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Just quick questions. I am sure it has been asked before put couldn’t find it.

Are BASE canopies designed a lot less ground hungry then skydiving ones? Just for watching countless BASE videos it looks like they are. Want to make sure.

Thank you

No, for the most part. They just look so because of their light WL.

Let me give you an example. PD used to make a BASE canopy for Vertigo called the Dragon. It was a PD Reserve trimmed like a Lightning, much steeper.

I'm a beginner in both skydiving and base, so take this with a grain of salt...

It depends on what you mean by "ground hungry". If you are talking about strict vertical descent rate then I believe wingloading is the main factor, followed closely by canopy shape. Considering people load base canopies as low as .6, whereas skydivers go as high as 2.2, this easily explains why base canopies descend slower. I bet though, that if you took a base-canopy and made a 120 square foot version, its vertical fall rate would be about the same as the average 120 square foot skydiving canopy.

Now if by "ground hungry" you mean the glide-angle (meaning the ratio between forward-speed and fall-speed) I would say that base canopies are more ground hungry than skydiving ones. Most base canopies are designed to have a much steeper glide angle. This allows you to put them down in tight and confined landing areas. The glide-angle factor is more determined by the canopy trim and shape, and much less so by its actual wingloading. I think that if you made a 120 square foot base canopy, it would still have a much different glide angle compared to the 120 square foot skydiving canopy.

Hopefully somebody that knows what he's talking about will join us and correct me.

I believe this was the "Dagger". Their new canopy is called the Rock Dragon, and is manufactured by Precision Aerodynamics iirc.

Sorry i was not clear.

I meant that the D lines are shorter then the A lines.
Making the canopy be on an angle towards the earth. I was wondering if the A lines and D lines on a base canopy are more close in length making the canopy have a lesser angle towards the ground.

The Dragon was the precursor to the Dagger. The Dragon was built by PD, while modern Vertigo Canopies are built by Precision.

A little before your time

Oops, my bad. Sorry. So Vertigo has made three canopies?

Dragon - Made by PD
Dagger - Made by PD or Precision?
Rock Dragon - Made by Precision

NickNitro is correct. Before the Dagger, Vertigo's canopy was the Dragon. The Dragon has since been discontinued, superseded by the Dagger. The Rock Dragon (a 3rd canopy) was introduced much more recently. The Rock Dragon and Dagger both continue to be sold concurrently by Apex, and are complementary canopies, for different jumping styles.

Still no. Steeper means more difference between line groups. I agree it's not the best term.

A canopy with high angle of incidence (steeper) will usually open faster than one with a shallower angle of incidence, all other variables being equal.

BASE manufactures concentrate their canopy design around the opening characteristics first. They then work the detail of the flare and glide.

It totally depends on the individual canopies.

But in general, BASE canopies are trimmed steeply (shorter A's), to help inflation (a downward pointed nose scoops more air during low airspeed inflation).

Thank you all.

Have a nice weekend




Peace
Darius