5 cell canopy

[guest]

has anybody experience with a 5 cell canopy?
I'm pretty curious about how they fly.
any input is welcome....
ras.t
&-)

[Skypuppy]

I did 6-700 jumps on a strato-star when I was starting out, and I knew of guys much heavier than me jumping them (200 + lbs. on a 180 sq ft canopy) without problems. However after I got my pegasus I hated going back to the 5 cell (altho I did a few times for coming in low on 10-14 stack CRW formations). The landings weren't what I was used to anymore.

That said, the # of cells really isn't the important thing here, it's the overall size and shape of the canopy. Generally 9 cell canopies turned quicker than 7- cells because they were wider (higher aspect ratio), and 7 cells turned quicker than 5 cells for the same reason. Overall, 7 cells landed better because of the overall size (22o sq ft instead of 180), as well as a slightly different aspect ratio by design. So the characteristics of the 5-cell will depend on overall size and aspect ratio.

Someone made a larger 5-cell for a while to compete with Pegasus and cruislites - I think it was the Cirrus. Generally they had a fairly high profile as well, so they had fairly slow forward speed.

At least, that's what I remember.

Skypuppy BASE 92:+

[Skypuppy]

I should say because of the high profile (large cell openings) they had pretty good openings (especially when cross-ported, which many were not coming from the factory - but its easily done with a soldering iron - get help if you don't know what you're doing).

Also because of the lower aspect ratio, they probably had less risk of squirrelly openings with high turns, especially when x-ported.

And they were over-built by today's standards, so they could take a lot of abuse, although they were heavier and bulkier.

Skypuppy BASE 92:+

[guest]

so they might be useable in base conditions?
ras.t

[kleggo]

i have made 5 no-slider jumps using a para flite swift reserve. this a a 5 cell spanwise constructed canopy.

i needed to add a bridle attachment point and cleaned up the lower control line arrangement, since the original one kinda sucked.

the canopy is very nearly square and has very large leading edge openings. my opening and on-heading performance was acceptable.

the landings were marginal, even at my relatively low 145 lb weight.

it would be an acceptable chioce for me as a reserve in a dual container base rig, otherwise i would not choose to jump one again unless the landing area was very large and open.

stay safe

craig fenstermaker
base 93

[guest]

CReW
BASE

sounds like we might have a few things incommon.

write at your convenience

craig fenstermaker
cfenstermaker@cryocor.com

[guest]

I did a few BASE jumps with a 5 cells canopy. It was a French main canopy called Magic. The on heading performance of this kind of canopy is usually very good due to the low aspect ratio and the huge size of the cells. The landing quality is quite bad, especially if it's an old canopy (and it is usually the case), this is not very good in BASE. In addition, the other big issue for BASE is the low glide ratio of this kind of canopy (thick cell=high drag force), what is not acceptable for a lot of cliff jumps. As already said, they fly quite slowly and this can be a good point but as a consequence they trun slower than larger ones.
Hope it help.
Lou

[ncjumpjunkie]

If you are looking for a five cell canopy I have 2 of them for sale. They are DC5's 125.00 each. You can reach me at SKY Kat gear shop my name is John.&-)

[space]

Yo,
I bagged someone jumping a DC-5 from a 70m bridge with a grassy LZ, at 1989 BD, The canopy took a long time to ever start flying. Secondary (cell) inflation is what took the time IMHO. I think if ya did 100m+ bridge with a wet or wide open LZ pretty near to underneath you´d be okay,
just my thoughts..
take care,
space..

[jon593]

I jumped a strato-flyer about 5 times and a Kestral about the ten and found them to be more than adequate for base. The on-heading performance was prefect. I was around 150# then and landings were fine. These were my skydiving canopies so I was well versed in their characteristics.

They turn slowly and don't plane out on flare but they can be landed fine with practice.

[guest]

hmmm......I think I'll stick with the 7 cells on the market......
ras.t:P