How would you create a plane-saving parachute?
I would like to create a parachute system that attaches to the top of my Great Planes J-3 Cub. This is more for "see-if-I-can-do-it" than it is as a real model-saving system (although I see it doing so).
This would be a small box or contraption that straps to the top of the wing, with the parachute being a) able to safely carry the weight of a 1/4 scale cub to the earth; b) attach over the center of gravity; c) immediately propel the parachute outwards.
My idea would be to have a low profile closed-box system containing a folded parachute, servo, and a propellent to eject the parachute out of the box. The parachute would be ejected over the plane's C.G. The servo would initiate the propellent. The propellent would be something like a CO2 canister, etc.
If all went well, the plane could be in a stall, dive, or even inverted and the parachute would rapidly deploy. Then just cut throttle (if not already) and let the parachute take over.
Problems: Where do I get a parachute large enough to do this? How do I get a servo to fire the CO2 canister? Would a CO2 canister be too powerful, thereby causing damage?
I don't even know if I'll actually build it, but I enjoy the challenge of, in the least, trying to design it on paper.