On Thursday’s AvWeb news there appeared an article about a proposed three-parachute recovery system for light aircraft. The concepts involves jettisoning the wings which then each descend on their own ‘chutes, while the fuselage descends on a larger main parachute. Aviation Safety Resources, the company proposing to build this product, has produced an animated video showing it in action (you can see it on their web site).
I watched this video, and couldn’t believe what they were proposing! In the video, a plane carrying a family of four suffers an engine failure while cruising above the clouds. A gliding descent ensues, and once below the clouds, the pilot decides that he can’t make it to the runway. He decides to activate the parachute system, at which point the wings separate from the aircraft (!) via explosive bolts (!!), and then the aircraft’s main parachute opens, bringing the fuselage to a reasonably soft landing in a field.
This is ludicrous! First of all, if I suffered an engine failure and glided to a situation where I could see the ground, and there were fields around (as there are in the video), I think my course of action would be a forced approach and power-off landing. If conditions were slightly less favourable (e.g. forests, water, or rugged terrain), I might consider pulling the ‘chute if my plane had one.
Second of all, the situation would have to be extremely dire before I’d consider activating a recovery system that ejected the wings from the plane. What if the parachute failed to leave the aircraft? Even in rugged terrain, it would be nice to still have the option of attempting a forced landing. With the three ‘chute system, the wings are now gone, and I would be the pilot of a giant lawn dart.
This just seems like a really dumb idea! ASR claims that the descent is more stable without the wings still attached, but who cares! As long as it’s slow enough, I don’t really care if it’s a wild ride on the way down. The three ‘chute system also violates the keep-it-simple principle. There are far more things that can go wrong (such as one wing failing to separate, in which case you’re going down sideways).
Sorry, not for me. If you think it’s a good idea, they’re looking for investors.
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