The Parachute Manual

[rendezvous 0]

I'm intertested in learning more about some basic parachute aerodynamics, parachute design and constructions and maintenance. To that extent are these books Parachute Manual, Vol 1 and Vol 2 By Dan Poynter worth any thing and specially worth their price. If so which volume would extensively cover modern day canopies including reserves and mains and the rest of the equipment. From what I understand it's vol 2. In that case what would I miss if I wasn't to get vol 1. Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[DZDale 0]

Hi Ren.....
I personally dont have any experience with "The Parachute manual" I do however own "Parachuting - A Skydivers Handbook" by Dan Poynter and Mike Turnoff which gives fairly good info all round but is a little outdated. The best resource for canopy construction, Flight dynamics etc is most definitely an online book by Brian Burke. He really does a good job with this.
Here is the link : http://www.skydiveaz.com/resources/book_canopy.htm
Hope this gives you what your'e looking for.
Cheers
Dale
A man's dreams are an index to his greatness.
- Zadok Rabinwitz

[geanky 0]

If you are just interested in learning about parachute design/construction about modern day canopies just stick to Vol. 2 of The Parachute Manual. Now if you interested in learning about basic parachute aerodynamics and maintenance you are most likely to find it in Vol. 1. The shortfall of just reading Vol. 2 is that you miss out on a lot of the basics needed for parachute maintenace/repair that apply to any parachute (main/reserves and rounds/squares), and if you only read Vol. 1 then why miss out on a lot of the "modern" day equipment and its characteristics.
If you just want to look at things and not study them in depth then just ask your DZ rigger if you can borrow the books, all DZs that perform rigging services should be able to provide you with this and many more resources of information.

[polarbear 1]

Vol I doesn't really discuss much "modern" gear, but it should be pointed out that even Vol II. was written before a lot of the gear you see in skydiving today was brought out. It does, however, discuss the ram-air parachute and piggyback-style container systems, which is what we use today. I would agree that Vol I. contains more of the basic information for maintenence/repair/etc.
As far as aerodynamics goes, neither manual is really thorough. I guess it depends on the level of aerodynamics you want. If you just want the basics, it will be in the parachute manual. If you want a more detailed description of what happens when you pull a toggle, what happens when you pull a riser, etc, check out the on-line resource mentioned above...it's pretty good.
If you are thinking of becoming a rigger, you will eventually want/need both Volumes.
Most riggers/DZs will have copys of the manual. Check 'em out and see if they have the kind of information you want.

[riggerrob 558]

Start by reading both Volumes written by Poynter.
One limitation of Poynter's manuals is that Volume Two was written just as Zero-porosity fabric was being introduced and Parachutes de France was the only company building tapered parachutes. We have learned a lot about parachute design and handling since then.
Then read various posts and lectures by canopy manufacturers like Performance Designs and Icarus. Manufacturers readily share information at the user level, and frankly that is more than the average skydiver has the patience to listen to.
For a more detailed explanation, go to the Australian Parachute Federation's website and download their 14 or 16 page pamphlet on High Performance Parachutes.
This is compressed from a 40-some-odd-page thesis written by Jon Sobiesky about parachute design.
A few years ago Bryan Burke wrote a similar paper explaining parachute aerodynamics. Burke's paper was available on-line.
Manufacturers are reluctant to share trade secrets because a little knowledge can be dangerous.
To design a canopy, you need a huge background of knowledge and have to understand how all the variables interelate. Much of that knowledge is written in blood.

[councilman24 36]

There isn't much about aerodynamics in Poynters books, but they are the bible for rigging. There are new designs, materials, and methods since Vol 2 was published but still invaluable for the basics.
If you want all the aerodynamics you can handle look at "Parachute Recovery Systems Design Manual"
by T. W. Knacke. At Amazon http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0915516853/qid=1017342071/ref=sr_11_0_1/102-2575285-7009741
This includes all sorts of aerodynamic decelerators and is way over my head after 3 semesters of college physics. I think it is a required reference book for the Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference and Seminar held by the AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technical Committee. http://www.eng2.uconn.edu/~adstc/conference.html Check out publications at this web site for one on Ram Air design.

[rendezvous 0]

thanks for all you comments. I'll follow up on them.

[alan 1]

http://www.afn.org/skydive/sta/highperf.pdf
Here is the link to Jerry Sobiesky's article. It is a rough draft and I have read a better revision of it, but this should be some of what you need. It is very technical in some areas and is becoming a little dated as well, but when used with the other resources mentioned, you will learn a lot more than you may have expected.
alan