Reserve parachute MYTHS debunked

(Powered) Paragliders and hangliders use reserve parachutes. There are some interesting myths on this topic going around, time to debunk those!
In this second episode about reserve parachutes you will learn about some of the myths surrounding this topic, and the story behind them, helping you get more skilled on this important topic!
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[@glidewatch]

OK lot's here which is very helpful and already known. Your buzzer approach is interesting and funny! So 1. Quickouts! Yes steerables work best brakes off and main disabled no matter how. Yes the predominant steerables (Beamer 3 etc) are set brakes on so that they provide drag, do not fly, until you get main in. See Urs Hari Beamer video on YT. 2. Always fly with a reserve, agree, big yes to the buzzer! Ding ding! Always even Dune flying, I can go from 1 foot to 300 feet alti in this type of flying. 3. Extra buzzer for throwing even if low, you are never too low to get slow. 4. Lifing is not a RULE it is a warranty, a best guess by the manufacturers for an average period they will be held responsible for. Yes always condition is better than age but very very difficult to assess on reserves except "Flakey" ones! 5. Of course you can pack your own but take great care, find a club repack if you can. BHPA has drastically reduced failure packs and the few really bad ones are done by isolated, uninformed and mistaken pilots, be cautious but take a chance to learn from someone who knows. Thanks Bas!

[@li0nia]

Thank you !! Stay safe

[@stephenyork7318]

“Steerable parachutes have the fastest opening time”? Can you please explain the theory behind this?

[@Flightcoach]

To be honest I am not sure why this is. At the time of making the video this was certainly the case, I presume it has something to do with their aerodynamic design

[@peterphil9686]

Legendary... very clear and comprehensive Bas.

[@Flightcoach]

Much obliged :)

[@DougBow96]

Great content Bas, thank you!

[@Flightcoach]

You are very welcome doug, as always. Thanks for letting me know!!

[@patrick.holmes]

Some useful points but with your statement that square reserves are always tracking you’re propagating a new myth! Many Squares are symmetrical, descend vertically and do not track, drift or glide in still air; for example all GIN and Skywalk squares.

[@Flightcoach]

Wow thats a useful contribution, thanks, would not want to start new myths!. As I said in the intro of part 1 there will be exceptions to these general rules of thumb, afaik most squares track sideways. There even was some consternation a few years back that independence (if i recall correctly) did not specify this behavior in their manual so users got unpleasant surprises. Did not know of these exceptions though! Sounds like an improvement. Do you have either of these two? Do you know how they achieve pendulum stability without tracking? Would you recommend them? Love to hear!

[@henrylemmen8389]

@@Flightcoach Bas and Patrick, even annular parachutes do have a lateral speed although mostly less than most squares. Squares have a tendency to drift with less than 1 m/s. Is this a disadvantage compared to an annular parachute? No, since the lateral ground speed is more important and that is caused by the wind conditions. The wind speed and direction can increase or decrease your lateral ground speed. There is no guarantee that you land on a roof only vertically, neither with an annular nor with a square. Please check i.e. the Independence website about rescue parachutes: "Is the lateral movement of independence cruciform parachutes dangerous? No! Lateral movement of our cruciform parachutes is below walking pace, thus usually below wind speed. To laterally hit a barrier consequently is pretty much unlikely and according to its speed wouldn't cause much harm. Additionally the lateral movement is reduced by the air drag of the paraglider, which usually stays attached to the pilot. To separate the glider is not possible in most cases anyway, because of the carabiners and accelerating systems used - and not necessary anyhow! Its a known fact for many years, that annular parachutes do show lateral movements as well!"

[@Flightcoach]

Thanks for contributing Henry! Unfortunately very few guarantees in our sport indeed :) And good point wind speed has more effect than the aerodynamics of the reserve!

