The canopy of the ram air parachute of the present invention has cells
which are trapezoidal in shape. The non-loaded ribs of the canopy are
shorter in height than the loaded ribs. The different height ribs results
in tensioning of the bottom skin and transfer of forces from the loaded
rib-bottom skin junction through the bottom skin to the non-loaded rib.
The non-loaded rib is then tensioned to not float up as high. Thus, the
spanwise distortion of the top skin is reduced and the aerodynamics are
improved.