It appears you misread what my rigger said. He said maximum deployment
speed *WITHOUT* a slider is 65 kts. I have a slider and I believe my
max opening speed is 150 kts. I have jumped with a similar chute and am
familiar with its flight characteristics which are, believe me, MUCH
better than a round chute with which I've only parasailed during AF
flight training. Given the generally high winds where I fly and the
rugged terrain, I'll take the higher forward speed and much higher
maneuvering abilities of my ram air chute to any round or conical canopy.

On 6/22/2015 11:22 AM, Nick wrote:
On Monday, 22 June 2015 17:59:25 UTC+1, Dan Marotta wrote:
Recently somebody made a comment about my emergency ram air
parachute and whether or not it has a slider to to slow deployment.
I checked with my rigger and jump instructor and here's what he
said:



Your parachute has a slider. The maximum airspeed for slider-off deployments is 65 mph. In an aircraft emergency, you will almost always be deploying at a higher speed than that, so the slider is absolutely necessary. Deploying slider-off at high speed can damage the gear and maybe the jumper. Your parachute is designed to open as fast as possible without causing damage. It should take about 3 seconds/300 feet for it to open in most situations. Exactly the same as a round parachute of roughly equivalent area.



--

Dan Marotta
I'd agree with that. That is why an emergency chute makes more sense.

http://www.parachuteshop.com/Softie%...The_Preserve_1

Specifications:
Nominal Diameter - 24 feet
Maximum Open Diameter- 14 feet
Weight - 7 Pounds
Maximum Pilot Weight- 220 Pounds
Maximum Deployment Speed- 172 MPH
Rate of Descent for 200 Pounds - 16 FPS
Steerable

Notice the higher deployment speed.

The other one to watch is pulling at high altitude. It's a TAS limit.

--
Dan Marotta