most comfortable parachute ?

Mine's a Strong 303 (26' conical; back). Comfy with sheepskin. Here's a video of a model 304 (26" conical; chair) in action with the same canopy I believe. 2011 bailout from a disabled Mustang. Legend states bailout was less than 500', but with what seems a delay in pilot-chute deployment yields a very quick, low-altitude loss safe. Make your own calculations. Isn't the speed and direction of travel at deployment key factors (e.g., Jumping from vertical @ 0 mph results in greater alt loss than at 45 degrees @ 100 mph)?

https://youtu.be/ygcaalz6IRA

Mike

On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 9:20:43 AM UTC-6, Duster wrote:
Mine's a Strong 303 (26' conical; back). Comfy with sheepskin. Here's a video of a model 304 (26" conical; chair) in action with the same canopy I believe. 2011 bailout from a disabled Mustang. Legend states bailout was less than 500', but with what seems a delay in pilot-chute deployment yields a very quick, low-altitude loss safe. Make your own calculations. Isn't the speed and direction of travel at deployment key factors (e.g., Jumping from vertical @ 0 mph results in greater alt loss than at 45 degrees @ 100 mph)?

https://youtu.be/ygcaalz6IRA

Mike

The old Irvin EB80 was reckoned to be life saving from 100ft with 100kts horizontal speed. There was a VTC Open Cirrus that fluttered apart on a high speed pass in the UK many years ago and the pilot bailed and survived with one. I tried to buy one new but there was a 6 months waiting list, so settled for a very comfortable GQ Silhouette which was lifed at 15 years;^(. Replaced it with a Butler, which is fine.

Frank Whiteley

But IIRC the Cirrus was over a ridge-top site when the elevator control rod snapped in the fin and the pilot was able to bail out and land in the valley.

On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 11:00:34 AM UTC-6, wrote:
But IIRC the Cirrus was over a ridge-top site when the elevator control rod snapped in the fin and the pilot was able to bail out and land in the valley.

IIRC, it was at Inkpen. The only other detail I recall is that he was climbing after the high speed pass when he bailed.

Frank Whiteley

BASE jumper use square chutes and commonly deploy far lower than 800'. Many exit below 800' at zero airspeed. Given they use modified squares chutes for instant opening - something we definitely don't want.

Also note that sliders are placed on the risers of square chutes to reduce deplpyment rate and thereby reduce loads. They open too fast if no slider is installed.

Here's a video of an Aviator P-124
https://www.dropbox.com/pri/get/Camera%20Uploads/AVIATOR_85m.wmv?_subject_uid=207008675&w=AAB3sna0K bhYv30Vc1gibEd7Ad3s0vvleos6hgFWtBbOLA
being jumped at a height of 85 meters (276 ft) and 80 knots. Opening
time was 2.1 seconds. I had to review closely to verify that the chute
was equipped with a slider. Note that the jumper had a 25 second ride
after full deployment.

On 6/9/2017 10:40 AM, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 9:20:43 AM UTC-6, Duster wrote:
Mine's a Strong 303 (26' conical; back). Comfy with sheepskin. Here's a video of a model 304 (26" conical; chair) in action with the same canopy I believe. 2011 bailout from a disabled Mustang. Legend states bailout was less than 500', but with what seems a delay in pilot-chute deployment yields a very quick, low-altitude loss safe. Make your own calculations. Isn't the speed and direction of travel at deployment key factors (e.g., Jumping from vertical @ 0 mph results in greater alt loss than at 45 degrees @ 100 mph)?

https://youtu.be/ygcaalz6IRA

Mike
The old Irvin EB80 was reckoned to be life saving from 100ft with 100kts horizontal speed. There was a VTC Open Cirrus that fluttered apart on a high speed pass in the UK many years ago and the pilot bailed and survived with one. I tried to buy one new but there was a 6 months waiting list, so settled for a very comfortable GQ Silhouette which was lifed at 15 years;^(. Replaced it with a Butler, which is fine.

Frank Whiteley

--
Dan, 5J

On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 6:39:04 PM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
Here's a video
of an Aviator P-124 being jumped at a height of 85 meters (276
ft) and 80 knots.Â* Opening time was 2.1 seconds.Â* I had to review
closely to verify that the chute was equipped with a slider.Â* Note
that the jumper had a 25 second ride after full deployment.




On 6/9/2017 10:40 AM, Frank Whiteley
wrote:



On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 9:20:43 AM UTC-6, Duster wrote:


Mine's a Strong 303 (26' conical; back). Comfy with sheepskin. Here's a video of a model 304 (26" conical; chair) in action with the same canopy I believe. 2011 bailout from a disabled Mustang. Legend states bailout was less than 500', but with what seems a delay in pilot-chute deployment yields a very quick, low-altitude loss safe. Make your own calculations. Isn't the speed and direction of travel at deployment key factors (e.g., Jumping from vertical @ 0 mph results in greater alt loss than at 45 degrees @ 100 mph)?

https://youtu.be/ygcaalz6IRA

Mike


The old Irvin EB80 was reckoned to be life saving from 100ft with 100kts horizontal speed. There was a VTC Open Cirrus that fluttered apart on a high speed pass in the UK many years ago and the pilot bailed and survived with one. I tried to buy one new but there was a 6 months waiting list, so settled for a very comfortable GQ Silhouette which was lifed at 15 years;^(. Replaced it with a Butler, which is fine.

