Nitron
The
Details
The Nitron
The Nitron (9-cell ZP
elliptical) is Precision's version of the high-performance original
design by Klaus Schenk that is marketed in Europe under the trade
name of Nitro by the designer's company. The first time we jumped the Nitro, we knew immediately that we
didn't want to compete with this remarkable canopy, we wanted to
manufacture and market it by integrating it into the Ground Zero
project ! We immediately hit it off with the fine people at
Profile
Research and we licensed the technology to produce our own version
of this up-tech wing here at Precision. The Nitron has all of the
good qualities that we like in the high performance 9-cell market,
with years of testing and experience behind the time proven design.
We are poised to get this puppy into broad circulation and let the
customer's satisfied word-of-mouth carry it to what we know will be
widespread success.
New
& Innovative Key Elements Work Together to Produce a Winner!
Several key elements come
together and work in harmony in the Nitron design, producing a
smooth and solidly dynamic performing canopy that is excitingly
surprising to all who jump it. This is not like any other parachute
you have ever jumped. Sometimes when something looks a little bit
different, the skeptics are quick to poke fun at first, but it only
takes a jump or two
on the Nitron to bring them all around. The
Nitron combines the new and innovative technology of a mesh covered
leading edge at the end-cells, aerodynamic winglets, loaded
stabilizers, and continuous suspension lines lines to deliver the
enhanced flight performance through a broad range of aerial
maneuvers.
The Mesh Take a look at the picture above and notice the white mesh-covered
outboard chamber of the end-cell. The mesh helps prevent end-cell
distortion during rich-attitude flight and high speed maneuvers.
When any non-crossbraced end-cell is heavily loaded it has a
tendency to "stand up" under pressure, distorting the shape of the
cell. The mesh helps control the inlet of the end-cell under load,
producing more stability and rigidity through all modes of flight.
The
Winglets It is
quite common for a non-Nitron jumper to ask about the winglets, and
without trying to get into any kind of aerodynamic psycho-babble
about wind tunnel analyses and such, suffice it to say that these
oddball looking appendages on the upper surface work to help reduce
the stall speed of the wing, allowing you to make more walk-on
landings and fewer landings where you
demonstrate the
sprint-slide-tumble technique. When we first saw the Nitro with its
winglets, we thought (like many people) that they must be some kind
of gimmic, or maybe they had been put on the canopy to "cure" some
kind of ailment of sorts, but it didn't take us long to come to
appreciate the measurable effect that they truly reveal, which is
the ability to make the canopy seem to hover forever just prior to
touchdown.
The Stabilribs By attaching the suspension lines directly to the bottom edge of the
stabilizer, the canopy flight really is stabilized. Study the images
of these stabilizers in the picture above and then compare them to
the stabilizers on other canopies you may have flown. No flapping
here, and the load is more evenly distributed throughout the entire
wing chord. The "stabilrib" style of line attachment is common on
canopies throughout the range of Project Ground Zero canopies.
The
Lines The Nitron
is lined with a High Modulus Aramid fiber specially constructed for
us to use in the Nitron and other Ground Zero canopies. The rigging
is continuous, meaning that there are no cascades in the lines
between the links and the canopy. The HMA line is very thin, and the
reduction in parasite drag is clearly evident to anybody who jumps
the canopy. Line drag is a significant factor in several elements of
flight, and any reduction to drag in any wing is beneficial to
higher efficiency flight. The HMA line wears better
than Vectran,
has the strength of Spectra, retains its original trim like Kevlar,
and has all of the good qualities of Dacron without the bulk. HMA
line is available in 352, 440, and 946-pound tensile strengths, and
the braided diameter is smaller than either Spectra or Vectran. Our
experience during the past two years indicates that HMA line not
only packs smaller, it also tolerates the slider's friction quite
remarkably, while at the same time retains its linear stability as
well as Vectran.
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