The Lowdown on Low Turns: What Every Skydiver Should Know

By Scott Miller

“I'm really careful under canopy. I never make low turns.”

You've probably heard someone say this before. You might even say it yourself. You might also
think that most people involved in low-turn accidents are "hot shots" making radical approaches under
heavily loaded canopies. These accidents might stop if people would just heed the warning most
students are given in their first jump course: low turns under canopy are dangerous. Don't do them.
Many DZs repeat this warning every weekend. Some DZs have even banned "hook turns"
completely. Yet jumpers continue to be injured under fully functional canopies. Again, you might think
most of these people are reckless hot shots who ignore the warnings and break the rules. Surprisingly,
though, the opposite is often true.
Imagine yourself in this situation: You've just had a great skydive and are making your normal
approach to the landing area. You're facing into the wind, a hundred feet above the ground, planning that
perfect flare and a soft stand-up landing. Everything is nice.
Suddenly you notice something out of the corner of your eye. You look to your left and see
another canopy at the same altitude as you, way too close, headed for the same spot on the ground. The
other jumper doesn't see you. You're going to collide.
Instinctively, you pull your right toggle down to avoid the collision. You turn away, but now your
canopy is diving straight at the ground. The earth is coming up way too fast. You realize that something
very bad is about to happen just as your body slams into the ground. Moments later someone is looking
down at you asking: "Can you hear me? Don't move, okay?" Someone else is yelling, "Call 911!"
There are dozens of stories like this one, stories about people who were injured making low turns
while trying to avoid obstacles, other canopies, or just trying to turn back into the wind. Most of these
people weren't showing off under tiny elliptical canopies. In fact, most were flying canopies considered
appropriate for their weight and experience level. The injured jumper is often described as someone who
"usually doesn't make low turns."
It's easy to warn people about the dangers of low turns or even prohibit people from making
them, but it's obvious that this does not fully address the true nature of the problem. Most people who are
injured making low turns don't really intend to make them; they just get into a bad situation and react the
wrong way.
Although we should always stay clear of obstacles and other canopies, and turn into the wind at a
safe altitude, we must also learn how to react when the unexpected does happen under canopy. We
can't "just say no" to low turns. They need to be accepted for what they are: a maneuver which every
skydiver can and must learn to do safely and correctly.

Low Turn vs. Hook Turn

Before going any further, we should understand the difference between a low turn and what is
commonly referred to as a “hook turn.” In a hook turn, the jumper intentionally pulls down on a front riser
or steering toggle at a relatively low altitude. The canopy turns, dives and picks up speed as the jumper
swings out from under the canopy then back underneath it. If altitude and rate of descent are judged
correctly, the extra speed gives the canopy increased lift and allows the jumper to swoop across the
ground for several seconds before touching down.
When a jumper tries to avoid an obstacle, canopy or downwind landing by making a hard toggle
turn, the canopy reacts in the same manner. Unfortunately, this jumper has usually not considered his
altitude or rate of descent, and may slam into the ground before he has even swung back underneath his
canopy. In extreme cases, the nose of the canopy can hit the ground before the jumper does.
Ouch. Let's try something different.
Suppose a jumper who needs to make a low turn could do so without making the canopy dive at
the ground. Suppose the person could make a slow, flat turn, keeping the canopy above his or her head
and maintaining a low rate of descent. Suppose the jumper could turn 90 degrees or more without losing
much altitude. If the person could do this, he or she could avoid the obstacle and still land softly.
"Flat turns" are one of the most useful things you can do with a canopy, and may be the only way
to avoid a hazard at a very low altitude without crashing your canopy into the ground. Unfortunately,

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many skydivers are never taught to make them. In fact, instructors usually spend a great deal of time
discouraging students from flying this way.

Slow Flight Phobia

Student jumpers often have a habit of holding their toggles down around their ears instead of
letting the canopy fly at full speed, especially when coming in to land. As a result, instructors are
constantly urging them to "let it fly." Some students are nervous about turning their canopies too quickly,
so instructors encourage them to "pull the toggle all the way down" to get comfortable with doing so.
Telling a student to fly in brakes and turn slowly often seems like the wrong thing to do.
After making a few jumps and getting used to the canopy, students quickly learn that pulling a
toggle all the way down doesn't just make their instructors happy. It's also a whole lot of fun. Those
360-degree spirals are the thing to do! Students also find that their landings improve when they keep
their hands up and "let it fly" before flaring.
Unfortunately, many of us never progress past this "hands-up, hands-down" approach to canopy
control. We spend little if any time flying our canopies in brakes, and basically ignore a significant portion
of the canopy's control range. Then one day we end up in a tight situation at low altitude without the skills
necessary to handle the situation safely. Our normal hands-up, hands-down reactions betray us in our
time of greatest need.

