military still jumps rounds, and the majority of emergency parachutes are rounds. you're right that sport skydivers use squares, but only because we are very skilled in jumping these. paratrooopers are concerned with many other problems (and heavy gear) as they come down. in emergency situations using a parachute means you probably aren't used to controlling and landing a fancy square canopy, so rounds are better... it takes a fair amount of experience and skill to land a square correctly.
under a normal parachute we flare every time we go to land... if you've ever seen a skydiver land, as they touch down you will see them pull down on two handles (called toggle)... these are connected to the rear of the canopy, which distorts the trailing corners of the canopy to create more lift... so you're converting forward speed into lift.
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military still jumps rounds, and the majority of emergency parachutes are rounds. you're right that sport skydivers use squares, but only because we are very skilled in jumping these. paratrooopers are concerned with many other problems (and heavy gear) as they come down. in emergency situations using a parachute means you probably aren't used to controlling and landing a fancy square canopy, so rounds are better... it takes a fair amount of experience and skill to land a square correctly.
yes, that's correct: a flare is just stalling.
under a normal parachute we flare every time we go to land... if you've ever seen a skydiver land, as they touch down you will see them pull down on two handles (called toggle)... these are connected to the rear of the canopy, which distorts the trailing corners of the canopy to create more lift... so you're converting forward speed into lift.