http://ozreport.com/blog.php#2007-1-6_9:33:16am_AUSEDT


Rob Kells <> writes:

With regard to what you wrote:


"I wondered exactly how fast I was falling after I tumbled a few years ago. I
can't imagine that my severely broken ATOS was slowing my fall all that much,
and when I threw my chute it came out very quickly and opened under a strong
load. It was a small chute, which I realized as I came down too fast, and now I
have a bigger chute, a LARA Gold 250, but would the bigger chute blow apart
under the same deployment load?"


Generally speaking, the smaller the parachute, the faster it opens. The faster
it opens the higher the opening shock. We drop tested a small 16 gore
experimental PDA 'chute years ago. At 80 knots the small 'chute opened so hard
that the skydiving dummy blew right through a sky diving harness and went into
free fall into Lake Elsinore.


Bigger parachutes open slower but descend slower.

Steven Pearson <>
writes:

Typically, a larger chute of the same configuration will result in
a lower opening shock because of the slower deployment. Free Flight has drop
tested all LARA models with 400 lb payloads at over 90 knots. No canopies were
damaged. Gary, who incidentally just celebrated his 40th year of skydiving, told
me that it typically takes about 12 seconds to reach terminal velocity. With
arms and legs spread, that's about 120 mph. Tucked, it can be over 250 mph, and
deployment at that speed even with a TSO chute can be fatal. If you have any
question you can contact Gary at .


http://www.willswing.com/prod2.asp?theClass=parachutes&theModel=lara