- Can you effectively, describe your skydiving canopy?
Do you know what its control range look like?
Do you know what is its opening characteristics?
Oh, this canopy has a long control range.
Oh, well this canopy snivels a lot.
Do you actually know what those terms mean?
Can you really describe the characteristics of a canopy?
So how can you actually choose the best one for you
if you can't?
Well, stay tuned because in this video,
we're covering the characteristics of a skydiving canopy,
so that you can make a better choice
when it's time for you to choose
the type of canopy you want.
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So yes, this is the long awaited part two
of how to choose your main canopy.
A while back, I did a video about how to choose your canopy,
talking about the design characteristics,
elliptical, fully-elliptical.
You can watch this video by clicking right here,
but here in the part two,
I'm covering the performance characteristics
of those canopies.
So when a manufacturer tells you
about the snivel of a canopy
or the control range or the flare type,
what do those terms really mean?
Well, we will clarify those terms in this video.
And for that matter,
I'd like to thank, Performance Designs
because they did a great job
in characterizing their main canopies
and describing all of those characteristics
that we can really find
for any type of skydiving canopies on the market.
So I found it very interesting,
and that's why I'm sharing those with you.
Well, you can always check out their Compare4 tool,
which is where they describe those characteristics,
and you'll find the link in the description below.
So now let's start,
let's start by talking about, the opening.
There are a lot of factors that can affect a canopy opening,
like the size, the wing loading, the deployment speed,
the way it was packed and of course other elements.
But for some skydiving canopies,
all the environment and elements being equal,
some will tend to use a little bit more altitude to deploy
and others a little bit less.
And PD really describes the opening in three phases,
the snatch, the snivel and the inflation.
So when you deploy your main canopy,
the moment where your pilot chute exits your hand,
the snatch phase starts.
And it is when your deployment bag is exiting your container
and that all the lines gets unstowed.
The snivel phase,
is when your canopy gets out of the deployment bag
and starts to inflate, but your slider is still up.
So it's not fully inflated yet.
And finally, the inflation, it speaks for itself,
this is when your canopy, is completing it inflation
and your slider goes down.
So the end of the phase of the inflation,
is really when the slider is down.
And at that point you have a fully deployed main canopy.
So now that we are good with the deployment,
let's talk about another term that needs clarification,
the recovery arc.
So, you know when you provide some sort of input
to your canopy, that builds speed, like a toggle turn,
a riser turn, front riser input.
Well, the recovery arc,
is how quickly will your canopy recover
from that input?
And when you'll end up being,
underneath your canopy, once again.
Because you know, whenever you do an input,
well, you end up not being under your canopy anymore,
and your canopy tends to dive with speed,
so when you're done with that input,
the time that your canopy will continue to fly,
and until you get back underneath the canopy,
well, this is the recovery phase
and we call it the recovery arc
because it will look like an arc.
Like you increased the speed
and then it will slow down
and finally you'll get underneath your canopy.
So how steep or how flat is that recovery arc,
may depend on the type of canopy you're flying.
A longer recovery arc,
tend to be more representative of a high performance canopy
and disciplines like swoop.
A shorter recovery arc, will tend to be more forgiving,
of lower maneuvers, because of its quick recovery.
So to sum up everything, the shorter is the recovery arc,
the more conservative can be the canopy
because this way, whenever you do an input,
it will recuperate very fast,
so that if you're doing a bird maneuver,
near from the ground,
it's more forgiving.
The next term is, the trim.
In order to fly,
your canopy already have an angle in the wind.
This angle is created
by delaying the length of your canopy,
and this is what we call the trim.
So when we talk about the trim of a canopy,
it's really how steep is that angle in the wind.
Some of them are flatter
and others are really steeper in full flight.
And it's very interesting
to compare canopies with their trim
because the ones that have steeper trim,
will tend to go down faster.
And then you guessed it,
when a canopy has a flatter trim,
it will tend to glide further.
