Chute’s Anatomy; A Skydiving Parachute

The most important item you can have when jumping out of an airplane is, hands down your skydiving parachute. The second is, of course your lucky rabbit’s foot. It is a good thing the powers that be dubbed bunnies lucky and not a hog or cow. That moo hoof would be a tad heavy around your neck. And people might stare. However, instead of sitting around rubbing the hair off a dead animal’s severed foot, please pay close attention to what your instructor is saying and demonstrating.

There are only a few classes before your first live action trip, soaring through that bright blue sky. No going for a bird either. You are moving way too fast, and that frightening blue jay is going to have you covered in white stuff. Do not even think for a second that you can snag a hawk. That is not a good plan; go back to your bunny’s foot.

You may be a little curious how your skydiving parachute functions. This is some good information to have knowledge of. You should want to know all about the equipment you are trusting your life to before you bail out of the back of an airplane.

The Styles and Trends Of Skydiving Parachutes

In the fashion world, a simple black dress can be designed one hundred different ways by one hundred different designers. The funny part? Of those one hundred creations, seventy-five will basically look alike. Thanks to the skydiving gods that parachutes have only two basic designs: the pure drag type and the lift-producing type.

The first type of skydiving parachute, the drag, is traditionally shaped like a half globe. So how do you stay in the air? It produces a vertical drag force that works against the direction the payload is traveling. In the case of skydiving, the parachute is working against the pull of gravity. You float back down to earth instead of fall. And you live.

The second type of chute, the lift-producing , have a box shape to them. They function much like the wing of a plane, producing both lift and drag at the same time. Air flowing over the top is moving faster than the air passing under the parachute. This is known as airfoil. You would sink down on a diagonal angle. And once again, you live. No matter which chute, the icing is the same.