The Nitron (9-cell ZP elliptical) is Precision Aerodynamics’s version of the high-performance original design by Klaus Schenk that is marketed in Europe under the trade name of Nitro. The first time Precision jumped the Nitro, they knew immediately that they didn’t want to compete with this remarkable canopy, they wanted to manufacture and market it by integrating it into the Ground Zero project! Precision licensed the technology to produce their own version of this up-tech wing. The Nitron has all of the good qualities that they like in the high performance 9-cell market, with years of testing and experience behind the time proven design. 

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 duringrich-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 Precision first saw the Nitro with its winglets, they thought it was some kind of gimmic or maybe they had been put on the canopy to “cure” some kind of ailment, but it didn’t take Precision 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 Nitron is lined with a High Modulus Aramid fiber specially constructed 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.