Parachute idea with a twist

gurcsik

Junior Member
I really like the idea of the simple bomb drop mechanism to carry a variety of things but what about this:

Has anyone tried attaching a larger parachute to the tail of the plane itself? I think it would be hilarious if you were in midflight or a stall and when you flipped a switch, you would deploy a parachute large enough to halt the momentum of the plane and slowly carry it down to the ground. To my humor, that would make it sort of like an RC pilots ejector switch.

I'm even thinking of pulling the plane's chute simultaneously with wing-mounted parachute men so sort of give a cartoony-like bailout. Mounting this over the CG on top of the plane might make it look really funny and will spare front-mounted equipment.


Has anyone ever tried of this or have seen a video? I haven't found anything yet. Thanks!

Jay
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
How about pull the chute mid flight and drift towards the ground, then cut it loose with another channel and start flying again :D Heck of a show right there
 

Klonas

Senior Member
I really like this idea but I see two problems:
The mechanism that opens the parachute. How would it work?
And making the parachute itself...never tried anything like this
 

bmsweb

Site Moderator
This is the mechanism we used on my son's Kinetics which basically utilities the Ruder servo. You could easily mod this to work from the read and release the Chute in flight!!

 

jetpackninja

More combat please...
Mentor
A Flitetest style bomb drop setup would work great.

I do like AK's idea about stopping the plane- then releasing the chute- and flying away again.

More complicated, but doable- Maybe a good idea for another Flitetest challenge.

I don't think the type of plane would really make much of a difference, as long as the chute is the right size for the plane.
 

bmsweb

Site Moderator
The worse part about that day was when we got home I was so looking forwards to seeing the footage from the camera on the chute . . it turned out really bad. The camera was either spinning around while the chute was on its way down, swinging all over the place. I would love to perfect the camera on the parachute and video nice footage during the descent.

BTW: sounds like a great challenge and very doable . . then again I thought the camera on the parachute was doable lol
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
i like the idea of deploying a chute and then releasing it to resume flight!


I think that could be done, with rare earth magnets, and a strong servo. It would need a good bungee line to absorb the shock, and the line would be connected by the magnets. The servo could pull the plane side magnet to one side, allowing the parachute side magnet to release...
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
How about this:

A 3D profile plane for light weight, slow flight and best odds of recovery, parachute mounted above the center, in front of the tail. A single servo on a 3 position switch. A two sided servo arm with two sliding pin releases ie. glider. First release position releases a band around the chute, which has the lines attached to the second release activated with the second servo position. The chute would block the rudder from working, until you activated the second release.
 

nibnobsam

I like big leccy planes
Mentor
I like the idea of the chute being directly over the CG so the plane does a flat drop, and possibly land flat on the ground with the ability to take of again.
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
Yes but that presents problems. For one, you have to power out and what if it drops tail first. If you drop the fuselage straight down, you're already getting airspeed over the wings in the right direction. A tail lift would solve a lot of problems. Besides, I really really hope that they were planning on taking that plane up quite a ways before dropping it. When I said above the center I meant the above center line of the fuselage which on a profile 3D plane is usually a platform, but still just ahead of the tail. I would feel a lot better about my chances of getting loose from it and taking off again if it were pointed down. Less chance to tangle as well. If I were going to let the chute bring the plane all the way to the ground then yes, above the cg would be better.
 

nibnobsam

I like big leccy planes
Mentor
Powering out shouldn't be a problem on a 3D plane, I've done flat drops before with a 3D plane where the CG is behind the wing cord so it drops flat anyway. Obviously you test it on the ground first to make sure it is balanced with the chute open. If it does drop tail first, just don't power the prop up (obviously) and when you release the chute the plane should drop nose first and you can pull out, then put the power on when clear of the parachute. Another option is to position the chute over the CG but have it stringed to the wing tips, front and back fus sections and over the CG, meaning it can't not fall flat.
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
Powering out shouldn't be a problem on a 3D plane, I've done flat drops before with a 3D plane where the CG is behind the wing cord so it drops flat anyway. Obviously you test it on the ground first to make sure it is balanced with the chute open. If it does drop tail first, just don't power the prop up (obviously) and when you release the chute the plane should drop nose first and you can pull out, then put the power on when clear of the parachute. Another option is to position the chute over the CG but have it stringed to the wing tips, front and back fus sections and over the CG, meaning it can't not fall flat.

True, but the release would be a lot more complicated. The Josh's, should do a show where they try this one in a few different variations and revisit the quadcopter lift as well.