[PRB]

Need to go back to the T-10 ....

Originally Posted by Papa Zero Three

I can chime in on this as I was the one who wrote the requirements for this some years back and have jumped this new system going on about 200+ times from 25K AGL and lower, as well as flown the reserve as a main during evals.

What has increased is known as the AUW or All up Weight that the canopy can hold suspended under it and still perform well for personnel landings ( it can do more for cargo but thats a different topic). So what this means, is that the RA-1 is capable of suspending more weight and handle/ perform as designed. So all those big dudes who would come screaming in on MC-4s no matter what they did, no longer have to land like a sack of potatoes. Even the big dudes with a real combat load can land softly.

This is also a 9 cell canopy vice a 7 cell MC-4. The design of the canopy is also different than what most might be familiar with as even the stabalizers inflate on this canopy and it has a no bullshit 4:1 glide ratio.

As for stalling it. Not going to happen using toggles or pulling rear risers down,unless someone does something incredibly stupid. I know this because I have done everything imaginable to actually get it to stall on purpose. You have to actually start pulling down on suspension line above the rapid links before the canopy actually starts to collapse. Lets not forget how long the risers are on military systems, you would have to have arms longer than an ape to even get close to the top of the risers on a normal reach up. To do what I described above, you have to climb up the rear risers and it isn't exactly easy or something you could do by accident.

As for the learning curve on this system. It's the glide that people have to learn to adjust to, both at altitude and when landing. The sight picture people are used to for landing the MC-4 is too short, so people typically overshoot where they think their feet will touch down. This canopy has a very generous glide however you can sink it straight down without fear of collapse. Jumpers will also now be able to use friction buckles on the front risers that are actually easy to use and functional, another God send for those light guys or those days when you're trying to get some forward drive into a headwind.

The system is also double bag static line capable, like the MC-5 system, so you can deploy this system via static line as well. It works great for following a GPS guided bundles out and for keeping people on level(s) in the stack.

The container is also a great improvement, as it's actually comfortable with body armor on.