WHAT CONTROLS THE SHAPE OF A POWERED PARACHUTE?
To better understand what causes a stall, we must look at what a powered parachute wing is. It is obviously not rigid. These parachute based wings cannot retain their complete inflated shape when not pressurized and are therefore capable of changing shape while in-flight when aggravated to do so. The fact that there is nothing more than air maintaining the wings rigidity tells us that any change in air pressure, no matter how it is caused, affects the performance of a powered parachute wing. The internal air pressure must always be greater than the external pressure, or the wing will stop flying. In other words, stall. Powered parachute wings have a multitude of cells. When pressurized, each cells three dimensional inflated shape changes based upon the total amount of weight that is being carried (wing loading). All powered parachute wings change shape with changes in wing loading, and therefore perform differently when flying solo or tandem. Increases in weight lower the effective, or
