parachutes

[widgeon]

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/4210058.htm

Hmm what size chute would you need for a 2.5 tonne helicopter ?.

[MightyGem]

I've heard of these. Nice to see that it works.

[Old Man Rotor]

Hope he has a current Parachute License or some over trained Fed will be after him.....:p

[TwinHueyMan]

I wonder what is the real factor here - a company made a plane with a parachute that saved someone, or a company made a plane that had an aileron go haywire?

Wonder if this technology will ever hit the world of eggbeaters... :)

Mike

[Genghis the Engineer]

I've flown with these on a number of small FW aircraft for flight test work. They're preferable to a spin-chute for a lighter aeroplane, because they don't alter the ratio of rolling to yawing rotational intertias. They're also preferable to personal parachutes for anything with a hard-to-escape-in-a-hurry cockpit, which is quite a few types of my intimate acquaintance.

The main manufacturer (responsible for the device in the Cirrus I believe) is BRS inc. in the USA. I've looked through their literature, which includes a huge number of successful saves in American homebuilts and ultralights. Great credit to the device, which has a near 100% save rate, but the vast majority of operations seem to be low ability pilots who had they been properly trained and current should have sorted themselves out with a proper forced landing / spin recovery / spiral dive recovery / etc. In this instance, I've not flown the Cirrus, but would be surprised if in reasonably benign conditions a FW aircraft of that sort of size and shape couldn't reasonably be navigated to an airfield and landed without use of ailerons unless the system was actually jammed into a continuous roll which -given he had time to call a Mayday - seems unlikely.

G

[OFBSLF]

There's an interview with the pilot on line.




Just as I leveled off, I pulled the MP back to 25 inches, leveling for but a few seconds… and then the control yoke and the left wing started going OVER. There was a tremendous control force… I thought it was the autopilot going haywire. I didn't know what else to think."

Morrison knew he was in big trouble… he was less than 1500 feet above the ground, rolling/descending hard left and losing altitude like a plugged Mallard…

"I thought it felt like the autopilot… but it felt like the autopilot on steroids… it was really pulling hard, I mean I couldn't get it back… it just kept going. That was the only time in the whole episode that I was really frightened, because the airplane was going over. I'm still thinking autopilot, I'm hitting the thumb switch (autopilot disconnect) and nothing's happening… so I reach down, thinking to pull/check the circuit breaker and when I do, I happened to glance down/out the left side of the airplane and at that point, I notice that the left aileron is hanging by ONE hinge point."



Full text is here:

http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport.cfm?ContentBlockID=5996

[Genghis the Engineer]

I take it back, the chap needed his BRS on this occasion.

Incidentally, if you wanted to use it on a helicopter, you'd need to lose the blades. This was done on the KA50 with explosive bolts in the hub. Use in formation not I understand particularly recommended.

G

[Barannfin]

I think the reassurance of the parachute would be offset in my mind worrying about whether or not all the bolts would fire, and if they might fire uncommanded.

[Genghis the Engineer]

A number of us have earned our living for a while strapped into a seat where the same applied !

From a technical viewpoint, it's an interesting problem to design an explosive actuator arrangement which is sufficiently (10^5 !) proof against inadvertent operation, and similarly guaranteed to work instantly when you want it.

G

[Barannfin]

"interesting" is right :eek: :p

[OFBSLF]

Here's the second part of the interview:

http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport.cfm?ContentBlockID=6011

M1911

[Randy_g]

A ballistic parachute might work if you forget to monitor rotor RPM, but that would be the only time I would ever see a need for it. We have the benefit of autorotation that seized-wing guys don't have. Utilizing a parachute would take control away from the pilot, leaving you to the whims of the winds and fate.

Cheers

http://randyspics.tripod.ca/gifs/naughty.gif Randy_G

http://randyspics.tripod.ca/gifs/man_grilling_hamburgers_sm_wht.gif