Parachute system structure

Today systems for parachute jumps consist mainly of the following components:

The rig, comprising the harness, main and reserve containers, wind-up or release handle, disconnecting and reserve handle.

Harness belts have a three-ring system, bridle and deploy hand, with connectors of stainless steel or so-called soft-left, with the suspension lines of the main cap and of the reserve parachute attached. It will act as host and holder for the payload (jumper) and as a packaging (container) for the parachutes.

The main cap is usually made from a nylon ripstop fabric, (rarely from F-111), and in emergencies such as opening problems, can be separated with the help of a lock system (for example, a three-ring system).

Reserve parachutes, and the pilot chute, are usually made of F-111 parachute tissue (rarely, though, a round cap chute). The reserve parachute is triggered either manually via a handle, automatically via the lanyard Reserve Static Line (RSL) (for removal of the main cap) or an AAD. In contrast to the main chute, the reserve chute cannot be dropped by the jumper.

POD (Parachute Opening Device): A small semi-open pocket in which the parachute is packed, and the suspension lines are attached to the S-beats with the help of rubber packing in loops that are closed.

The auxiliary parachute rope connecting bridle connects the auxiliary parachute with the parachute. To reduce the air resistance it has a built-in rubber device or a kill-line for the pilot chute after a main parachute collapses.

The pilot chute opens the main parachute. One of four different mechanisms is mainly used to trigger the auxiliary chute:

Hand Deploy (Throw Out): The pilot chute is stowed in a pocket attached to the harness and is pulled manually to open up in the air stream and then released. The jumper first releases the pilot chute from its container, which opens the container for the main chute, which is drawn from its packaging (POD) using the parachute rope connecting the two.

Pull Out: (often pincushion) A handle first opens the container, and depending on the continuing line of the auxiliary chute, is drawn in the sequence into the air stream and then released, so the chute is pulled from its packaging (containers and POD).

Release handle: The handle is equipped with a thin PVC sheathed steel cable (often referred to by laymen as a rip cord), which is connected with the other end by a loop and holds the flaps of the container under lock and key. By pulling on the handle, the steel cable is pulled out of the loop. Thus, the flaps are released and the pilot chute leaps through a tight spring into the air stream.

Static Line (forced triggering, automatic triggering): With a several meters long line, the opening mechanism of the parachute static line is connected directly to the aircraft. This will be opened immediately after the dropping of the container and the pilot chute, or by directly pulled the cap from the parachute pack cover.

After opening, the static line is separated from the parachute system through a Velcro or some other type of breaking point. This technique is often the case with reserve chutes or parachutes of military paratrooper units in operation.

Suspension lines in the core-mantle structure represent the connection between the main cap and the carrying system. The core is usually made of Kevlar or polyethylene sheath made of UV resistant polyester.

An open machine automatically triggers the reserve parachute (for example, due to loss of consciousness of the jumper), when a certain altitude is reached and the main chute has not been deployed.