Openings & malfunctions
What a normal opening looks like, the canopy check and what it's for, common opening problems described by what you see, the USPA SIM 4-1 decision points from the flashcard deck, and what your FlySight data shows about an opening.
What a normal opening looks like
Pilot chute, bag, line stretch, snivel, inflation, slider down — step through the sequence or play it, with the speed curve underneath.
1 · Pilot chute out
What you see: The pilot chute leaves your hand, catches the air and pulls the bridle tight behind you. You are still at freefall speed, belly to earth, arms symmetrical.
What's going on: The pilot chute's drag is what lifts the bag off your back; a clean, symmetrical throw into clean air is what the rest of the sequence builds on.
Conceptual drawing of a ram-air main with a slider. Your canopy's manual, your rigger and your packing course describe your own equipment.
The canopy check — and what it's for
There, square, stable, steerable: the check every decision about the canopy rests on, done above the decision altitude. Then a short quiz.
The check answers one question: can this canopy be landed as it is? Everything that follows — clearing a problem, flying the pattern, or the emergency procedures — rests on that answer, so the check is done early, while there is altitude to act on it. The limit for deciding is the decision altitude: USPA SIM 4-1 states its minimums, and your own training, equipment and drop zone set yours.
Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗The decision altitude, as the flashcard deck quotes it:
All the SIM 4-1 procedures, as flashcards with spaced repetition: Canopy flashcards · USPA SIM 4-1 ↗
Canopy-check quiz
The canopy check after opening asks three things. Which set is it?
Common opening problems
Line twists, slider hang-up, end-cell closures, broken lines, tension knots, hard and off-heading openings — what each looks like, what is taught, and the USPA SIM 4-1 decision points quoted from the flashcard deck.
Line twists
What you see: The risers and lines are twisted together above your head — a few turns or many. The canopy above the twists may be fully open and flying straight, or it may be turning and starting to dive while you can't reach the toggles.
What is taught: The first look is at the canopy above the twists: open and flying straight, or diving? Untwisting as taught in your first-jump course (reach up, spread the risers, kick against the twist) is what most jumpers do with a straight-flying canopy; a twisted canopy that is diving — more common on small, highly loaded wings — is a different picture, and the decision altitude is the limit either way. USPA SIM 4-1 lists line twists among the problems that may clear with the canopy's own controls. Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗
In your FlySight data: Track swing after opening (how much the ground track turned in the seconds after inflation) and a higher descent rate while twisted.
Slider hang-up
What you see: The slider has stopped part-way or stays up at the canopy. The canopy is narrower than it should be, descending faster, and the lines are held together above you; the brakes are still stowed.
What is taught: Widely taught: flaring deeply and releasing a few times can bring the slider down. USPA SIM 4-1 lists a slider hang-up among the problems that may clear with the controls — by the decision altitude. Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗
In your FlySight data: Canopy speed in the first seconds after opening is higher than your usual, and the opening time runs longer.
End-cell closures
What you see: One or both outer cells are folded under or flat instead of open. The canopy is otherwise rectangular and usually flies straight, a little slower, often with the brakes still stowed.
What is taught: Widely taught: closed end cells commonly open on their own or with a deep flare or two, with the brakes still set; a canopy that stays uneven after that goes back through the check. USPA SIM 4-1 lists end-cell closures among the problems that may clear with the controls. Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗
In your FlySight data: Usually nothing you can see at 5 Hz — a slightly higher descent rate until they open.
Broken lines
What you see: A line flapping loose, the canopy's leading edge distorted or a cell sagging, and the canopy pulling toward the broken side. A broken steering line shows as one toggle doing nothing while the canopy turns gently toward the other side.
What is taught: The canopy check decides it: does it fly straight with the controls, and does it flare? For a broken steering line the widely taught option is steering and flaring with both rear risers. USPA SIM 4-1 treats a damaged canopy that won't pass the check as a partial malfunction. Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗
In your FlySight data: A steady heading drift or a turning track after opening; the Plan vs Actual view shows a pattern that keeps curving.
Tension knots
What you see: Lines knotted around each other, the canopy distorted or turning, and the knot staying put when the controls are used.
What is taught: USPA SIM 4-1 lists tension knots under partial malfunctions. Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗
In your FlySight data: A turning ground track after opening and a higher descent rate.
A hard opening
What you see: Instead of a slope from freefall speed to canopy speed, a sudden stop: a slider that came down too early, or a canopy that spread before the lines were at full stretch. Afterwards: how do your neck and back feel, and do the lines, slider grommets and canopy look as they did before?
What is taught: Widely taught: slowing to a stable belly position before deploying reduces opening forces; packing (slider position, even line stows, how the nose and tail are handled) is the biggest lever on firmness — what that means for your canopy is in its manual and with your rigger. Body position at pull and the airspeed at pull are the pilot's part. Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗
In your FlySight data: A higher deceleration proxy than your own median, flagged as firmer than usual; the deployment speed; and the snivel time, shorter than yours typically is.
Off-heading and turning openings
What you see: The canopy opens facing a different way from the way you were facing, or turns through the snivel. On a group jump this matters because of who is beside you.
What is taught: Widely taught: asymmetry through the pull and the snivel — a dropped shoulder, twisted hips, looking over one shoulder — is a common cause of a turning opening; your instructor is the one to check yours. USPA SIM 4-1 covers canopies heading for each other. Source: USPA Skydiver's Information Manual — section 4-1, Emergency Procedures ↗
In your FlySight data: The heading at opening and the track swing in the seconds after it, compared with your own openings.
What your FlySight data shows about an opening
Deployment altitude, opening time, a deceleration proxy, the track swing after inflation and the wind at your opening — measured from your own track and compared only with your own openings.
Every jump page has a 'Your opening' card with these numbers, and the Compare page lines openings up across jumps. A firmer-than-usual or turning opening is an observation to bring to your rigger or instructor — the analysis never rates an opening, prescribes a pull altitude or diagnoses gear.
Analyse your FlySight jumps · Compare jumps · SkyLara explanation — how the opening analysis works
Sources
- JYRO / USPA Parachutist — 25 Ways to Become a Better Canopy Pilot (Alan Martinez)
- Skydivemag — Canopy Piloting: 8 Principles (Paul Dorward, Flight-1)
- Skydive Langar — A Safe Return to Swooping (Curt Bartholomew & Tommy Botten Jensen)
- USPA — Introduction to Canopy Piloting Conditioning (Dr. Nancy Grieger & Christian Cody)
- USPA — Warm-Ups for Canopy Pilots (exercises shared by Justin Price)
- JYRO — How to Become a High Performance Canopy Pilot (Cornelia Mihai & Olga Naumova)
- USPA SIM 5-9 — Canopy Piloting
- FAI — 2024 World Canopy Piloting Championships, Pretoria
- Skydive Arizona — 2025 FAI World Cup of Canopy Piloting results
- Flight-1 canopy courses
- Krav — Canopy Piloting course with Curt & Jeannie Bartholomew
- USPA Parachutist / AXIS Flight School — Foundations of Flight: Rear-Riser Stall (Niklas Daniel, Nov 2012)
- Skydivemag — Landing on Rear Risers
- Skydivemag — Flare Technique and Airspeed (Julian Barthel)
- Skydive Perris — Skydiving Landing: How It Works
- FAI — Competition Rules, Canopy Piloting (2022 edition)
- FAI — Canopy Piloting
- Wikipedia — Canopy piloting (FAI records listed there)