I got a lil storm going in my head. If any of you have heard of Cirrus aircraft; some of their planes have what is called CAPS ; Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. Their chute is deployed by a rocket. I'm thinking of building a system a lil simplier. My prototype will be on my spad debonair. I'm thinking a set of doors and with a flip of a switch; a servo opens up a sets doors, just aft of the CG and the rush of air pull a small chute which then pulls the main chute. I know I have some bugs;like the plane could be ripped in half by the force of the chute filling with air, lines could get intangled in the prop. I plan to use the system to make no damage on the plane. Cirrus says that they designed theirs to collapes the landing gear. I hope to save the entire plane; besides the damage that might have accoured before the chute is deployed like the wing is missing cause of a hard snap, etc Some might think I'm crazy; some think this idea is odd; I think I could have something here. Is there anything I'm missing, any suggestions. I plan to do some test with some homemade chute and some weights.

Show us some pictures

Try it and get some video, it should be funny. The first design never works right on something really complicated, but I'm sure you could figure something out.

I plan to; I'll get some pics of the plane that I wish to do this in and the part of the plane where the door are gonna be

I was thinking the same thing; if it works perfectly then awsome [8D]but it rips the plane in half and only the tail is saved by the chute then thats awsome too; cause I'll get it all on tape

First off, I do applaud the idea you have. That's how things get invented in this country, by people thinking outside the box. However, I'm not trying to be a stick in the mud or anything like that. But I see these problems with your idea. First, many crashes are caused by a loss of radio signal to the plane. In this case you would not be able to "flip the switch" to deploy the chute. Now, as a solution. If you set the failsafe on the radio to kill the engine and deploy the chute this might work, as the plane would go to the chute if radio signal was lost.

Second, many more crashes happen just too darn fast to even think about flipping the switch. By the time you know you need to deploy the chute you simply aren't going to have time to use it.

Ken

Don't really mean to rain on your 'brainstorm', but this comes up on RCU every few months. It's actually a pretty neat idea, and several years ago there was even a manufacturer selling a system like that to save trainer planes from crashing! It was a 'pod' that strapped on top of the plane and contained a spring ejected parachute. The chute was ejected when a switch on the transmitter was flipped.

On their videos it seemed to work pretty well, but apparently it didn't sell very well because they disappeared rather quickly. Some people questioned whether a new pilot would remember to flip the switch when they were in trouble or would 'freeze' while the plane plummited to the ground!

Well, whatever, it would still be pretty cool to watch your plane float down! Kind of like a James Bond gadget![8D]

Hey, try what Ken said and program the fail safe, and use a mercury switch in the plane so chute will only deploy in a nose down attitude!

If you have a non computer radio, you can buy fail safes at Tower for 20 bucks

I have a guaranteed plane-saving method that can be implemented on any gas or nitro plane, for free, in less than a minute. Just remove your glow plug or spark plug from your engine and throw it away. If the plane stays on the ground, it will never crash.

Sounds like an interesting idea, but automatic deployment would be problematic, and relying on the pilot to hit a switch in time to save the plane probably won't work in most cases. Things go wrong pretty fast when you dumb-thumb a plane into the ground, and equipment failure may eliminate the RC control link between the plane and the pilot. In the case of engine failure, dead sticks can typically be glided back to the ground safely without a parachute. Airframe failure seems to be the most likely candidate for a save with this type of system (loss of wing, stabilizer or control surface). Out of about 10 or so crashes I've had, only one was an airframe failure in the air (all the airframes failed after they hit the ground ).

Post pics/videos of whatever you come up with!

We had a guy at my local club try this a few years ago but the chute was too small so it sort of acted like an airbrake. No idea if it's a workable idea in the light of day but it's interesting fom a theoretical point of view. I think the biggest mechanical challenge will be finding a single point on your plane somewhere near the CoG that's strong enough to hold stop plane without ripping itself out.

The CAPS system has been credited with saving the lives of many real world pilots.

However on an RC plane it would not be a great idea.

