Hi, has anyone ever installed a parachute in thier plane incase of emergancys? how would one do that? thanks

try a search, this has been discussed a zillion times

Actually has been done on full scales! Plane looks sorta funny hangin from a 4 point harness. Sorta leaves the pilot with a "No Option" landing site selection.[:@][:'(]

Ther was also a company that sold "kits" for RC airplanes, but I think they went out of business; seems it wasn't very practical.

I agree, do a search, you'll find quite a bit of info.
Dennis-

Some people use a different psychology. They build a trash bag into the rear of the fuse, so they have one handy to pick up the pieces.

How many times was that Skybolt stuffed in a bag, Minn?

I used to think the "build in a trash bag" thing was a myth, or something to just scare newbies.

Then, I actually saw a guy blow a plane to bits at my field, and pull a garbage bag out of the wreckage. [X(].

Personally, I'm a bit more optimistic than that.

I've always wondered about the parachute thing. The military has used them to recover some RPV/target drones at various times in the past, and in theory it should work. And like Dennis, I saw ads for such a setup years ago, but never saw one in action, and I have no idea if it worked well, or what would happen if you deployed the cute in an actual "I'm going to crash" dive, or when almost inverted, etc.

Yeah a parachute sounds good, and the use of it on "real" aircraft...
well will see.. But I perfer to just land it on it's wheels:-) Though,
today someone mentioned it while I was "testing my repaired
radio and hovering my 4*60 at about 12' then tried to tail slide it,
it was going pretty good but at about 8' it started falling towards
the canopy, I gave it a couple clicks of throttle and some "push"
and it looked like it started to strighten out but then it fell inverted...
full "push" and "Come-on 91 pull me out@#$^&%$.. Well It returned
control to me at just about 2' off the Ground...))))))) Well moral of
the story.... Stay calm... Have LOTS of power and..... I do not think
a chute would have helped me:-)

The Cirrus 4-place full-size aircraft has a ballistict recovery parachute built in. If the airplane is flying below 100-120 knots or so (I don't remember the airspeed), the chute will allow the aircraft to safely descend to the ground. The impact, while hard, is not severe enough to cause loss of life. It has had some teething problems, but it has been attributed with saving several lives.

I am trying to imagine this (when would I decide to use it)

A flamout at 200 feet (unlikely- lots of flying left to do)
A flameout at 30 feet- (chute may not open in time)
Battery failure- (No way to tell it to deploy)
Structure failure- (Perhaps, but altitude and engine cutoff is an issue)
To save a trainer- (Why bother arf trainer hulls are cheep....)
To save a giant scale (you first)

I think I will default to the first rule of flying- Never stop trying.
Can it be done? YES Is it practical? NO Is it fun to try? YES
I personally would assist anyone willing to try but I will not be installing this on my models. Maybe on a BET.. Any takers......


This thread pops up every month or so many to search and choose from

Well said Broken. Your points are well taken. I always "fly" a plane until 10 seconds after I hear the "thud", so using a chute isn't an option.
Dennis-

Thanks for all your help. truth is i just want the parchute so i dont have to land. Flew four years ago about 6 times, crashed 7. but thats dumb because landing is the most exciting part for me. anyway, this time im gonna do it right and join a club. Think ill get one of them DuraPlanes too. man i cant wait, i wanna do some full contact combat someday, hopfully sooner than later. oh, and that coast-gaurd plane in the add is awsome. anyone seen the making of Empire of the Sun? its on the dvd. lots and lots of rc planes. the b-17 bomber with a 19 foot wingspan was awsome. so i need to hurry up and learn to fly! thanks for the help.

landings can be tough... a good trainer will help you get landings under controll..

Also: Empire if the sun is a pretty good flick Lots of RC planes.....

Full Scale:

Model:

(Under Development )...

some one several years ago did offer this idea as a kit form ad-on to trainers in an ad in national mag.but it never caught on. in practice it may not be too practical.

I have done high power rocketry for about 6 years and I have lots a parachutes. You would have to have a fairly big one and it would probably weigh more than you would want to carry on board. As was mentioned earlier, better to buy a new arf.

I can't think of a time when a parachute would do you much good... if you're high enough, and have the time to deploy a chute, why not just bring it in for a controlled dead-stick landing? Both times I crashed was at low altitude and I just made a dumb mistake... lost perspective or look away for a second... and thunk! No time to deploy a chute, and not high enough anyway.

I guess chute deployment as a failsafe mechanism might be a thought (i.e. chute deploys when RX no longer is receiving a signal from the TX), but I've never personally seen a loss of signal bring down a plane... just planes getting "shot down" because someone didn't grab the right freq pin, or sudden signal glitches that cause an immediate crash...

Here is a link to the thread in which at post 12 I've presented my own project of a home made parachute recovery system in a 8 kg gas plane which was tested on the ground.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/begi...l#post11961259

My post is an answer to the person who started this thread and to those that, like me decided that for them it's worth making this project and carrying the extra weight. I've read all the threads about this and I'm aware about the scepticism. I'm not asking here anybody if it can be done or if it's worth doing it. I'm presenting it all done and working, I've made my decision if it's worth or not for me when I started building it. Maybe if I also had 10 gas planes I wouldn't bother on anything else than flying them. I'm addressing and want to inspire those that are interested. Thank you!