Recently, I walked up on a conversation between a novice paragliding pilot and a fairly seasoned paragliding pilot.

The novice pilot wanted to know how to determine whether it was too windy to fly.

The more seasoned pilot started to lay out a formula that seemed to come more from a flight manual than his own personal experience.

Now, I’m not that seasoned of a paragliding pilot, but I have been around for a while, and I was even having a difficult time following this fellow’s explanation. The more it went on the more complicated it got with wing loading and glide ratio and such.

  At the end of the explanation, the novice pilot was convinced that what he had just heard was an answer to some question but didn’t seem to get him any closer to knowing when it was too windy for him to fly. He then turned to me and said, “Is that how you decide”? I wasn’t really sure what I had just heard, either. I do have a formula as well, but I had never actually put it into words. It was more of a calculation that I make at the time. I know that’s not very technical, but it works for me, so even I was surprised when I said, “I decide whether or not to fly based on the Margin of Influence I have over the conditions.”

Everybody paused to let that sink in for a minute, even me.

Paragliding is new to me, to which I brought a formula from my skydiving experience for evaluating risk. Until right then, I hadn’t really thought about the actual nuts and bolts of the concept. I’ll use a skydive to illustrate the concept. Let’s break one jump down into all its parts, and I will point out the different places where I evaluate my Margin of influence. The parts include the gear, the dirt dive, the plane ride, the skydive, the breakoff, the transition from skydiver to parachutist, and lastly- the canopy flight to landing.

  First: The gear.

Before the first jump of the day, I take my rig out and go over it from top to bottom to ensure that everything is in order.

I start at the right leg strap and go up the right side of the harness. The cutaway handle is where it is supposed to be; I check the 3-ring and loop and make sure the riser is stowed correctly. Next, I check the reserve pins to see they are straight and not bent [sometimes my rig gets thrown around in the car] and the loops are not frayed. This is where I’d turn on an AAD, paying attention to the numbers to ensure the batteries are good. Then, I make sure that the throwout pocket is looking good; I follow the bridle, checking its routing to the pin. I check the loop and ensure there’s no fraying and the pin to see it is seated the way I like it and doesn’t have any chips or dings. Then I go down the left side of the main lift web, checking riser stowage, the 3-ring, and the loop. I check the reserve handle placement and integrity of the cable. Now, because I do this first jump every day, my Margin of Influence on the gear is high, and I only have to check basic stuff between jumps (packers are great, but don’t depend on them to look after your gear for you, it’s always your responsibility).

Second: Dirt diving the jump.

Now I like doing Freestyle a bunch, so just like an RW jump, I dirt dive the whole jump from exiting the plane to pulling. If I am doing an RW jump, I put a bit more than most into the dirt dive. I put in all the arm movements, head turns, and shoulder movements that I would actually do on the jump. I learned while doing team practice that if I don’t have to just use my brain to remember a jump. By adding all the different body inputs that I can to get my muscles to remember what they are supposed to do along the way. Now, my brain just needs to remember the name of the point or the color of the suit I’m docking on and where. I also go through all my body positions for the track, wave off, and pull. I practice touching deployment and cutaway handles. As I said, I did this when I was doing teams and got more than my share of scoffing at my dancing dirt dives, but hey, it worked for me, and it kept my brain-locks to a minimum.

Third: Getting on the plane.

This is where our Margin of Influence drops considerably. I tighten up my leg straps, fasten my chest strap, and guard my handles getting in, getting seated, and while putting on the seat belt. I have had more than one pilot tell me to get out before we got to altitude, and I don’t argue much with pilots; I really feel safer under a parachute anyway.

On the ride to altitude, I’m kind of a quiet guy, I’m dirt diving and trying to stay focused. One thing I do on the way up, is try and look out the window to see how high the bottoms of the clouds are, if there are any. I do this so when my man-made altitude-sensing device [altimeter, etc…] doesn’t work for some reason, or the spot puts us through a cloud, I still have a good idea of where I am when I go past the bottom of the clouds in freefall. This gives me more Margin of Influence on decisions I might have to make if I find myself in such a situation. From the time you climb past the cloud bottom to the time you reach exit altitude, the cloud level may change some but it won’t be a lot.

Four: The skydive.

Now a few more things come into play. The more folks on the jump the less of a

Margin of Influence I have, because each person has their own Margin of Influence that can influence mine. Other things like where I am in the exit, the spot, and the winds all come into play.

So when we exit, I always take a quick glance down and back up. It usually only takes a second for it to register in the back of my mind what I saw as I continue on with the dive plan. This gives me more awareness at the beginning of the dive so there aren’t any surprises on breakoff at the end of the dive. Because I spent so much effort on the pre-jump to get my body to remember what it’s supposed to do, I feel pretty confident about my part of the dive. Because of that, my Margin of Influence over what I’m supposed to do is solid even when someone else makes a mistake. Remember it’s just one minute of concentration when it comes right down to it.

Five: Breakoff.

This is another place where the number of people on the jump is a factor. On track off, everyone should pay attention and maintain clear airspace below them. Then when they look over their shoulder before they pull there shouldn’t be anybody there. But if folks start tracking for the spot or looking over their shoulder during the track, flight patterns get crossed and unexpected stuff happens. Clear the space you are falling into.

Six: From skydiver to parachutist.

I figure this is one of the most dangerous transitions/situations on a skydive, even so, you can still have a large Margin of Influence.

