parachutes
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/du...ws/4210058.htm
Hmm what size chute would you need for a 2.5 tonne helicopter ?. |
I've heard of these. Nice to see that it works.
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Hope he has a current Parachute License or some over trained Fed will be after him.....:p
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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 |
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 |
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." 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 |
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.
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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 |
"interesting" is right :eek: :p
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Here's the second part of the interview:
http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport....ntBlockID=6011 M1911 |
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 http://randyspics.tripod.ca/gifs/naughty.gif Randy_G http://randyspics.tripod.ca/gifs/man...ers_sm_wht.gif |
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