and made history as the first production aircraft to deploy an airframe parachute.
Not quite correct. I think you mean first certified aircraft. Boris Popov founded BRS in 1982 and it was fitted to many production ultralight aircraft before the collaboration with Cirrus in 1998.
The BRS on my first 3 ultralights (1985/1995) was deployed by black powder. None of this fancy solid rocket fuel they have today.