Frank Whiteley





--

Dan, 5J

I must appologise for bringing up square chutes, as the thread has gone off the tracks as usual. This was supposed to be about comfort. They are not mutually exclusive, but separate considerations.
Jim

Indeed! The comfort is in the pack, not the canopy. I made no negative
statements about round canopies in my original response, which I've
repeated below:

"I'm very happy with my P-124:
http://www.rigginginnovations.com/pa...s/aviator.aspx
http://www.rigginginnovations.com/pages/containers/aviator.aspx

I have a 280 sq. ft. ram air rectangular chute which provides a lot of
control and a very soft landing."

With the continuous bombardment of false claims we're subjected to, I
couldn't let pass the false statement about an 800' opening requirement
and an unnamed source of the information as fact. Sorry about the
thread drift but, in doing my research, I've found that I'm not only
happy with the comfort of my pack, but also with the performance
potential of the canopy (a different topic, I know).

Dan

On 6/9/2017 7:53 PM, JS wrote:
On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 6:39:04 PM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
Here's a video
of an Aviator P-124 being jumped at a height of 85 meters (276
ft) and 80 knots. Opening time was 2.1 seconds. I had to review
closely to verify that the chute was equipped with a slider. Note
that the jumper had a 25 second ride after full deployment.




On 6/9/2017 10:40 AM, Frank Whiteley
wrote:



On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 9:20:43 AM UTC-6, Duster wrote:


Mine's a Strong 303 (26' conical; back). Comfy with sheepskin. Here's a video of a model 304 (26" conical; chair) in action with the same canopy I believe. 2011 bailout from a disabled Mustang. Legend states bailout was less than 500', but with what seems a delay in pilot-chute deployment yields a very quick, low-altitude loss safe. Make your own calculations. Isn't the speed and direction of travel at deployment key factors (e.g., Jumping from vertical @ 0 mph results in greater alt loss than at 45 degrees @ 100 mph)?

https://youtu.be/ygcaalz6IRA

Mike


The old Irvin EB80 was reckoned to be life saving from 100ft with 100kts horizontal speed. There was a VTC Open Cirrus that fluttered apart on a high speed pass in the UK many years ago and the pilot bailed and survived with one. I tried to buy one new but there was a 6 months waiting list, so settled for a very comfortable GQ Silhouette which was lifed at 15 years;^(. Replaced it with a Butler, which is fine.

Frank Whiteley





--

Dan, 5J
I must appologise for bringing up square chutes, as the thread has gone off the tracks as usual. This was supposed to be about comfort. They are not mutually exclusive, but separate considerations.
Jim

--
Dan, 5J

On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 6:39:04 PM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
Here's a video
of an Aviator P-124 being jumped at a height of 85 meters (276
ft) and 80 knots.Â* Opening time was 2.1 seconds.Â* I had to review
closely to verify that the chute was equipped with a slider.Â* Note
that the jumper had a 25 second ride after full deployment.




On 6/9/2017 10:40 AM, Frank Whiteley
wrote:



On Friday, June 9, 2017 at 9:20:43 AM UTC-6, Duster wrote:


Mine's a Strong 303 (26' conical; back). Comfy with sheepskin. Here's a video of a model 304 (26" conical; chair) in action with the same canopy I believe. 2011 bailout from a disabled Mustang. Legend states bailout was less than 500', but with what seems a delay in pilot-chute deployment yields a very quick, low-altitude loss safe. Make your own calculations. Isn't the speed and direction of travel at deployment key factors (e.g., Jumping from vertical @ 0 mph results in greater alt loss than at 45 degrees @ 100 mph)?

https://youtu.be/ygcaalz6IRA

Mike


The old Irvin EB80 was reckoned to be life saving from 100ft with 100kts horizontal speed. There was a VTC Open Cirrus that fluttered apart on a high speed pass in the UK many years ago and the pilot bailed and survived with one. I tried to buy one new but there was a 6 months waiting list, so settled for a very comfortable GQ Silhouette which was lifed at 15 years;^(. Replaced it with a Butler, which is fine.

Frank Whiteley





--

Dan, 5J

I couldn't access the video, but 2.1 sec equates to 72 ft freefall. The TSO opening time, 3 sec, is 145 ft. Adding just 2 more sec increases the freefall distance to 400 ft. Distance, of course, goes up as the square of time (1/2*a*t^2, a = 32 ft/s^2).

Tom