Putting on the Brakes

By spending some time flying your canopy in brakes, you will explore a range of maneuverability
that many jumpers don't even know exists. You can learn to get a whole new level of performance from
your canopy, and develop skills that can save your life in a tight situation. The following exercises can
help increase your level of confidence under canopy and guide you toward an important transition in your
canopy piloting abilities.
Start by pulling your toggles to chest level, or half brakes. Your canopy's forward speed will
decrease, as will your rate of descent. Try turning by pulling one toggle down a bit farther, letting one up
a bit, or doing a little of both. Notice how the canopy turns, but doesn't really dive at the ground. You will
actually have a lower rate of descent while turning like this than if the canopy was flying straight and level
at full glide.
It's possible to make 90-degree or even 180-degree turns from half brakes while losing very little
altitude. By pulling the toggles down to your waist, or 3/4 brakes, you can make the canopy turn even
more quickly without diving. In this case, it's better to let a toggle up a little rather than pulling one down,
since the canopy will be close to its stall point. If you've never stalled your canopy, you may want to
practice this first before playing with turns from 3/4 brakes.
To stall your canopy, go to 3/4 brakes. Then continue pulling your toggles down slowly and
evenly while keeping the canopy on heading. The canopy will slow down, then rock backwards as it
stops generating lift. If you continue to hold the toggles down, your canopy will depressurize and start to
fly backwards. The ends may even fold back into an interesting U-shape. Don't be alarmed. The feeling
may be a little uncomfortable at first, but it will help you learn to recognize the onset of a stall.
To recover from a stall, just let the toggles up slowly and evenly. The canopy will reinflate and
start flying normally again. If you let the toggles up too quickly or unevenly, the canopy may surge
forward or turn. You might also get end-cell closure. If this happens, deal with it the same way you would
after opening.
If all this is a little too uncomfortable for you, try making some stalls with the rear risers first.
Rear-riser stalls are usually more docile, and will help you get used to the feeling. Just grab your rear
risers as far up as you can reach, and slowly pull yourself up towards the canopy. To recover, slowly
lower yourself back down. Your goal should be to learn what it feels like when your canopy is about to
stall. Once you recognize this feeling, you can prevent a stall from happening by letting your toggles or
risers up slightly, as you would when recovering from a stall.
Experimenting with these techniques will help you become comfortable flying your canopy in
brakes. As with any new maneuvers, stalls, slow flight, and flat turns should first be practiced at a fairly
high altitude. Always keep an eye open for other canopies, and remember that your first priority is
landing safely in a clear area.
“The Lowdown on Low Turns” by Scott Miller Page 2 of 3
 Performing a full toggle stall on a highly tapered or “elliptical” type canopy is usually not
recommended. If a highly tapered canopy is put into a full toggle stall there is a good chance it will
develop line twists accompanied by a fast, diving turn. It could take several thousand feet of altitude to
recover from the line twists, if it is possible to recover at all. Rear riser stalls can safely be performed on
highly tapered canopies, but it’s a good idea to experiment with toggle stalls on a more docile canopy
before flying in deep brakes on an highly tapered one.
As you gain confidence and experience you may wish to try flat turns at a lower altitude, perhaps
flying your whole landing pattern in half brakes. It's best not to attempt this until you have practiced at a
higher altitude and have a thorough understanding of how your canopy will react. It's extremely important
to avoid stalling your canopy near the ground. Also, make sure you don't create a hazard for others trying
to land.
You will probably want to let your toggles back up before flaring, but be aware that your canopy
may not have time to recover if you do so too low to the ground. Always let the toggles up slowly and
evenly, and try to go back to full glide at least 10 seconds before you have to flare. Avoid sudden, jerky
toggle movements, and be ready to make a PLF (parachute landing fall) just in case you land harder than
expected. It's possible to land a canopy in half brakes without going back to full glide, but unless you flare
perfectly, the landing may not be soft enough to stand up. Flaring too high or too far may cause the
canopy to stall just before you touch down. Again, you should always be ready to make a PLF.
It's a good idea to practice landing in brakes, nonetheless. If you ever have to make a flat turn
near the ground to avoid a hazard, you may not have enough altitude to let the toggles back up and flare
normally.
`By practicing slow flight and flat turns at lower altitudes, you will learn how far you can turn and
how close to the ground you can do so. You will be better prepared for unpleasant surprises, and less
likely to "hook it in" when faced with a bad situation.

The Canopy Catch 22

The basic techniques described here are just that: basic. Flat turns are as important for a
beginning jumper to learn as landing softly on his or her feet, perhaps more important. It's best to learn
these techniques under a large, fairly docile parachute, which is what a student or novice would
traditionally be jumping. A canopy loaded at one pound per square foot or less is ideal. These days,
however, many beginners are buying smaller canopies which they load much more heavily than this.
Here's the catch. A smaller canopy needs more forward speed to carry your weight than a larger
one and will have a higher rate of descent, even when flown in brakes. Landing in half brakes may not be
very comfortable, as it will require a precise flare technique that may take hundreds of jumps to perfect. If
you try this type of landing under a smaller canopy, you may quickly become discouraged, and give up on
these techniques without ever mastering them. Unfortunately, it's even more important to know how to fly
and land in brakes if you jump a smaller canopy. A smaller canopy may stall quickly without much
warning, will lose altitude a lot faster in a turn, and can easily drive you into the dirt if you do the wrong
thing at a low altitude.
This is one advantage to sticking with a fairly large canopy for your first few hundred jumps. It's
safer to experiment under a larger canopy, and easier to develop the skills you will need to fly smaller
canopies successfully.
No matter what type of canopy you fly, you need to understand its entire control range and how it
reacts at different airspeeds and to different inputs. You should be just as comfortable hovering on the
edge of a stall as you are hauling down on your front risers.
Too many times someone will walk away from a bad landing saying, "I was lucky I didn't get hurt."
Luck is great if you're playing poker, but it takes more than luck to land a parachute safely. Learning to fly
in brakes and make flat turns correctly will put a couple of aces up your sleeve for those times when your
luck runs out.

(This article was first published in Skydiving magazine Volume 17, Number 6, January 1998. Posted to
Performance Designs’ website with permission from the author.)

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