Hi

While it is clear that square reserves are a good idea for the few
glider pilots who have some parachuting experience, there was a good
posting which pointed out that far more injuries would happen if all
glider pilots had to undergo even minimal parachute training then
currently occur when pilots bail out under round reserves with no
training, which fortunately does not happen very often.

I have a hypothetical question for for those with parachuting
experience, if your hands were tied to each other and to your waste,
(withjust enough movement to operate the rip cord) and you were thrown
out of an airplane strapped into your glider reserver, would you prefer
to have a round canopy or a square one?

It seems some chutes, like this one

I use a Rigging Innovations "Aviator" P-124, which has a ram-air
(square) chute designed for airmen who may have no prior jump
experience. The web page for the product is he

http://www.rigginginnovations.com/products/aviator.html

might be no worse that a round one, but what about a more typical square
reserve chute that we are likely come across in South Africa, like this
one?

If you are in South Africa there is manufacturer under the name PISA,
which manufactures a very good square canopy Tempo.


Thanks


Ian