GB1315857A - Parachutes - Google Patents

Abstract

1315857 Parachutes G Q PARACHUTE CO Ltd 19 April 1971 [20 March 1970] 13648/70 Heading B7G A gliding-type parachute comprises a canopy which consists of a series of aerofoils having spans longer than their chords and which are connected together but separated by spaces or by panels of high porosity material. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, two aerofoils 13, 14 are separated by netting 15 and joined by side sections 16, 17 (which aid inflation of the canopy during deployment thereof) to which are attached stabilizing ends 18, 19 whose side edges taper from the upper edges 30 to the lower edges 31. Control vanes 20, 21 may be provided on the aerofoils 13, 14 and on the side sections 16, 17, and they and the aerofoils are connected to the load 11 by rigging lines 12 which may be selectively tensioned to control the parachute. The stabilizing ends may be omitted, in which ease end sections 16, 17 are provided with skirts to which the rigging lines are connected. The aerofoils need not be rectangular or parallel to one another (although the canopy is preferably symmetrical about the fore and aft centre line of the parachute), and their fronts, and the fronts of the end sections, may be provided with stiffening means or with means to inflate them.