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kacsuzia:
I spent my entire adult life in the design and manufacturing of parachutes.
Using intelligence data and the Heinecke Manual, I calculated the design strength and it was marginal at best. there were 22 lines of 80 lbs. tensile strength which totals 1760lbs. The line were tied to metal grommets set in the parachute skirt. Tieing knots in cord reduces their strength about 25 %. The the line strenght was 1320 lbs.
Parachute were designed for jumping from stationary balloons. The jumper's velocity would be quite low and would experience an opening force in the magnitude of 3g's or about 540 lbs. At 100 mph the opening force would be 6 to 8 g's, 1000 to 1500 lbs.
Parachutes designed prior to WW2 were designed by trial and error. Plain and simple there was no science to it. During WW2, German engineers and scientists developed the engineering data and methods to accurately calculate and predict parachute performance. Fortunately these German engineers and scientist immigrated to the USA after the war along with all the Rocket scientist and engineers.
The method used during WW1 was you would design a parachute of the size you thought would let you down safely. You made a test model and you drop tested it. If it came apart, you went back the drawing board and tried again, and so on, and so on, until it stayed together. But don't raise the airspeed!
I am surprised that there were as few German pilots fatalies as there were. However, it was better than being fried!
From the spring of 1918, the Heinecke Parachutes were delivered with the aircraft as a piece of the equipment.
Blue skies,
Dan-San
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