Parks College Parachute Research Group
Outline of the presentation at the 1999 Parachute Industry Aassociation Symposium
Putting Science at the Service of Riggers and Manufacturers
presented by Jean Potvin and Gary Peek
Started in 1995, the Parks College Parachute Research Group (or PRG) is a university-based
Research and Development organization dedicated to the scientific study of the parachute. Located
at St. Louis University in St. Louis MO, the PRG is a small group of faculty members, their students and a
professional consultant working towards a better experimental and theoretical understanding of
parachute inflation and flight. Current scientific investigations include a study of ram-air cell
pressurization occurring during inflation, and a long term study of riser loading on a large
number of sport ram-air canopies. Some of this work has been done with the support of industrial
partners such as Irvin Aerospace, Performance Designs and Paranetics Technology.
Following a short introduction of the PRG and its activities, the rest of the seminar will present
several results from our research which may be of interest to parachute riggers and manufacturers
as well as to sport jumpers. These include:
- detailed, riser-by-riser riser loading curves during inflation and flight maneuvers such as
turns and flare
- (partial) answers to this question: just when does the opening shock occur? before or during
slider descent?
- a quantitative comparison of the drag force generated by pilot chutes built out of low-
porosity and zero-porosity fabric
- the data of intentional cut-away test jumps to study the effects of extremely large sliders and
their very slow opening characteristics of the parachutes equipped with them