[@glidewatch]

Agree with Patrick and there are too many variables to promote myth that says that a PDA will not hit a roof that a Square will, just not a provable argument. Once deployed without a full steerable (maybe!) you are going down where you timing of deployment, your altitude, the windspeed, the shape of the terrain, whether your main is still in/out, etc etc are all factors you cannot control. Squares will eventually outnumber and possibly see rounds into extinction but until then let's kill this myth! :-)

[@Flightcoach]

@glidewatch thx for responding! i agree, but i believe there is some miscommunication :) I am saying that in certain conditions it is more likely that you will hit the side of a building with a square vs a pda. This is a risk based viewpoint, not a certainty. The topic at hand is the myth that a square is always better than a pda. That is not true, since there are cases in which the opposite is true, thats what i meant to explain in the episode. The drift that most of them have is one of the reasons why this is not true in every case. Fact remains that an increase in horizontal speed vs a similar vertical speed means you cover more distance, making it harder to predict where you will land and increasing the chance of hitting a building on the side vs a PDA. Exactly because there are so many variables you cannot control it is important to look at the variable you can, in this case pda vs square. A great video on this can be found here btw: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXqrZKCZo7CSgMU But maybe the best description of reserve vs situation is this: "Tell me the accident you are going to have and i will give you the best reserve for that accident" ;) Looking forward to see where material development brings us! Anything you would like to see in a future episode? It seems you are also very interested in the topic!

[@robdeleeuw64]

Again a nice video Bas, thx.

[@Flightcoach]

Good to hear from you Rob, glad you like it! 😁

[@MarekMastalerz]

Please explain how it is possible that square parachutes are drifting? They are symmetric, right? So how come they drift in one direction? I think this is a myth. Drift caused by wind is much more significant, and this is the same with all the types.

[@Flightcoach]

Welcome to the channel Marek and thanks for chipping in. I'm no design specialist, I dont know if they are fully symmetrical. Assuming that they are: they can still implement drift by making line length or stretch difference or different material choices on different sides, but that's just the engineer in me talking. No idea how they do in in practice. This video shows an excellent example. The drift is real. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXqrZKCZo7CSgMU

[@MarekMastalerz]

@@Flightcoachthank you for answer. I've seen this video. Still think that perfectly sewn parachute should not drift. I agree that drifting may be caused by some flaws of specific item. Maybe square chutes are more prone to drift if there are any production flaws. Hmmm... BTW, I love your videos, and recommend it to every pilot who want to develop. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@Flightcoach]

Thanks thats a great compliment :) for as far as I know the drift is something they do intentionally, as a way to reduce pendulum. So not a design or manufacturing flaw, just an acceptable downside to having a more stable canopy.

[@Bob_just_Bob]

Great video as always

[@Flightcoach]

A thank you all the way from China is extra appreciated ;)

[@Rich-cq4gz]

Thanks Bas great advice, how are old reserves recycled, any ideas on up-cycling?

[@Flightcoach]

Good question! and i have no idea, at least not in a structured way. I also work as an innovation manager (can't pay the bills with just this channel heheh) so upcycling is a hot topic for me. I have seen some people turn old reserves or gliders into jackets, bags and windscreens. These are then mainly art projects and nothing recurring.

[@Rich-cq4gz]

@@Flightcoach Thanks for your reply.....maybe it’s a question to put out there....be interesting to see the responses?

[@Flightcoach]

I think all bits help indeed! In my experience what works best here is getting the whole supply chain involved, i.e. allowing customers to return their discarded reserve, gathering them centrally and then upcycling.

[@error.418]

@@Flightcoach I have a friend who turns old parachutes into quite nice hammocks (total reconstruction) 👍

[@Flightcoach]

Ohhhh that is epic! I am actually looking for a way to turn one of my old gliders into a jacket, can that friend do that too??

[@dieuwerf]

Great content as usual bas

[@Flightcoach]

Dieuwer my man! Thanks very much!!

