Vent configuration and heading

UpNAtEm

Do canopy bottom skin vents (number, and configuration) give rise to differences in heading control for delays of PCA through 3 second? I was just looking at the Flik II, BJ and OSP. The canopies are 3-vent (cells 2,4,6), 4-vent (cells 2,3,5,6) and 5-vent (2,3,4,5,6) respectively. Is venting solely related to inflation speed or does it seem to affect heading for short delays? At the same wingloading, is it a false assumption to say the BJ (4-vent) would open and get flying faster than a Flik II (3-vent)?

TomAiello

Re: [UpNAtEm] Vent configuration and heading

I have never seen any evidence that different vent configurations have any effect on opening heading.

There are definitely differences in inflation with different vent configurations, but the difference between vent configurations on identical canopies is usually less than the difference between sizes of that same canopy, or between different canopy designs. Vent configuration seems to be a much smaller determinant than either size or canopy design.

Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
Snake River BASE Academy