parachutes
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parachutes
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/du...ws/4210058.htm
Hmm what size chute would you need for a 2.5 tonne helicopter ?.
Hmm what size chute would you need for a 2.5 tonne helicopter ?.
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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
Wonder if this technology will ever hit the world of eggbeaters...
Mike
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
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
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There's an interview with the pilot on line.
Full text is here:
http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport....ntBlockID=5996
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."
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."
http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport....ntBlockID=5996
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
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
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
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
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Here's the second part of the interview:
http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport....ntBlockID=6011
M1911
http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport....ntBlockID=6011
M1911
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parachute ?? No thanks ...
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
Randy_G
Cheers
Randy_G