[@ParaglidingScotland]

I noticed you state you've never used a PG reserve* Re 'what kind of chute do you use?' my personal answer is I've only ever flown with and used 'chutes (a variety Inc steerable and PDA's) when testing them in low level 'accidental' deployment situations (tests done at between 20 and 200ft AGL, FWIW the most deployments I've done in one hour is five. PS when I (quite literally!) wrote the article on "How to survive accidental low level deployments" square parachutes had not yet been developed, I would say anyone publishing on the subject should do actual testing first.....

[@Flightcoach]

Wow thats a lot of accidental deployments, what were you testing specifically? The series covers knowledge readily available to anyone in a condensed format, no need to re test what others have found, right :)I think i said I never had to use one to save myself btw... I've deployed one many times in training situations.

[@ParaglidingScotland]

@@Flightcoach the article (for Paraglider Magazine) was specifically on what to to do to survive a typical 'accidental low level deployment', i.e. where a reserve handle gets disturbed at launch (or on a low level 'skim' pass etc) in these (pg wing still flying or part flying) situations opening reserves often rapidly generate a (downwards) "sling shot" effect on the pilot :-( as the reserve opens BELOW & Behind the pilots mass, hence the significant added risk of certain types of PG flight with an active (deployable) reserve fitted. FWIW when test flying pilots (reserve fitted harnesses) harnesses I'll disable the reserve before launching for safety with use of a removable locking cable tie securing the deployment handle

[@Flightcoach]

Wow that sounds like a great contribution to the sport. Is that published online somewhere too? I'd love to read it.

[@sashimifr]

What is a quickout?

[@Flightcoach]

A system to quickly release the glider from the harness. See episode 1 for a more detailed explanation.

[@sashimifr]

@@Flightcoach interestingly, these quick release systems are not allowed in France.

[@Flightcoach]

I heard that they are not allowed in Switzerland either, as another viewer stated. I am interested how that works legally though.

[@sashimifr]

@@Flightcoach in France (and I'm guessing in Switzerland too, I'll ask around), the idea is a quickreleased wing can cause all sorts of incidents like for instance if it lands on a moving car, or on a powerline. What is strange is that quick realise systems are allowed in skydiving on the other hand.

[@Flightcoach]

Indeed heard that too. I wonder how they enforce that "not allowed" part? Is it discouraged? Or do they inspect people on takeoff and landing and fine you when you have one? (Cant imagine) or if you use it you get fined (cant imagine either) or maybe if you use it and cause an accident you are liable? Maybe this is most likely and then more severe measures or claims can be taken against you compared to countries where they are allowed?

[@danieltomaschek7728]

Hi Bas, great videos 💪👍 I’m using the Finsterwalder - Charly Diamond cross Steerable reserve with Quickouts. It’s very light, very low sink rate, fast opening time and its steerable. You can even go into fly back with it, if you need to avoid a wall 😉✌️ Gliding ratio is not so good as the Beamer, but it cant go into downplaning as the beamer. So that’s the reason I choose the Diamond cross. Check it on KZbin!

[@Flightcoach]

Hi daniel my man! Thank you very much! I heard good things about that one, didn't know it could do backfly, almost sounds like a helicopter such maneuverability ;) no downplaning is great, does it also not have the mirroring downside? Sounds like I may buy it as my next one since my beamer is nearing the 10 years

[@danieltomaschek7728]

Flightcoach downside: like most steerable the riser twist... but I take that into account

[@user6304mx]

you claim things for granted without andy proof or any links to corresponding reports like how fast rescu opens

[@Flightcoach]

You are correct! This episode is not intended as a scientifically complete piece of research, it is a high level overview of the three main types, meant to further your understanding and invoke your own curiosity into asking questions about your material choices. If you want more detailed information i can recommend a subscription to magazines like Cross Country magazine or Thermik, they sometimes publish on these matters and go into a lot of detail.

[@epicfirsts888]

you give tip is good. make more. i learn

[@Flightcoach]

More to come!