Keeping your shoulders level and straight thru the deployment can keep a bag from spinning. On opening Grab the back risers first instead of the toggles to steer. The canopy is very responsive and this allows you instant control of the direction your canopy is flying. This control helps aid in avoiding a possible collision and it also lets you turn toward the spot at half speed while you mess with your slider.

  Seven: Being the pilot.

As soon as you release the brakes, the canopy will accelerate forward to maneuver; by using the risers before releasing the brakes, you stay in half brakes, and the canopy is very sensitive and can turn on a dime. It is a good practice to try this from time to time, after you open, leave the brakes stowed and explore the control you have using just the back risers. Usually, if I’m not already there after I open, I try and maneuver closer to being on the wind line upwind of my target landing spot. Another piece of information I get while on the ground before I get on the plane is where the windline is and where the spot should be. That way I know when I’m not where I should be.

Constantly looking around and clearing my turns keeps my Margin of Influence high on the way down. I try to be way ahead of my flight pattern so I can adjust to changing situations.

Nowadays, Wing Suit jumpers and sub-100sq ft canopies can enter your airspace seemingly from out of nowhere; they may feel the same about you. Nothing is written in stone as far as my flight path is concerned. Every canopy ride is different and I always consider that the winds have changed until I find the windsock. And now with swoop lanes in the landing area, staying clear of that is a priority. These guys are hyper-concentrated on a very narrow flight path.

Their heads can’t be on swivels because of the timing involved in what they are up to. With this understanding, my Margin of Influence is enhanced just by staying out of the way. I do, however, do accuracy every jump. Not into the pea-gravel. I pick a spot I want to land on and fly my canopy there. I don’t just fly down and see where I end up.

And here we are again at the question: Is it too windy to jump?

The size of your canopy and the weight you have under it influences your control range.

Here is what I think about when I decide whether or not it’s too windy. Before the jump, How high are the winds, and are they gusting or thermic (bumpy)? Is the area I’m going to land in full of obstructions [turbulence makers] or clear? Sometimes in windy conditions or with lots of people in the air, I will land a bit farther out just to be in clear air and walk a bit more just to avoid the chance of flying through turbulence. Keep in mind, parachutes create a wake behind them so flying behind someone puts you in their wake turbulence. Also, what is going to be my penetration in these winds with my canopy size? This is determined by your wing loading. Back in the day of round reserves that was a big consideration on whether the winds were too high. What was good for my main wasn’t necessarily good for my reserve. Now, with square reserves, it is pretty much the same decision for both.

So, I’m what you may call a wind-wimp. When things get up around 20mph, I will likely not jump. A friend of mine who jumps in Kansas told me that if that were the criteria for jumping, she wouldn’t get to jump much at all.

So, pick your conditions and know that it is always ok to say no. Don’t let peer pressure influence your decision. Another trick you can use when you are under canopy and you want to see what your margin of influence is under certain conditions is to turn the canopy into the wind up high and slowly pull down on the brakes. Looking straight down you will be able to see how fast you are moving forward. As you pull the brakes down at some point you will see you aren’t moving forward anymore. Notice how far you have pulled the toggles down? If you have pulled them down to 50 percent brakes, then you know that you only have 50 percent of your canopy forward speed available in these conditions. If you pull them all the way down and you are still moving forward, then you have 100 percent of your canopies forward speed in those wind conditions. This information will allow you to decide how far downwind you should go in your landing pattern. Since you have picked a place to land already see how good you are at hitting that area. It will help you in the future when the spot is off, and you have to pick a less-than-hospitable place to land.

I recently read a University study that said that it takes ten thousand hours to become an expert at any new skill. Now I’m sure there are exceptions to this rule but what I take away from this study is that your Margin of Influence is greater the more knowledge you have at a skill. When you first start something like skydiving or any skill for that matter, your Margin of Influence is directly affected by the amount of information you receive. As you become more proficient your

Margin of Influence goes up.

I once saw an interview with six multi-millionaires. They all had different stories about how they got to where they were but they had one idea that rang true for all; In any situation always make your own decisions because if you are wrong then you are the one who is wrong. If you follow what someone else says and they are wrong then you are still wrong by default.

In other words, get all the input you can but when it comes time to make a decision it is you doing what you think is right and that you aren’t just blindly following. You are the pilot in command.

And as for those ten thousand hours to become an “expert“, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be in Freefall for ten thousand hours to be good at skydiving, it means that you need ten thousand hours of concentrating on a particular skill.

Again, another University study took twenty people to shoot baskets with a basketball. Ten of the subjects practiced every day for a month for one hour and the other ten only practiced in their minds for an hour a day. After a month they brought them all together and had them shoot baskets. There was virtually no difference between the two groups. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between thinking about a skill and actually doing the skill. If you only think about a skill while you are actually doing the skill then it may take you longer than if you take time to really practice it in your mind and will cost a lot less money.

There are some folks that we run across in life that right from the start seem to be good when learning a new skill. Folks will label them a Natural. I don’t believe that this is true. Especially in skydiving. Skydiving is the most unnatural thing the human body can do.

I believe that someone who shows “Natural” abilities is really just someone whose mind is more open to the new skill they are attempting and can visualize what they are doing before they attempt it.

We all have the ability to do this.

Remember: Imagination is a good dry run for reality.

Imagination is a skill all by itself and a skill which you have a 100% Margin of Influence.