Canopypiloting

Canopypiloting, commonly referred to as canopy piloting, is the sport of piloting a ram-air parachute canopy to perform controlled, high-performance flight maneuvers under canopy. Practitioners use forward speed, steering, and precise flare to achieve accurate landings and marks on landing targets. The activity is pursued both recreationally and competitively, often within organized skydiving events.

Competitive disciplines include accuracy landing, distance, and speed, with many formats incorporating a swoop component that rewards fast deceleration into a marked zone. In practice, pilots learn to manage altitude, wind, and airframe performance, using toggles, risers, and weight-shift to steer, brake, and flare.

Training and equipment: A solid canopy piloting background requires extensive canopy control experience and skydiving certification. Training emphasizes wind reading, approach planning, and injury avoidance. Equipment includes a ram-air canopy (the wing), a harness and container system, toggles (brakes), risers, an altimeter, a reserve parachute, a helmet, and protective gear; canopy size and setup are tailored to the pilot's experience and the competition rules.

Safety and governance: Canopy piloting carries inherent risks, particularly at high speed or low altitude. Accidents often involve high-speed impacts or improper landings. Safety measures include structured progression, weather assessment, field selection, and adherence to rules published by governing bodies such as the International Parachuting Commission (IPC) and national skydiving associations. The history of canopypiloting traces to canopy control development in skydiving, with formal competition programs established in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.