALL!

[ManBird 0]

I definitely checked to make sure my leg straps were even before the jump... moreso than usual. When the turn first happened, I thought I was accidentally harness turning.

Loosening the right leg strap fixed the problem, for sure. The results were immediately noticeable. I was spiraling. When I loosened the right leg strap, which allowed me to slump to the right, the spiral turned into a slow turn. Definitely a fix. Braking on the right side turned the slow turn into straight flight. Before I let the right strap out, I had to keep the right toggle almost fully braked to fly the canopy straight.

Think about it. When the canopy turns one way, you apply downward (relative to the position of the canopy) to the opposite side.

Either way would work, and I did think about which one to loosen, and which one would be easier to fly for 12,000+ feet. I could loosen the left one and push down on my right side, but the effort it would take would most likely fatigue me after awhile, and landing keeled to one side would have been difficult. Loosening the right strap allowed me to just slump over effortlessly.

One way you harness turn to the right is by lifting your left leg and dropping your right, right? This basically gave me a fixed right harness turn to counter the canopy's left turn, and it definitely worked. If loosening the straps the way I did made it worse, I would have spiraled more, not straightened out, and that canopy would have been chopped.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[ManBird 0]

By the way, what you guys are saying is correct. Normally, if you evenly distribute your weight and one side is looser than the other, you will turn towards the tighter side, since that side is being pushed down.

I'm just saying that what I did works, as well, as it allowed me sit much more of my weight on the right side. It's not normal procedure and doesn't apply to normal flight, but this wasn't a normal flight.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[Hooknswoop 19]

A canopy will turn to the side of the tighter leg strap and away from the looser leg strap.

Your hips stay fairly even. Loosening the left leg strap allows the three-ring on the left to be higher than the 3-ring on the right, essentially a harness turn to the right.

You can harness steer more to the side of the tighter leg strap.

If your right steering line is longer than you left, you can put more input to the left side of the canopy.

Hook

[ManBird 0]

I guess either way would work, but your method is probably better. What it boils down to is, in this case, having the ability to drastically offset the risers and keep right side lower than the left. My method work. Yours would, too. If it happens again on my next flight, I'll try to other way. But if I have to chop, you owe me beer.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[GroundZero 0]

wrong...

Try it with a canopy that flies straight....

Chris

[ManBird 0]

If one riser is lower than the other, the canopy will turn in the direction of the lower riser. I may have done it in a backwards way on this one, but it worked.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[ManBird 0]

So... I think I may have found the problem. If you pulled all the lines together, evenly, and not really hard enough, everything would look just fine. I pulled the right upper control lines and the steering line away from each other and it appears that (and I'm not a rigger so I don't the terminology exactly) the finger trapped portion of the line on the main steering line slid WAY out... I don't know enough about this crap to speculate, but I do know that it just needs to be re-finger trapped. Does that make sense?

And next time, I'll loosen the other leg strap. While what I did DID work for me, when several people with ten times as many jumps as me tell me otherwise, I listen.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[freeflydrew 0]

Is this canopy brand new?

[ManBird 0]

Definitely not. 800 jumps and is already in need of new lines.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[freeflydrew 0]

Each time I've purchased a used canopy, I've immediately replaced the line set. I feel much more confident about knowing that there is no wear on the lines, and I really like how it almost feels brand new with the fresh lines, even though it's used.
It sounds like a new line set will solve all the strangeness of this canopy's flight.
Have fun
-drew

[Jimbo 0]

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It sounds like a new line set will solve all the strangeness of this canopy's flight.

On a canopy with Vectran lines? How out of trim can it be?

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[ManBird 0]

Flew it again. Flew just fine this time. Chalk it up to pilot error. CHALK IT!

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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[flow 1]

So, how did ya like it now when it flew correctly?

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