Parachute

A **parachute** is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag (or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift). Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong fabric, originally silk, now most commonly nylon. They are typically dome-shaped, but vary, with rectangles, inverted domes, and others found. A variety of loads are attached to parachutes, including people, food, equipment, space capsules, and bombs.

## Overview

On Earth, when mankind began defying the law of gravity, either by hot-air balloon, glider, aircraft or just jumping off an extremely high structure, there came a need for a method to land safely on the ground in case of an emergency. The first evidence of parachute design appeared during the 1470s of the Renaissance Era by inventor and artist, Leonardo Da Vinci. The modern parachute would appear in the 18th and 19th centuries and would be applied for military use in World War I. Today, parachutes are still being used for both military and civilian use, as a means of escaping a crashing aircraft, deploying airborne troops, supplies and for recreation.

The terminal velocity of the human body is 120 mph (195 km/hr) during freefall. Despite decelerating to less than 5 mph with a parachute, (depending on its design), the human body can still suffer injury or even death when impacting with the ground. Therefore the parachutist must be able to land in a way to displace and disperse the energy of the body when it makes contact with the ground. This is known as the parachute landing fall.

## Designs

A parachute is basically a large sheet of fabric, (either silk or nylon), which spreads out and catches air and creates enough drag to slow down an object's descent. The size of the parachute is determined by the object's overall weight while the shape of the parachute can vary, depending on its usuage.

### **Round**

Round parachutes are purely a drag device (that is, unlike the ram-air types, they provide no lift) and are used in military, emergency and cargo applications. Most have large dome-shaped canopies made from a single layer of triangular cloth gores. Their main purpose is to simply allow the user to descend downwards and only has some degree of control over direction.

### **Cruciform**

The unique design characteristics of cruciform parachutes decrease oscillation (its user swinging back and forth) and violent turns during descent. This technology will be used by the United States Army as it replaces its older T-10 parachutes with T-11 parachutes under a program called Advanced Tactical Parachute System (ATPS). The ATPS canopy is a highly modified version of a cross/ cruciform platform and is square in appearance.

### **Pull-down Apex**

A variation on the round parachute is the pull-down apex parachute, invented by a Frenchman named Pierre-Marcel Lemoigne.The first widely used canopy of this type was called the *Para-Commander* (made by the Pioneer Parachute Co.), although there are many other canopies with a pull-down apex produced in the years thereafter - these had minor differences in attempts to make a higher performance rig, such as different venting configurations.

Due to their lenticular shape and appropriate venting, they have a considerably faster forward speed than, say, a modified military canopy. And due to controllable rear-facing vents in the canopy's sides, they also have much snappier turning capabilities, though they are decidedly low-performance compared to today's ram-air rigs.

### **Annular**

Some designs with a pull-down apex have the fabric removed from the apex to open a hole through which air can exit (most, if not all, round canopies have at least a small hole to allow easier tie-down for packing - these aren't considered annular), giving the canopy an annular geometry. This hole can be very pronounced in some designs, taking up more 'space' than the parachute. They also have decreased horizontal drag due to their flatter shape and, when combined with rear-facing vents, can have considerable forward speed. Truly annular designs - with a hole large enough that the canopy can be classified as *ring-shaped* - are uncommon.

### **Rogallo wing**

Sport parachuting has experimented with the Rogallo wing, among other shapes and forms. These were usually an attempt to increase the forward speed and reduce the landing speed offered by the other options at the time. The ram-air parachute's development and the subsequent introduction of the sail slider to slow deployment reduced the level of experimentation in the sport parachuting community. The parachutes are also hard to build

### **Ribbon and Ring**

Ribbon and ring parachutes have similarities to annular designs. They are frequently designed to deploy at supersonic speeds. A conventional parachute would instantly burst upon opening and be shredded at such speeds. Ribbon parachutes have a ring-shaped canopy, often with a large hole in the centre to release the pressure. Sometimes the ring is broken into ribbons connected by ropes to leak air even more. These large leaks lower the stress on the parachute so it does not burst or shred when it opens. Ribbon parachutes made of Kevlar are used on nuclear bombs, such as the B61 and B83.

### **Ram-air**

The principle of the Ram-Air Multicell Airfoil was conceived in 1963 by Canadian Domina "Dom" C. Jalbert, but serious problems had to be solved before a ram-air canopy could be marketed to the sport parachuting community. Ram-air parafoils are steerable (as are most canopies used for sport parachuting), and have two layers of fabric—top and bottom—connected by airfoil-shaped fabric ribs to form "cells". The cells fill with higher-pressure air from vents that face forward on the leading edge of the airfoil. The fabric is shaped and the parachute lines trimmed under load such that the ballooning fabric inflates into an airfoil shape.

## Parachutes in the New World

### Third Civilization Area and Outside the Civilized Area

Unless one possesses magic in order to levitate or slow down his fall, a Wyvern-riding knight has basically no way of saving himself if he falls off his mount. For Reckmeyer, he was a very lucky individual when his mount was killed as he fell into the sea and was later rescued.

### Second Civilization Area

Since the wyvern is still being used in some nations, the same situation of having no parachutes remain. For other nations such as Mu, there is no mention of whether the pilots are equipped with parachutes. However, during the Capture of Valkyries Base, Mu and the Magicaraich Community were known to coordinate with the 1st Airborne Brigade to conduct an air assault on the base. It has been revealed that parachute training and equipment was provided by Japan.

### Gra Valkas Empire

The Gra Valkas military does equip its airmen with parachutes, but it has been stated that there is very little training and success in using them. Parachutes are seen as a last resort, and the person can suffer broken bones, paralysis and even death, since the Gra Valkas military has not discovered the method of safe parachute landing. This means that they have not embraced the concept of airborne infantry, and were thus extremely surprised by the appearance of Japanese and Mu paratroopers during the war in the 2nd Civilization Area.

### First Civilization Area

There is no mention of parachutes being used.

### Japan

Japanese pilots and airborne troops are highly trained in the usage of parachutes. During the Capture of Valkyries Base, Gra Valkas commander Gaoggel and Crown Prince Gra Cabal was astounded by the Japanese paratroopers to the point that they called them "enemies beyond common sense".