Parachute Wing Loading

[Quake120 0]

I hear a lot about wing-loading which I discovered to be the ratio of your weight to the square footage of the parachute, correct?
I also see that people dive with high wing loadings like 2:1, 3:1, 5:1 and even one 6:1.

Is there any disadvantage of using a parachute that is 1:1 either safety or fun?

I weigh 135 and am 5'5", would the sq. footage of my parachute be 135 or is there some multiplier I didn't notice involved?

[billvon 3,119]

>Is there any disadvantage of using a parachute that is 1:1 either
>safety or fun?

That's a bit of a vauge question to be answered in one post. It's like asking "are there disadvantages to using a big hammer?" Ask around your drop zone; you'll likely get some varied answers that may give you a good background on the subject. Then you'll likely have more specific questions that you can get answered on a place like this.

[jakee 1,596]

It's your weight with gear (for you probably about 160) that is used for wingloading calculations. It sounds like you haven't jumped before, while you're on student status your canopy will likely be a fair bit bigger than that.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[adventurechick 0]

I'm loading mine .75..... and damn proud of it!

PMS #449 TPM #80 Muff Brother #3860
SCR #14705 Dirty Sanchez #233

[waltappel 1]

Quote

I hear a lot about wing-loading which I discovered to be the ratio of your weight to the square footage of the parachute, correct?
I also see that people dive with high wing loadings like 2:1, 3:1, 5:1 and even one 6:1.

Is there any disadvantage of using a parachute that is 1:1 either safety or fun?

I weigh 135 and am 5'5", would the sq. footage of my parachute be 135 or is there some multiplier I didn't notice involved?

I'll take a shot at that.

First of all, wingloading is calculated based on your exit weight. If you put all your gear on, just like you were about to jump and weigh yourself, that is your exit weight.

Canopy manufacturers publish maximum suspended weights for canopies and sometimes recommended weight ranges. Here is a link to Performance Design's specs on their Sabre2 canopy. You can do the calculations on their recommended weights and max weights to get the range of wingloadings they recommend.

In general, there is a direct relationship between wingloading and forward speed and rate of descent. The higher wingloadings have higher forward speed and a higher rate of descent. That's the big reason why many jumpers have highly-loaded canopies--they want a parachute that flies really fast.

At the other end of the scale, there is some point where you can load a canopy so lightly, that its forward speed is really slow.

Around 1:1 is a great wingloading for getting enough forward drive so that you can reasonably jump in winds of around 15 to 20mph and also have a moderate rate of descent. It will give you good all-around performance but also give you the ability to do accuracy and land without needing a lot of "runway".

There is plenty of room for discussion on what the optimum wingloading is for a given canopy, but what really matters is how you want to fly a parachute.

Walt