“Where are we?” Have you ever looked out of the plane and - TopicsExpress

Jim McGraw

“Where are we?” Have you ever looked out of the plane and not seen the DZ, then had an experienced jumper look and say “Yep, spot is good”? Have you ever wondered how jumpers know where the DZ is, when they cannot see the DZ? This is a REALLY important skill for you! The key to spotting when you cannot see the DZ is LANDMARKS! If you know the relative location of various landmarks near the DZ… you can navigate without seeing the DZ. It is best if you know landmarks in each of the cardinal directions (or at least the directions from which the prevailing winds blow). The ideal landmark is large and readily seen from full altitude, is sufficiently unique that it is not easily confused with other features near the DZ, and cues you to the direction of the DZ. At Skydive Dallas I use three key landmarks to help me navigate: The “T”, the quarry, and the “barns”. The “T” is directly south of the DZ and the top of the “T” is toward the DZ. The top of the “T” is slightly less than one mile from the main hangar at SDD. The quarry is North and very slightly East of the DZ. Highway 69 runs from NW to SE on the SW side of the quarry. The quarry is slightly less than 1.5 miles north of the north end of the DZ. The “barns” are a set of 11 metal buildings near the intersection of Highway 160 and Jack England Road. The “barns” are on the West side of Highway 160 and are about 1.3 miles West-Northwest of the Northwest corner of the DZ. I don’t have an equally suitable landmark to the East of the DZ. Fortunately, rarely do I need one on that side of the DZ (due to our prevailing upper winds). This trick works at many other DZs too: --Skydive 35 (KINJ @ Hillsboro, TX) has the intersection of I-35E & I-35W about 1.25 miles south of the airport. Skydive Temple (73TA @ Salado, TX) has the town of Salado less than a mile to the north. --Skydive Spaceland (TE88 south of Houston) has a horse racing track about 0.5 miles south of the DZ. See the images below.

Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 13:30:39 +0000

“Where are we?” Have you ever looked out of the plane and - TopicsExpress

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