We simply do not fly our planes high enough to make the system effective. The parachute needs ample time to deploy, expand and inflate fully... nor can it contend with a strange plane attitude on an RC plane, caused by a snapped off wing, etc.

it does seem like a brill idea...at our club about 2 weeks ago someones trainer took off and well that was the end of that. I dont like the sound of it deploying on the failsafe istantly though...if interference just happens to be there and for a split second you loose control and then regain it...next minute you know you got a shoot firing out the back of the plane. i think a timed delay like 1 second would be much better but as people say...would the plane have the time to deploy the shoot and get the thing inflated.

Actually, I remember seeing parachute deployment systems advertised in the AMA magazine many years ago.

The company is no longer in business.

I think Ken hit the nail on the head - most accidents just happen too quickly.

I bought a Sig LT40 ARF in the late 90's and was reading in a nice little "Getting Started In R/C"type book and remember that a trainer was defined as an airplane that would right itself with in four seconds.

From my experience, the plane is usually destroyed with in two seconds. In my book it didn't add up?

Keep working on it. You may be the next Bill Gates. While it's always frustrating to loose a plane, it gives me an excuse to build another one.

There are two kinds of planes - Those that haven't been flown, and those that have been crashed. If you haven't crashed, you haven't flown.

Mike

Yup he effectively beat me to it.

First the pilot has to recognize that the plane is in trouble ( assuming he still has radio control ), he has to make sure the plane is somewhat upright, then deploy the chute... there go 3 seconds alone if not more...

Now the chute deploys 1-2 seconds, and begins to fill 1-2 seconds... finally it catches and STARTS to slow the plane 1-2 seconds.

Most planes would be on the ground in pieces long before this time.

Such a system would not help me after having thrown a plane through a tree inverted during the bottom part of the outside loop of a cuban 8.....

( I broke off the rudder, punctured both wings, and broke an elevator. I was able to land the plane mostly because I had practiced rudderless flying on a simulator a few days before this happened! )

The time for deployment is just not there... and the only time you really need a system such as this is when the plane is auguring into the ground at full speed, while you watch the broken tail or wing fluttering lightly to the ground.

Wheel brakes or a drogue chute are far more useful and will do more to save my plane, than a CAPS type system.

Decisions . . . decisions . . . it's all over?

i think the idea would work...........if you could jam a big enough chute into the plane,
for a 5 pound plane your going to need a big chute.....idk the size (would guesss maybe 5ft in diameter) all i know is a quarter pound model rocket (my previous hobby before planes) needs a 24 in diameter chute.
and those are made of plastic, i think a bigger chute would have to be nylon or it would just rip to shreads.

All my crashes happen in slow motion!! I can see them in my minds eye over and over too any time I want.

I'd like to overcomplicate the idea dramatically here.

What if the chute were a parafoil design? That way, if control were regained the pilot could resume flying, albeit at a much slower speed. Would be a fun toy to pop out even when there's not a problem too.

There was a picture in the member photos I think where someone put one on the plane and flew it like that. I'll go searching.

like this ?

just like that; I was trying to find a pic just in case ya'll had no idea.

Sorry I havent been on; I've been busy

After looking at my spad; if I want it to be consealed, the area is just to small; I would need a bigger plane. As a first prototype ,I think I am just gonna mount a unit on the outside. Have it connnected to the plane where it won't rip the plane in half; just to see if it would work. I knew I was gonna need a big chute; So tomorrow I'll try some testing with some weights and see how big of a chute I'll need. I do know that some cases that the chute just wouldnt be needed or is just to late to react. Just like an airbag is suppose to save lifes; in some cases; it just doesnt workd; like getting hit from the side. I did think of the failsafe idea; where it cuts the throttle and opens the chute.

ya i would try it on a spad before anything else thats nitro powered. if you have electronic equipment maybe a cheap plane (gws slowstick) that can easily be repaired and is much lighter so will need a much smaller chute for testing.
also remember that your airplane is still getting lift from its wings while falling, if you put to big of a chute it will never come down
i would, just incase something bad happened (i/e chute gets caught on tail), have a parachute release system to deattach the parachute.
good luck,

btw the electrics would be ideal because if the chute idea were to fail you could drop it and restart the motor.