After a quick review of the goals for the jump, Scott told us we would jumping from a different plane - the Pilatus Porter Turbo. When I looked at it, I was surprised to see the door on the right side. With the exception of the Skyvan, the rest of my jumps were out of an assortment of Otters with doors on the left side of the plane near the tail. Transitioning to the tailgate was easy, but I wasn't sure how to exit the Porter.
When I asked Scott about getting stable after the exit, he said, "Just leave the plane stable." Very funny. Since the clouds were quickly coming in and getting lower, we only got up to 5,000K for our exit. When I went to leave the plane, I instinctively faced the tail and just fell off the plane. After a back flip, I got stable and pulled. From my log book:
6/22/05: Jump 19 - DeLand, FL - AFF: CAT F: Canopy Control Course - Exit Altitude: 5,000 - Pilatus Porter Turbo - Dive Flow: Flat Turns, 1/2 Brakes, 3/4 Brakes - Dove out of the plane sideways. Tumbled. Got stable, pulled. Ck Alt 4,000. Worked on 1/2 braked and 3/4 braked turns - 180 turns (4) - 90 turns - 4 In 1/2 brakes, the canopy moves faster when I pushed down a toggle than when I let up one. Canopy moves smoother when I let up smoothly on one and push down gently on one. In 3/4 brakes, harder to turn, but turns are tighter. Good execution of landing pattern. Flared ok, but didn't finish flare completely. Not far from target - about 20 feet? Scott Miller D-13234
The landing was better. Still not perfect, but I felt like I was making progress. We dropped our rigs off at the packing tent and went back to the classroom for session 3.
During this session, we learned about the angle of attack. When the canopy is in full glide (no brakes), the canopy has a low angle of attack. As you flare, you increase the angle of attack. We also talked about stalling the canopy using the toggles and using the rear risers. To do a rear riser stall, we would grab the rear risers and lift ourselves up - sort of like a pull up at the gym. When we were doing toggle stalls, we'd pull the toggles (brakes) all the way down until the canopy "stalled". Scott mentioned that it might be necessary to wrap some of the excess brake line around our hands in order to get the canopy to stall. After we stalled the canopy, we were supposed to let up slowly - keeping our hands next to our body. Added note: no canopy stalls under 2,000 feet.
