Back in our student skydiver days, when we looked to others to teach us what we never give a thought about anymore, we were taught certain things that were handed down to us as gospel, as something from which deviation would mean certain disaster. Then, as we progressed through the sport, we saw that not all gospel is gospel. Hell, some of it is outright mystifying, but not gospel. I offer you the case of choosing a landing direction when you alone are not the world's sole consideration. We were taught that we must land into the wind . " Into the wind ," right? Then we were taught which end of the funny little carrot-shaped thing (e.g. The Windsock) indicated the wind direction. And because someone else made our decisions for us all along anyway, we just did what we were told on those days when no direction was obvious by the windsock. Or the wind direction kept changing. Nothing strong, just changing. So we weren't really prepared when we got a little farther along and started to make some calls on our own, without help. Have you ever seen a clearly defined wind direction, lined up for it, and still went against the traffic? Or got in the way of someone else's boneheaded notion of landing direction? Damn it, don't you want to know what to do about it?! Check this out!
Follow the Leader
When the windsock gives a distinct and reasonably consistent reading, the preferred landing direction should be obvious to everyone. When this is not the case, the winds might be said to be light and variable.
Light and variable winds might be defined as: The wind sock changes slightly all day. Or it is limp. It is indistinct in identifying wind direction. The windsock may change direction periodically or wave weakly from one direction to another at random and without any true pattern. Wind speed may be noticeable, but will be light. About 8 MPH at the most.
When the winds are light and variable it is far less important to identify the true direction of the wind as there may be none and there may be many and they will always be changing. Twenty-two people could all land in twenty-two different directions all according to windsock readings and all twenty-two would be right in one sense and dead wrong in another. That's the beauty of "light and variable". As long as we know that under these conditions no direction is any safer or wiser than any other, then the only consideration is, " How do I land relative to the others on the load? " The answer is always " in the same direction ."
If you are about to land downwind because of the spot, your opening altitude, your ability to recognize the DZ early enough - any reason at all - take the downwind landing as opposed to the low turn. If the downwind landing puts you facing into oncoming traffic, the error was in insisting on getting back to the DZ. Better to have landed out. If your set-up and final have you landing into instead of with the traffic, you are wrong. You are plain wrong, no way around it, uh uh, no sir. You're wrong every time and you are a potential hazard.
The only solution is to follow the leader . Once the first person on the load has landed, you can disregard the windsock. Forget it. Remove it from your consciousness from that point on. It holds no more information for you as the first person to land has just told you everything you need to know. If the second person actually follows the first, then the pattern is set and solid and should never be deviated from. Even if the windsock says something else . There is no need to talk it up at the loading area. No need to "land towards the mountains." No need to be mystified. Follow the leader .
You should be taking in this information almost immediately upon opening. Once you have established that you can land at the DZ safely, begin to watch what the lower people are setting up to do. Notice who's going to be first - or already has been. Notice how the others follow. If it seems that more people are not following the first person down - perhaps he or she was down quite a bit earlier - then it may be appropriate to follow the lead of the majority. However, it is also the responsibility of the first person to land to recognize the lead he or she has established. Once you've seen the accepted landing direction, make your way into the pattern, incorporating yourself with the rest of the traffic. Note who's going fast, slow, sinking, floating, spiraling, holding, landing near or away from the peas, the fence, the pond. Assess your speed and likely affect on the flow of the pattern. Anticipate your own needs and a pattern to achieve these needs.
Now what about the notion of landing with the wind riding up your ass? Things are indeed zippier. But that's about the only difference. Canopy skills are what it takes. We should all be developing our canopy skills as thoroughly as possible on every jump we make. If you can land your parachute with more knowledge than luck on a regular basis, then downwind landings are more or less the same thing. The flare will begin a little sooner but resistance to flare all the way will be tested. Don't try to brake. Let it ride, let the canopy fly. You'll be on a longer glide than you might be used to. Don't be so hot to flare too much and don't be so hot to grab some earth. It'll grab you soon enough. To be honest, this can't be taught in a column. But it behooves us all to first accept and understand that downwind and crosswind landings need not be intimidating. (They can, in fact, be fun!) Then to go out and learn how to land our parachutes in general with emphasis on extra-ordinary circumstances.
So, to sum it up a bit: Stronger winds - it's obvious. Light and variable - we follow the leader.
Thanks for listening,
Kim Emerson, S&TA