Parachute Malfunctions

[derckert 0]

I am a high school student researching parachute malfunctions and it would greatly help my research if you could fill you this survey for me. It is strictly academic and voluntary.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M7F8MKK

[mr2mk1g 10]

Virtually all skydivers will answer yes to question 1 - not necessarily because they personally have experienced a malfunction but because they will almost certainly know someone who has.

Up your scale for question 5 (not that it actually has much relevance). You currently have it as a maximum of 100 jumps on a canopy - you can put thousands on a canopy with periodic replacement of the lines.

Overall, the survey is exceptionally brief and vague. I'm not sure what actual usable data you will develop from it. Hope that helps.

[derckert 0]

Thank you for the information, and the survey did provide me with certain information that I was currently unable to find in any of my research but your information on how many times a single canopy is used is also useful to me.

[Deimian 43]

I would suggest you take a look at these videos. They are from the Australian Parachute Federation, and are very informative. They talk about the different malfunction scenarios. Maybe that will give you some ideas on how to expand the survey to be more detailed and useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTYsjH7DSVA&list=PLHdmFp89rAHBsZwLtEzkZ8wWeRk7GCrTt

[Hajo 0]

Sorry, that doesn´t make sense ...
What should be the results ...?

Advice: go to your local DZ and talk to the jumpers and the S&TA.
Then think again and re-structure the survey.

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With sufficient thrust,
pigs just fly well

[Baksteen 84]

1. Define malfunction. They broadly fall in two categories.
a) There are nuisances which can usually be fixed, such as line twists.
b) there are true malfunctions, which cannot. Examples are torn fabric (rare) and broken lines, but also those same line twists at a lower altitude.
Jumper experience is a vast contributor for determining how a malfunction is/should be dealt with.

All skydivers will experience (let alone see) many different malfunctions over their career. The vast majority of these are fixable, some lead to the skydiver going to their reserve while a minority lead to an injury. An even smaller minority leads to a fatality. But in all cases it's not just the malfunction which causes the injury/fatality. There is always a 'chain of events', a combination of unfortunate/contributing circumstances.

2.
That very much depends on the malfunction and the situation and the jumper involved. It is impossible to answer this with a blanket statement.

3, 4, 6
I have personally witnessed and experienced scores of different types of malfunctions, with many different outcomes. Which should I evaluate here?


5. I have used perhaps 50 different parachutes (including rental / borrowed gear) so far; some I just used once, others I used hundreds of times and still have, others I used hundreds of times and sold, and one I had for eight years, but never used before I traded it......but I have ~800 jumps total.
Parachutes can last for thousands of jumps, depending on how carefully they are treated, what they are used for and on luck.

7.
- I use a Storm 190 for freefall,
- I use a Lightning 160 for Canopy Formation or a Lightning 176 when jumping with newer CF-jumpers
- I have a Techno 190 reserve.
- Parachute sizes are given in sq. ft.
- I weigh around 210-215 lbs while fully geared up.

Skydivers use the term 'Wingload' (parachute surface divided by suspended weight) to indicate the speed and performance of a parachute. I am out of my depth trying to accurately explain this concept in English and too lazy to search for it; if you want to know more I'm sure someone will pipe up.

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[riggerrob 558]

............ Skydivers use the term 'Wingload' (parachute surface divided by suspended weight) to indicate the speed and performance of a parachute. I am out of my depth trying to accurately explain this concept in English and too lazy to search for it; if you want to know more I'm sure someone will pipe up.

.......................................................................................

For the definition of "wing-loading" look at the article that I published in CANPARA Magazine (circa 1983) or Poynter's Manual Volume 2 (circa 1991).

Suspended weight/canopy area = wing loading.

Suspended weight includes: naked jumper, shoes, helmet, jumpsuit, goggles, canopies and harness. Solo rigs (versus tandem) weight between 20 pounds (experienced) and 30 pounds (large student).
...... IOW 9 to 14 kilograms.

Suspended weight/canopy area=wing loading

Wing loading a start at 0.7 pounds per square foot for students, BASE jumpers and precision landing competitors.

Junior sport jumpers usually limit wing-loading to 1 pound per square foot.

Highly experienced canopy piloting competitors (pond swoopers) push wing loading as high as 4 pounds per square foot.

Severity of malfunctions increases with heavier wing loadings. For example, line twists might be only a minor nuisance at student wing loadings: [0.7 lbs/square foot] (land able or easily untwisted by the jumper).
OTOH line twists on a heavily loaded canopy can spin so fast (uncureable) that the jumper loses consciousness and the only cure is cutting away before you lose consciousness.