ARTICLES
Crash and Bang! - Canopy Formations And Getting Started
by Alastair Macartney and Ian Marshall
Published in the BPA Magazine
Canopy Relative Work (CRW), or
Canopy Formations (CF) as it is now known, is only done by the most mental
of skydivers with some suicidal, kamikaze type death wish.
They start their skydive under a good canopy and spend the rest of
their time trying as hard as they can to collapse, stall, damage and trash
both theirs and everyone else’s canopies.
They just look for some kind of excuse to get their knives out and
start hacking away at other peoples kit before making a good excuse to
gain the much needed extra freefall time but cutting it away and flying
their reserves. They’ve
paid for their reserve canopy and they are damned well going to get their
moneys worth using them. And
to top this off, when they are not smoking roll- ups, they are trying to
get other unsuspecting victims to do it with them.
These guys just bring the sport into disrepute and should be banned
...Right?
Wrong.
Canopy Formation jumpers are some of the safest and most
responsible skydivers out there. They
may not spend a lot of time in freefall, but they are excellent canopy
pilots, constantly aware of what is going on around them.
Serious CF jumpers have dedicated
equipment that they only use for sub terminal deployment. The reason that they do not take it to terminal is the way it
is packed. For instance the
slider is only made out of mesh, rather than the standard sail slider used
by other skydivers, and they don’t pack the canopy into a bag or stow
the lines in bungees. All
this adds to the speed of opening and thus the more time they have under
canopy. The rigs are packed
almost identically to how a BASE jumper packs, ensuring fast and on
heading openings every time. In competition this is very important as every second counts
trying to build that first point. If
one team member has an off heading opening, this can result in an
‘unplanned’ canopy collision or cost the team a medal place due to the
extra time needed to make the initial build.
These jumpers put a lot of effort in to making sure that the
packing is done correctly.
But it is not just packing their
gear that they are good at. Their
canopy piloting skills are generally of a very high standard.
They can move that canopy around and put it anywhere in the sky
that they choose. They
understand how to control it. How
to use the front risers, brakes and back risers. (Or just twist the canopy
by using a combination of risers). They
can even make the canopy move left a little by jabbing on just the right
toggle. If you want to learn
any kind of canopy control skills then ask a CF jumper.
Competing in CF is split down in
to three disciplines in this country (UK).
4 way rotations, 4 way sequential and 8 way speed.
The rotations event is timed over one and a half minutes and starts
when the first competitor exits the aircraft.
The jumpers then stack their canopies together and take it in turns
come off the top of the stack and then rejoin on the bottom.
The aim is to do as many in time as possible. (The world record is
20). The current British
record is 15 set by Cross Keys Crew last year.
The sequential event is similar to
how formation skydiving works, but with the obvious exception that this is
done under canopy. Random and
block formations are drawn from the pool prior to the competition and
teams then have to make these different shapes taking grips on other
member’s canopies or lines, with just feet grips.
Again the aim is to build as many different formations in two and a
half minutes. Currently Team
X holds the British record of 5 points in time.
The eight-way speed event is a
timed event with jumpers exiting the aircraft and having to build a
pre-set formation in the quickest time. The formation changes each round
with some being easier to build than others.
So, are you interested then?
Why not give it a go. First
of all you need to receive a brief from an instructor or suitably
qualified CF jumper. If you are not sure who to approach, your CCI will always be
willing to point you in the right direction.
With this done and the safety side out of the way, you need to sort
yourself out with some gear. Any
old container and reserve will do, and a 7 cell main such as a Fury, or
even better a Triathlon or Lightning.
It is important to work out the wing loading of the canopy that you
are going to be jumping and that of the coach you will be jumping with.
Ideally the two wing loadings should be the same if jumping the
same type of canopies. If
necessary wear weight to help this out. A larger, more docile canopy is probably better to start with
than a faster swoop machine. Now
make sure that you have got your knife suitably positioned and can get at
it quickly if the situation arises.
Exit the aircraft at about eight
thousand feet, do a stable exit and about a three second delay, any
shorter and your canopy will be deploying in the turbulence created by the
aircraft. Now check your
canopy, take control of it and, with a little bit of brake on, find your
coach and follow the rest of the skydive as he will have briefed you to
do. Learn the different
inputs that front and back risers make and how your brake toggles really
work. Practice docking and
climbing down the lines of some else’s canopy.
Kick out and jab you brakes. You
are now rotating over the top. Grasp
your front risers and drop down. Now
ease some back riser input and let your coach get their legs in your
lines. A bit of brake to help
them come down. But do not
forget to remain altitude aware. Still a bit of time left?
Feel like some more excitement?
Are you going to try a downplane, land the stack that you are in or
fly in side by side?
What a great feeling it is.
For those of you about to give it your first go, you’ll get those
butterflies in your stomach churning over at the anticipation of doing
something that is conceived by other skydivers at being dangerous.
But don’t whuffo’s think skydiving is dangerous?
And it is not is it. So
don’t resort to their level. Give
it a go. It is actually quite
safe and you never know you might even enjoy it.
Revised: 25 August 2000
Website designed by Alastair Macartney.