emergency chute

What is best: a round or square chute? Do they differ in time to open? Are
previous experience or training jumps with a square chute mandatory? Is a
static line better - if so why?
(we have a packer at our club that has recommended square chutes, but
apparently two training jumps are mandatory - we are based in South Africa)

Sven
EY

I don't think you will find that there are any emergency
prachutes with square canopies, they are all round.
The criteria for emergency parachutes is that they
should open whatever the attitude of the person using
them. Square parachutes while offering more control
when open require the wearer to be in a stable position
when the chute is deployed, they are therefore less
reliable when deployed in anything other than a stable
attitude.
The Irvin EB** series were reputed to be the fastest
opening chutes in the world at one time and they certainly
use round canopies (I24). Maybe they still are, I hope
so cos that is what I have.




At 20:30 05 April 2005, Sven Olivier wrote:
What is best: a round or square chute? Do they differ
in time to open? Are
previous experience or training jumps with a square
chute mandatory? Is a
static line better - if so why?
(we have a packer at our club that has recommended
square chutes, but
apparently two training jumps are mandatory - we are
based in South Africa)

Sven
EY

Don Johnstone wrote:
I don't think you will find that there are any emergency
prachutes with square canopies, they are all round.

I know a number of glider pilots who have them, all experienced
skydivers. I believe they use square reserve canopies, which apparently
open every bit as quickly as round ones. When asked, the general
response is that they feel safer under a square chute...

I'm one of those glider pilots who switched air sports after 5000
skydives and you will never catch me with a round chute in my pilot
rig.

I don't know where Don got his info that square chutes require that the
person be in a stable position, but that's absolutely, 100% false.
Every skydiver I know uses square reserves precisely because they open
faster and more reliably than round reserves, regardless of attitude or
body position.

I obviously recommend square emergency chutes to pilots but only if
they take the time to at least visit a skydiving training center and
sit in the simulator with an instructor. Even better, make a tandem
jump or two -- it's fun and they let you fly the chute, all the way to
landing (they will provide "power steering").

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

Ted Wagner
Chandler, AZ
304CZ "2NO"

Square canopy will open as fast as the round. Square canopies are safer
then the round; they decent slower and you can flare them while
landing. You can control them better, they glide quite a bit, they will
penetrate into the wind. You can fly them into a clear of obstacles
area, fly away from power lines, rivers, lakes and such. However, I
would recommend that a person who is planning on using a square canopy
get some training. I would recommend that potential user of a square
rig will do a tandem jump and 1 or 2 static line jumps. Landing square
canopy downwind might be painful...not knowing how to fly it...well,
there is a set of brake lines that need to be released. You need to
know how to slow down, when to slow down, when to go to full
flight...if you take a static line class you will learn all that
stuff...is it worth it? You bet...it is worth every single penny and
some more and that experience will stay with you for rest of your
flying days. Square are safer...what makes me qualified to say that?
Besides being a pilot, power (every imaginable rating) glider
commercial, I am also a static line instructor and FAA parachute
rigger. There are a few manufacturers, one on them is Para-Phernalia,
and they have a systems with square emergency canopies. If you are in
South Africa there is manufacturer under the name PISA, which
manufactures a very good square canopy Tempo. Get yourself larger one,
for example Tempo 250. It is rated under TSO C23C- 254 lbs. max.
suspended weight. Hope this will help.

Ted,

Thanks for the response. My local rigger suggested a square, but only
if I was trained. I think it's important to remember that glider pilots
will bail out under not the best of circumstances, may take a while to
get oriented after the chute opens, and may even be partially
incapacitated by trauma resulting from a collision. Assuming you may
not be able to steer, which canopy would be better for a untrained,
hapless skydiver?


OC

As I understand the comments, the "square" chute would allow the "pilot" to
fly the canopy. They can be directed and with the ability to flare at the
end of the flight, just like with any other aircraft, they would therefore
have the ability to cushion the landing.

So, anyone trained would prefer a "square" chute.

So, accepting this as true, there is still one concern that needs to be
addressed. In a 2 place sailplane, the passenger gets a parachute. Even
though the pilot may have the training, the chances are very high that not
all of the passengers will have the required training, and may not
understand about flaring. Would that mean that the passenger should have a
round chute and just accept their lumps, so to speak?

Colin N12HS

Still use the squre...as long as you are able to pull the handle you
will be O'K. In a case of square canopies there is a set of brake
lines...if you don't release them your forward speed is only about
1-1.5 MPH and descent speed is 12 feet per second as compare with
rounds of 17 feet per second. In addition, if you don't release the
brake lines the square canopy will turn into the wind by itself. So,
even as you are referring to not ideal circumstances your squre will
take you back to the ground with much higher degree of safety.

snip Would that mean that the passenger should have a round chute and
just accept their lumps, so to speak? /snip

Colin: Yes, exactly.

OC: as the unidentified rigger said, the square. The chances of the
pilot being dazed and confused to the point of not even being able to
find and operate the brake/steering toggles are small, and if unable to
do so by injury or unconsciousness, I would still rather be under the
square.

2NO

wrote:

Still use the squre...as long as you are able to pull the handle you
will be O'K. In a case of square canopies there is a set of brake
lines...if you don't release them your forward speed is only about
1-1.5 MPH and descent speed is 12 feet per second as compare with
rounds of 17 feet per second.

Can't you just get a bigger round canopy to come down slower?


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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA