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Description
The parachute is a large
canopy of cloth or other material held to the
jumper's body by lines attached to a harness. The
simple parachute affords only a small degree of
control of the direction and rate of descent, for
it is largely at the mercy of wind and drift
effects.
Parachutes can use either
static cord release (the chute is tripped
automatically as the individual jumps) or ripcord
release (either activated by the individual or by
an automatic device preset for a given altitude).A
static cord jump must be made from a minimum of
100 meters altitude and results in immediate
deployment of the chute. The ripcord deployment
requires 200 meters minimum altitude, but it also
permits jumps from much greater altitudes with the
chute opening delayed until the 200-meter level is
reached.
A basic parachute weighs
0.15 times the mass of the parachute's payload in
kilograms; when packed, it fits into a pack worn
either on the back or the front of the jumper's
body. Many parachute packs incorporate a reserve
parachute for use in case of faulty deployment of
the main chute. |
