2 Canopies OUT?
What Should You Do?
 August 2003

 

If you deploy your main at a low altitude, your Cypres may fire and you could end up under two square canopies. Should you cut away? Which one do you steer with?

The brave blokes at Performance Designs did a series of test jumps, in association with the PIA. Here is a summary of the results, which suggest the best ways of coping with the various possible configurations.

Of course there are no absolute answers to such questions, these are recommendations based on live tests. The bottom line is: all such situations are best avoided by deploying at a safe altitude!

  
 
There are four different possibilities in the event of a Cypres firing after main deployment:

Situation 1 – Only the reserve pilot chute is out.

Situation 2 – The reserve deploys after the main.

Situation 3 – Reserve and main deploy simultaneously.

Situation 4 – The main deploys after the reserve.

Depending on the configuration of the canopies, situations 2-4 could develop into a biplane, a side by side or a downplane. The closer to a simultaneous deployment you have, the more critical the situation will be, as the chances of a downplane or a serious entanglement increase.

Situation 1 – Only the reserve pilot chute is out.
The jumper has reached Cypres activation altitude. The Cypres opens the reserve container during main deployment. Depending on the design of the reserve pilot chute and the reserve container, only the pilot chute trails behind. It is not certain that the reserve will remain in the container. What is to be done?

After a Cypres has fired, both altitude and time are limited. Your priority should be to look for a hazard-free landing area. Try to approach it slowly, possibly flying on brakes, or not even releasing them in the first place.

If the main is open and the reserve is starting to deploy (reserve behind the main), wait until it has deployed and prepare for the ensuing situation.
It is not advisable to ‘pull in’ the partially opened canopy, as it cannot be guaranteed that it will not continue to deploy. During the test jumps for the study there was one injury because a canopy opened at the last moment and caused a downplane.

Situation 2 – The reserve deploys after the main.
The reserve opens after the main and hence deploys behind the main. This can lead to one of two most likely possibilities: a biplane or a side-by-side. If the top surface of the rear canopy is BELOW the trailing edge of the front canopy, there will be a tendency to form a biplane. If the top surface of the rear canopy is ON LEVEL with or ABOVE the trailing edge of the front canopy, there will be a tendency towards a side-by-side configuration.

Situation 2 could also develop into a downplane but this is likely to be controllable (by cutting away).

Situations 3 & 4 – The reserve and main deploy simultaneously, or the main deploys after the reserve.

These are the worst possible cases. Depending on the configuration of the canopies, situations 3 & 4 may develop into a biplane or a side-by-side but the chances of a downplane or a serious entanglement are greatly increased.


 
Flying a Biplane
Stay calm! Do not cutaway. If you have to steer: use the toggles of the front canopy and steer gently and slowly. Do not release the brakes of the rear canopy. Do not flare on landing but be ready to perform a PLF. The descent rate will be low. Do not cut away from a stable biplane, as there is a danger of the cutaway main entangling with the reserve.

 
Flying a Side-by-side
Gently and carefully steer the dominant (usually the Bigger) canopy. Leave the brakes of the smaller canopy stowed. If the side-by-side develops into a biplane, fly it as recommended to the left. If the side-by-side does not develop into a biplane, cutaway. REMEMBER: first disconnect the RSL! Only cutaway if there is no entanglement. In the case of smaller or elliptical canopies a cutaway is generally recommended.

 
Flying a Downplane
At Cypres altitude this is an extremely critical situation. It occurs if one canopy opens with a twist and / or if both canopies turn on opening. When the situation becomes obvious, prompt action is required as the descent rate is very high. The solution: if there is sufficient altitude, cutaway. REMEMBER: first disconnect the RSL!

 
Video Logbook: Successfully Landing a Biplane
The biplane is developing. The jumper steers carefully and lands successfully.

 
Photo Logbook: Successful Cutaway from a Biplane
Here everything is going well and the jumper cuts away his main without hindering the reserve. But you can clearly see how the main is snaking past the reserve. There is a real danger of the main catching and making it difficult or impossible to fly the reserve.

 
Video Logbook: Unsuccessful Cutaway from a Biplane
The jumper noticed his reserve deploying. He cut away his blue main while the yellow reserve was opening. A main riser catches in the A-lines of the reserve.
You can see the main begin to hinder the reserve. The main has already distorted the reserve considerably. The reserve is rotating rapidly. The reserve is starting to entangle with the main. Both canopies are now totally out of control. The jumper was very lucky and only had slight injuries. It is almost certain though that landing the biplane would have been a better option.

 

Video Logbook: A Downplane
Here you can see the reserve deploying through the main risers. Both canopies open but immediately form a downplane.
The descent rate increases rapidly (about 70 ft/sec). In the last picture the jumper is no more than 80m (270 feet) from the ground. He was lucky to get away with only minor injuries. The total time under the downplane was about 5 seconds.

 
All the video logbook photos are taken from real videos we have been sent and are neither from test jumps nor posed. As you can see, none of these situations is pleasant. Unfortunately it is not practical to build an AAD which will not fire if the main is deployed at an extremely low altitude.

These problems are best avoided by deploying the main at a safe altitude.

Article by Kai Koerner of Airtec, based on the Dual Square Report from PD and the Parachute Industry Association, see:
www.performancedesigns.com

Back to August 03 Contents