Originally Posted by
ORAC
Square chutes fly and can stall, they also experience much greater oscillations than a round chute. Not exactly what you want when ejecting into a turbulent airflow at unusual attitudes at low level.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VhE6oyPIOs
Some time back, I looked at a new chute for research flight test, and the discussion on whether a square or conventional chute was of interest. The reliability of square is pretty darn good, but the reservation existed on reliability in an unstable body position which is the main difference between sport and emergency use. The issue of incapacitated tracking downwind was also a factor, and we went with conventional chutes. Will not be surprised to see that change at some point for the unstable deployment... downwind drive for the open control case will always be a factor.