Recovery Systems
04-07-2006, 04:37 PM
#1
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Recovery Systems
A couple of the guys at the field have been talking about designing a recovery system for either the new trainers of more expencive planes. Something like the Cirrus parashute. Has anyone tried to design anything like this yet?
04-08-2006, 12:40 AM
#2
RE: Recovery Systems
Yes, I have played around with the idea- I have even mocked a few efficient deployment systems for a friend who had the (wouldn't it be cool syndrome)about this idea..
A few problems present themselves when considering a concept like this. 1- Trainers are cheap why bother. 2- Most crashes occur during takeoff and landing making a recovery system useless. 3- A parachute able to slow a five pound plane is bigger than you may expect making the cost of such a system impractical. 4- The third most common cause for crashing is radio interference. If you lose contact with your plane how do you deploy a chute -PCM Failsafe? 5- The second most common cause of a crash is pilot error - by the time you decide to give up and press "the button" it is probably to late due to the time it takes a chute to deploy. The best option for RC flying is IMO to not give up.
Also, to deploy a chute from a fast moving object you are going to need allot of bracing. This equals a large amount of weight most people are not going to want. (not to mention the weight of a chute) Then you must assure that the engine stops otherwise you risk cutting a cord upon deployment.
This idea has merit to full size aircraft because in many cases you have several seconds to make a decision to deploy a chute. In RC it would be a cool novelty but I don't think it would ever be really practical. But if you decide to go forward let me know I have some really good ideas that would allow a chute to basically spring out of a plane
A few problems present themselves when considering a concept like this. 1- Trainers are cheap why bother. 2- Most crashes occur during takeoff and landing making a recovery system useless. 3- A parachute able to slow a five pound plane is bigger than you may expect making the cost of such a system impractical. 4- The third most common cause for crashing is radio interference. If you lose contact with your plane how do you deploy a chute -PCM Failsafe? 5- The second most common cause of a crash is pilot error - by the time you decide to give up and press "the button" it is probably to late due to the time it takes a chute to deploy. The best option for RC flying is IMO to not give up.
Also, to deploy a chute from a fast moving object you are going to need allot of bracing. This equals a large amount of weight most people are not going to want. (not to mention the weight of a chute) Then you must assure that the engine stops otherwise you risk cutting a cord upon deployment.
This idea has merit to full size aircraft because in many cases you have several seconds to make a decision to deploy a chute. In RC it would be a cool novelty but I don't think it would ever be really practical. But if you decide to go forward let me know I have some really good ideas that would allow a chute to basically spring out of a plane
04-08-2006, 10:04 PM
#3
My Feedback: (5)
RE: Recovery Systems
There was a company that made such a device about 10 or 15 years ago. If you do a search you may be able to find info on it as it has been discussed here before. I think they went out of business because of the reasons listed in the previous post- just not really practical...
