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How far does one usually fall before being under canopy in a PCA jump? Watching some videos, it seems alot of people are under canopy by around 50 feet at the most. My perception of distance could be wrong since it is on video and not in real life, though. Thanks.

Dale

It' further than that but depends on the skill of the person holdig the PC. It can range from your feet being at 75 feet below the exit point on bottom skin inflation (good PCA), to no difference than freefalling (bad PCA).

What is the trick to 'giving' a good PCA then?

Don't drop the PC!

Use the DexterBASE approved bridle folding method and you'll never drop another PCA. Guaranteed.

Or your altitude back?

Or your altitude back.

I see, thanks for the info and the quick response. What about static-line deployment? Do you fall further or less with that?

Dale

Roughly the same. In theory, static line and PCA should perform almost the same. In practice, I've seen good PCA's that seem a bit better than a static line, and plenty of bad PCA's that are much worse. The PCA just puts a human element into your static line (for better or worse).

Here's the hot tip: If you're going to PCA someone from a low dodgy cliff, put on a climbing harness and tie in to an anchor of some type. Or have someone hold you by your waist. If you think you're gonna get pulled off the cliff, you're a lot more likely to drop the PC.

I see, the PCA definitely adds another element that can possibly go wrong. Why do so many people still do PCA's? Is it that hard to rig up a static line?


I see, the thought of falling, makes you more susceptible to letting go early in fear of falling. Makes sense. Thanks for the info .

It also adds another element that can go right, and perform better than a static line.



They are extremely convenient. You can think you're going to freefall the jump up until 30 seconds before exit, and then do a PCA. Static lines take a bit more foresight.

No it's not but sometimes you do not have an attachment point on the object. We usually jump a S where we cannot use a S/L.

By the way I do not like holding the PC strongly when PCAing. What I do is to S-fold the bridle in one hand and hold that strong then leave some slack and hold the PC in the other hand. This method has been proven very effective even when 1st time PCAers are used.

I can see the ease/convience of doing a PCA on an object you thought of freefalling prior.

I forgot about not having an attachment point for a static line on some jumps, that kind of slipped my mind.

Thanks for the information guys, I appreciate it. I believe that is all...... for now .

Dale

Tom,

Have you seen many slider up PCA's at the bridge? Any guess on how much altitude is normal for a s/u PCA to start flying?

A friend and I were talking about jumping a low-ish object near here that we always freefall, but he only had a s/u rig packed. I suggested that I PCA him and see what happens. He didn't want to go for it, though.

Lou

Is your lowish object solid? How bad would a 180 be?

I've done a couple slider up PCA's

Overhung, solid, about 250 to impact.

A 180 has various implications depending on how high you are, since the object is overhung.

I've seen people rollover off the object before.

Lou

Yes, but not a whole bunch of them.

In general, they happen when plans change at the exit point (or just before, as in your case) or when you want a really soft opening (I did some of these as my first jumps back from spine surgery about 6 years ago).

I've never made any attempt to measure exact opening altitude on one. I'd say you are going to be open lower than a slider down freefall, so 250' sounds a bit sketchy to me.

However, be aware that a slider up canopy begins decelerating you as the slider starts to descend. The slider does not need to reach the links for the deceleration to reach a point where water impact is easily survivable without injury. If your object is over water, I think you could try it out in relative safety, and form some opinions about doing it over hard ground.

I'D GO S/U s/L FROM 400 or higher....

I'm pretty sure no one will actually be trying it out off this object. We were just joking around with it, but it got me to thinking about how much altitude it'd really eat up.

This object is over hard ground, though the talus is relatively soft and free from anything really large.

I'm curious enough now that if I find something lowish over water I might give it a shot.

Lou

I'm betting you'd be okay, but I'd be pretty reluctant to try it over dirt.

While on the pca tangent, I'm really curious if any one has experienced serious off headings on pca jumps? We used to do quite a few of them some years ago and I have personally have never seen any really bad openings, and I can't remember hearing anyone experiencing it either - apart from this one dude who tried to incorporate a gainer on a pca jump...

CJ =)

In my experience, opening heading on a PCA is much more consistent than on a freefall. I theorize that this is because the extraction point is steady, rather than moving.

I have, however, seen a 180 on a PCA. A PCA is not a guarantee of an on heading opening. Nothing, so far, appears to constitute such a guarantee.

Did everything else about the PCA seem normal?

Yes. It was a light tailwind from a span (which, I would have thought based on other experience, makes an on-heading more likely).

I read this an was wondering if you've ever seen a bad off-heading when someone's done a rollover?

YES..yes....yes
700

The average rollover heading I've seen has been noticeably worse than the average PCA heading.

In my opinion, you can control the heading of a rollover fairly well. However, 95% of the people I see doing rollovers choose not to do this, and as a result opening headings aren't very good.

Tom, can you elaborate please ? Are you referring to "stick the hands out vs. hold the risers" crowds ?

No, more the "put the slider up, don't flake anything, just throw it over and jump after it" crowds.

What do you mean "throw it over and jump after it"? Like a McConkey or a Tard?

Thought of another question :). When people are doing a PCA jump, lets say slider down..... what are their brake settings usually set to? Do you want as little foward moment on opening(Deep Brakes), or do you use a shallow brake setting? Main question, is which leads to faster inflation? Thanks.

Dale

Do a search on DBS...

Said that, the main reason for using DBS is not faster inflation, actually really deep BS reduces inflation. The idea is to open with a canopy that has as little forward speed as possible, yet it does not surge on opening, and allows you to steer with the risers without stalling out. Usually this setting has no more than 1"-2"MAX of "play". That's why everyone should customize their DBS despite factory settings...

McConkey = Rollover. Two names for the same thing.



Deep brakes.

Faster inflation can be had from slightly shallower brake settings, but this is a trivial consideration compared to object strike. If you are PCAing, you will be very close to the object,and an offheading which might result in strike will require every bit of help (and luck) you can manage.