You wouldn’t cross multiple lanes on a highway, so please don’t do this on final!
Setting up long is no reason to cut across a landing area like a drunken snake.
Watch the guy with a green wing cut across the whole landing area and back again causing Steph and I to do an unplanned team landing. Luckily we know how to fly our canopies. Watch the shadow for the track.
Video: Erratic landing pattern 1
Video by Mark ‘Trunk’ Kirchenbaum
Whether this approach was due to a deliberate S-turn to avoid overshooting the landing area, or an over rotation on the turn, this maneuver is potentially lethal. The canopy pilot also crosses the runway low, potentially endangering aircraft as well as parachutes. (Note, for those that have not jumped at Skydive Elsinore, landing direction is always parallel to the runway, either North or South.)
Caveat: If you are going to hit an object, save yourself, but definitely make better decisions next time. Overshooting the grass is not an emergency.
Video: Erratic landing pattern 2
- The video above shows the importance of a good landing pattern
- Let’s learn how to fly our parachute
- The offending canopy pilot had family there and “wanted to land close” 😒 – never change your flying to ‘impress’ family or friends
- If you have questions about the landing pattern, ASK
- Recommendation – sign up for a canopy course to improve your landing pattern and awareness
