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Regarding "soft" landings, it is a function of the wind, density altitude, and wing-loading as Joe mentioned. With a wing load of at/under 1:1, you will generally have enough canopy to give you soft landings and a bigger margin for error (even with high density altitude and/or no-wind days). As your wing loading increases, that error-margin window decreases, and everything happens much faster. I fly a Stiletto 120 and am about 200lbs exit weight (with gear). I can tell you that on hot, no-wind days you definitely need to be on your A-game. Some guys out there are flying tiny canopies the size of postage stamps, and will literally exceed the approach speed of a small GA aircraft!
Just remember that the #1 killer of skydivers is not malfunctions or plane crashes. It is low turns close to the ground (AKA "hook turns"). They probably account for 99.9% of all other non-fatal skydiving injuries as well.
Oh, and another +1 for an AAD once you get your own rig. Relatively cheap insurance, especially when you begin to freefall with others (the risk being: getting knocked unconcious by a "hard dock" or coliding with another jumper in freefall).
Did I mention that skydiving is not for the timid or weak-of-heart? LOL.
Last edited by Eric Coffey; 11-08-2012 at 01:03 PM..
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