So that could be interesting, when choosing your canopy.
Now let's talk about the speed range.
So when we talk about the speed range,
it's really how fast your canopy can go in full flight,
compared to how slow it can be in full brakes.
So that's range from full flight, being fast
to slow on their brakes is your speed range.
So you can play in that speed range
to adjust your depending of the situation.
So if you're the type of skydiver
that wants an active canopy ride,
well, a larger speed range can be more interesting
because you can have a good speed in full flight,
but you can play a lot in the lower speeds
to do whatever type of maneuvers you wanna do.
If you are the type of skydivers who wants to sit back
and relax during the canopy flight,
well, a longer speed range can be too demanding for you.
This is why a shorter speed range maybe best suited for you.
Next dynamic landing range.
How pronounced should be your 2-stage flare
or dynamic flare.
So canopies that have a flatter glide
will tend to be less dynamic during the flare.
It means that there won't be a lot of differences in speed
from the start of your landing,
till the end of your flare.
This steeper glide canopies on the other hand,
will have a much more dynamic landing flare
because then you can go half-break
for your first stage of the flare,
and still fly that canopy well,
then still have a lot of power for finishing your flare.
That means that the speed will considerably change
from the start of your flare to the end.
The next one is very important for you to listen,
because this is a challenge that a lot of new skydivers
are facing, the flare timing.
So, first we gotta keep in mind, our human perception.
So the faster the ground comes to you,
or the faster you go down to the ground,
will affect your flare timing
because of perception, because of stress,
because of fear of hitting the ground,
it will affect your flare timing.
So, now that we understand that,
let me ask you what type of canopies,
will help you to have better flare timing?
The answer is, a flatter canopy.
It means that a canopy that has a flatter glide path,
will be easier for you to time the flaring
because you're not going too fast towards the ground.
So keep that in mind when you choose a canopy.
If you're having trouble to nail your landing,
your flare timing,
well, maybe you should start with a flatter canopy,
maybe a trim that is more flat,
that will help you practice and improve your flare timing,
before going to a steeper canopy.
The next element is, the control range.
So here we're talking from full flight, hands up
till you do a complete flare,
where you have no power left in the toggles.
So that range physically is your control range.
So for some canopy,
you'll end up flaring completely at that height.
And for other you'll have to go all the way down
to really get that last power, that the canopy can give.
Our next element are the toggle inputs.
So from full flight,
you may have the feeling
that some canopies are really responsive on the toggle.
You give it a little input,
you already feel the canopy reacting to it.
When there are other canopies
where you need to do a lot more input,
before starting to feel that canopy response.
So that is how you can also compare canopies,
is the toggle input quick, fast versus another one.
So those were the elements I wanted to share with you,
and those should really help you
to describe the type of canopy you want.
So keep those in mind.
I found the trim and the flare timing pretty interesting
as well as the speed range.
So if you're more relaxed, sit back type of canopy pilot,
then I would go with a flatter glide canopy
with a flatter trim that means,
and a shorter speed range
so that I don't have to do much inputs, to adjust my speed.
But those characteristics may vary a lot,
depending of your canopy manufacturer,
the type of canopy.
So make sure to ask around and ask experienced skydivers
that have tried a lot of different canopies,
maybe manufacturer's representative
can also answer your questions.
But take your time to find the best canopy for you.
Because I really think that you need all the best tools
that fit you, to better enjoy your skydiving career.
As I said at the beginning,
thanks to PD for describing those different characteristics,
and you can check their Compare4 tool,
which is actually them describing
and comparing their four main canopies
that are most known in the market.
So the Pulse, Storm, Saber2 and the Specter.
Now let me know in the comments,
which characteristic is the most important to you.
What are you looking for in a skydiving canopy?
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all about skydiving,
you can watch other videos from SkydiveVibes right here,
including the part one here
and on that, keep jumping,
stay safe and blue skies.
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