GB958713A - Improvements in or relating to parachutes - Google Patents

Abstract

958,713. Parachutes. G. Q. PARACHUTE CO. Ltd. Feb. 12, 1963 [March 2, 1962], No. 8268/62. Heading B7G. A parachute comprises a canopy and a number of rigging lines connecting the canopy to a parachutist, the canopy having two diametrically opposed openings which extend from the peripheral hem of the canopy to a point between the hem and the apex of the canopy and means whereby the parachutist can vary the relative sizes or shapes of the openings or areas while the parachute is in flight. As shown in Fig. 5, openings 20 are formed by leaving adjacent gores unconnected between a point 16 and the periphery of the canopy. These gores may be laced together to allow the point 16 to be moved. The gap in the periphery across each opening may be bridged by a piece of webbing. In Fig. 6, openings are formed by using gores 21 which do not extend to the periphery, and in Fig. 7, adjacent gores 23 are cut away to form triangular openings. These openings may be covered by netting of greater porosity than the material of which the gores are made. The size and shape of the openings may be varied by the rigging lines 13‹, to cause the parachute to drift or rotate, or by a separate control line 24-13‹ (Fig. 8), secured to one corner of a gore and passing through ring 25 attached to a corner of the adjacent gore. The parachute may be given an inherent drift by omitting a portion 26 of one of the gores (Fig. 5).