Keep in mind that with steady wind conditions and decent wind indicators, everyone can see which way the winds are coming from and know which way to land and fly the pattern. They see the likely landing direction before taking off, confirm it under canopy, and we\u2019re good to go. We shouldn\u2019t need anything other than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Possibly the most important part of any plan is for the jumpers to know what the landing direction and pattern will be as soon as possible. Some DZs with very consistent wind conditions tell the jumpers which way to land before they take off. This is great! No time is wasted looking down to figure out the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The winds at Perris can be so variable that we can\u2019t do that. The winds can and do often change direction from the time a load takes off until they land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We used to always have the first person down set the pattern. It generally works okay but also requires the person setting the pattern to make good decisions and fly their pattern in a way that\u2019s easy for those above them to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the person setting the pattern flies a good downwind, base, and final, the jumpers above can tell the landing direction when that person is on their downwind. If they spiral down to land, the jumpers above don\u2019t know which way the landing direction is being set until after that person lands. Finding out the landing direction so late can cause additional problems if people were expecting and setting up for something different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the first person down plan, there also needs to be a default direction \u2014 a direction we go if the winds are so variable or crosswind that it\u2019s difficult to determine the best direction. In Perris, when in doubt, we land south to north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On slower days in Perris, generally when we\u2019re only flying one plane, we usually have the first person down set the pattern. If the winds are particularly variable that day, we have a lot of visiting jumpers, or a lot of new jumpers, we will often put someone on the arrow even on a slow day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the arrow, as soon as a jumper checks their canopy and airspace, they can look down, see the arrow, and know immediately which way to fly their pattern and approach. They never have to look down again and can spend more time under canopy checking for other canopies. Without this information, they won\u2019t be able to confidently start setting up in the pattern until much later under canopy, and they will have to spend too much time looking down trying to figure out which way the landing direction will be set \u2014 time that is much better spent checking their own airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/DSC06569-52-by-Argy-Alvarez-1024x683.jpg\")
Communicating the Landing Plan Early<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The First Person Down Method<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Using the Arrow<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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