Pilot Chute Size?

[PhreeZone 20]

If you want to find out about PC's talk to the container makers first then the canopy makers. Shoot an email off to RWS, Sunpath, RI and Sunrise to see what size PC's they reccomend for a 150 canopy. Don't tell the the make of the canopy, just the size. I think you'll find 28 f111 or 24 ZP are the most common sizes.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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The guy you just followed up to, and I think disagreed with what Pisa said, is the owner (i think) of Atair USA

He is also a fairly avid BASE jumper and wingsuit pilot. He is fairly nutty about testing stuff and will talk your ear off on a lot of subjects. All this besides the original point of the post, though.

Parachutes open differently depending on what speed you deploy. I seriously doubt the average person is going to change to a larger PC just to do a hop and pop. BASE, sure, but that really ought to be done with task-specific gear. I try to find a happy medium to meet all my purposes. In the end, I settled with a little 22 inch ZP with a long, nine-foot bridle (to aid in BirdMan deployments).

Anyway, the PC that the original poster is using is perfectly suited to his main in my opinion. Of course everyone has their opinion.

Chuck

[petur 0]

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Of course everyone has their opinion.

So true, everyone has opinions! IMHO you, Nicknitro71, should use opinions from other people only to aid you in forming your own, don't make them yours without investigating. On the other hand, stuff you read in the manufacturer's manual is proven test results (I sure hope).

I remember my first hop-n-pop from 3k' because it was cloudy and the low cloud-ceiling prevented us from climbing any higher. The ground looked a lot bigger that low and the sub-terminal speed at deployment caused a noticeable delay during the overall opening sequence. This uncomfortable delay could definately make people adjust their body position after throwing their PC to see if everything looks allright up there, without them even noticing. Some might even kick and squirm a little, I bet I did! Fortunately no line twists or any other problems occurred during that jump, for that I am grateful, just as I am with every good jump!

Anyway, here's what crosses MY mind after experiencing a line twist on my canopy:

Maybe...

...my line stows were uneven

...one rubber band was a bit too tight and didn't break quick enough which caused a delay for that particular linestow to release

...one or more rubber bands snapped

...I placed the canopy unevenly in the bag (a gap with no canopy material filling one side of the bag catches more air than the other and, depending on each scenario, could spin the d-bag before the canopy is retracted)

...I rolled the nose unevenly (although I don't do that any more with my current canopy model)

...I rolled the tail too tight or carelessly before laying the canopy down on the ground and therefore I deformed the whole packjob because I pulled one side further than the other

...my body position was not perfect when I deployed (stable body position does not neccessarily mean perfect body position during deployment)

...my body position was not perfect AFTER I deployed my PC

...my leg straps were uneven

...I sat uneven in the harness during inflation, placing more weight on one side which caused the canopy to turn

...I had knot(s) (tension or regular) on line(s) on one side which came off when the canopy reached it's final opening stage

...one toggle released during deployment or maybe I even forgot to set the brakes on one side

...my lines are out of trim

...etc. etc. etc. all being factors (one or more combined at once) which I think may or may not result in a minor/major linetwist, aggressive/slow turn or any other undesired experience during deployment.

...and oh, almost forgot, I just added Pilot Chute size to this list while writing it

Point is: My openings are usually pretty sweet... and then again sometimes they are not... even though I use the same pilot chute all the time. :)

Blue Skies!

P.

---
P.
"It Hurts to Admit When You Make Mistakes -
But When They're Big Enough, the Pain Only Lasts a Second."

[fred 0]

I just had my first line twists since I completed AFF. And while I'd like to blame rubber bands and pilot chutes and anything else, I know exactly what it was.

I've been wondering about how 'on-heading' my openings are, so at 5500 I stopped doing my flips and stuff that I'd decided to practice on that jump, and spun around looking for the dropzone. Turned probably 270° and found it, checked my alti, and it was close enough so I pulled (a little more altitude as last out would let me play with the canopy more). I'd bet (I'm still a low-timer, 39 jumps, most of those short delays), that I hadn't quite stopped turning when I pulled.

I'm not saying that this relates at all to your experience, but I think the idea that it's body position/momentum shouldn't be overlooked.