Why round canopy?

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Rgr_MindRiot

Post by Rgr_MindRiot »

Interesting question LN. Back in the day we used the T10-M (round with inverted T) that you could steer. The only ones using square chutes were the specops operators who could deploy at high altitude and actually fly their chutes for miles to the DZ. The issue seemed to be one of competency as the square canopy had a greater forward thrust but the cost was a higher decent rate. This is not a big problem for an experienced parachutist :) but if you don't flare at just the right moment it's going to hurt. Cost is also a big issue i'm sure. Also, i understand that they have done away with the steerable chutes forcing everyone to slip now, what a shame, had a blast with those chutes on Fun jumps. We would talk the CH47 pilot into 10k ft jump over the DZ and it was cool....seemed like you were up there forever. Maybe someone can give us the official word on the issue.
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Creeping Death
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Post by Creeping Death »

Picture yourself in this scenario. You have gotten back into the service, and made it to Bat. Ranger Rendezvous is here, and you are about to take part in a jump that every Ranger that has ever made it will remember, their first Regimental Mass Attack jump into Ranger Rendezvous at Ft. Benning. This is arguably the most dangerous jump a Ranger will make short of the one that gets him his mustard stain.

Why? Because the whole dang regiment is jumping in, and spectators of the jump cannot see blue sky, all they see is green silk. The sky is jam packed with jumpers. Consider the fact that most jump injuries come not from partial or total malfunctions, but from jumpers who collide with one another or steal each others air. So the shear volume of jumpers in the sky greatly increase your chance of injury on this particular jump. Now imagine if every jumper in the sky at that moment had one of those high speed, very maneuverable rectangular chutes. People would be getting tangled up and injured all over the place.

That is why the round chutes (I assume the T-10C still) are still used. The commanders must be able to drop large quantities of men in a relatively centralized location, have them fall at about the same rate of speed, and not be scattered to Hell and back.

I would have to disagree with your friend. I sure wouldn't want to be on a chalk with 63 Rangers following me out the door, all wearing those high speed, highly maneuverable rigs. No sir. Just give me a T-10C and a heavy ruck to get me down quick, and if that ain't enough, I'll just pull a slip until I grab silk.
A Co 1/75 '94-'97
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VEGA175

Post by VEGA175 »

i think cd is right they want the whole chalk to hit the ground in the same formation they left the plane (roughly). getting caught up in someone elses chute sucks. I tangled with a cherry one time .after several kicks to his head and a threat of cutting his risers he got away from me. his door exit was so bad he came out under me . he went out the other door.
plus it is a lot easier to learn and teach with the limited controls
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Creeping Death
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Post by Creeping Death »

Case in point:

I think there was a Spc4 from first Bat. that was killed on a training jump on Rock DZ, not long after they came back from Iraq the first time. If I remember right, another jumper stole his air, and he lost his lift capability. These type injuries / fatalities would be far more common if the Regiment used rectangular chutes, in my opinion.

They may be fine with just 10 or 15 jumpers in the sky. But they would spell disaster when you're talking 100+ jumpers in the sky over the same DZ.
A Co 1/75 '94-'97
Class 5-96
Rgr_MindRiot

Post by Rgr_MindRiot »

Good point CD. I can remember threatening cherries, who were driving their chutes toward me on a jump, with great bodily harm if they ran into me. Besides a major malfuntion, entanglement was my greatest fear, so i routinely dumped my air to get to the ground faster. I think the T10-M had a forward thrust of 2.5 knt so if you forgot to turn into say a 5 knt wind, then your intial contact was 7.5 ktn, not a pretty sight.
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steelsixzero
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Post by steelsixzero »

With the amount of forward forward movement and the speed of the ram-air canopies.....it would be like 100 skysharks in a feeding frenzy. It is hard enough to avoid entanglements with the big, slow chutes when you have 100+ jumpers in the air at night.
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harrisn

Post by harrisn »

These fella's are dead ass on LN... There is simply no practical need for -1B's or anything more steerable within the mainstream Ranger METL. The relative size of the airborne package being delivered and the generally novice experience-level of the majority of your jumpers exiting are indeed sound enough reasons alone. But when infused with the "enhanced" precision capability afforded by the CARP system, a technological accounting/formulation for such things as direction/speeds of winds at altitude/surface, rate of decent, etc... you're Rangers will land where they're supposed to... err,... well... um, most of the time at least. :wink:

Just get em out as quickly as you can after the green; get em all gone or shut off before the red,... and blame the rest on the Aircrew. :lol:

Great shootin' CD, Vega, Steel, Happy and Mindriot,... Wish I had boy's who could zero that fast in my section!!!... Sure would have made for some shorter days at the range, and a few less headaches... :D

Later fellas,


Nate H
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Looon
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CHUTES

Post by Looon »

I agree with HAPPY, I think is a rate of decent issue.
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1989-1990
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