plane with a parachute...why plane manufacturer don't design a plane with a large parachute?

Question

to be used when having engine trouble...just a way of preventing high impact during crash...

Answer 1

This question has been asked so many times, you can find many good answers if you search the archives.

Some small sports planes are designed with parachutes, but it is impractical to implement it in larger crafts due to structural shortcomings and dimensional limitations.

Answer 2

sorry bullwinkle3006, you are partially wrong. the first plane parachutes were designed for jets, but they didn'resist to the hot exhaust gasses and flames and the huge amount of drag they created. But now,
new parachutes are designed to work as a "disposable thrust reverser. I've seen some chutes for MiG-29 Fulcrums, and some had a small composite material cone in the middle, that was facing towards a point between the two engines. When the chute is deployed, the gasses travel towards the chute, flowing around the cone and causing vortices at the edge of the parachute, slowing the aircraft even more. Plus, there have been cases when prototype parachutes were so large, they ripped the tail off the airplane...so, it's not worth trying that on a JumboJet... Maybe some extra spoilers would work, especially on the belly and back of the airplane, using the same system as the F-86 Sabre or the the french DASSAULT Mirage, with the perforated spoilers on the undersides of the aircraft...there are countless options...

Answer 3

Do you have ANY idea what kind of forces are involved when a parachute is deployed? That "jerk" alone is in the 10-15 g range. Do you have ANY IDEA how strong the rigging of the parachute have to be for larger planes? Just to cite an example, a 737-800's max take-off weight is 79,010 KGs. That's 79 metric TONS!!!!!! Multiply that by 15, and that's the forces your parachute must endure during deployment. And 737 is one of the SMALLER planes!

Then the question is... Will the plane ITSELF survive the deployment shock? The answer is no, most airliners are rated for maybe 7 G's max. Subject a 15G shock to an airliner and you can expect structural failures. If you mount the parachute at the tail, the tail may be ripped off. Or the engines will fall off ripped off from the wings, and so on.

The seats inside the plane aren't rated for 15G shocks either. All the luggage from overhead will fall out, and all the people will be dangling in their seats as the plane starts heading straight into the ground, even if it survives the deployment. Then what? No guarantee you'll even land right-side up.

In fact, that's one of the problems in Superman Returns. Remember when Superman managed to stop the plunging airliner with Lois on it just over the baseball field? The whole plane was vertically in the air. Then Superman just kinda "tossed" it so it laid flat. Any body ever bother thinking what would happen to the people INSIDE the plane if he did that? No, it's Hollywood fantasy inspired by a comic book after all.

Answer 4

Cirrus has that design. However they use the parachute as an excuse not to certify their plane to recover from a spin, because the plane will not recover! 99% of planes dont have parachutes, because in the case of an engine failure, the plane can be safely glided in to a field or a nearby airport. In fact, when a chute is deployed with a Cirrus, the passengers MAY live, but the plane is completely destroyed. Parachutes are commonly used for the wrong purpose. instead of just going through the checklist and fixing the problem, the chute is pulled and in turn you piss off the insurance company. If it is a really big plane (one with 2 engines), an aircraft can still fly with one engine, so it's a non issue.

Answer 5

Recently they have been experimenting with parachutes for private planes (to great success). But even for a small plane the parachute is huge. So for large planes it is impractical (unless it is for military to "slow" the plane during short landing). And planes with engine "trouble" just don't drop immediately (see below). And most commercial planes have more than 1 engine - enough to cruise to safe landing.

But when I was taking my pilot lesson, I asked why we don't wear parachutes. He laughed and basically said that small planes often fly 2 to 5 thousand feet off the ground and there's probably not enough time to jump if there a problem. And besides if the plane developes a problem is it our duty to land the plane instead of jumping off and letting the plane fly into somebody's living room.

Here's another truth people don't understand about planes - planes often have 8 to 1 glide ratio. In another words, for every foot dropped, it can glide about 8 feet forward. So if a plane was flying 1 mile high, it has a choice of landing anywhere in 8 mile radius. That's a lot of area and there no need for parachute. Of course what happens if the pilot has and heart attack? Pilots are required to take physicals for this reasons.

Answer 6

Following is the answer to a nearly identical question. I did the math once but now I just copy and paste. I hope this answers your question.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I just did some simple math. I assumed a 200lb man would use a 26 foot canopy (I don't know how accurate the size of the canopy is but I heard it somewhere). I did some arithmetic to figure the Sq footage of that canopy then applied it to a ratio.

Anyway after all the dividing and multiplying, and assuming I didn't mis-key the calculator I came up with a diameter for a parachute capable of the task, i.e. supporting a 870,000 aircraft.

The answer I came up with was 12,118 feet in diameter.

Now that my friend is a big parachute, especially when you realize a mile is 5,280 feet. So you need a canopy over 2 miles in diameter.

That was FUN!!!

BTW, It would have to be deployed in stages. I think I used the weight specifications of a Boeing 747.

Answer 7

Why not hovercrafts like a life raft.They could stack them up in the cargo hold and get all the people on them and they can hover around until someone comes to get them back down to earth. Or just give each passenger a parachute and make them jump out while the plane is crashing. Cool. Sometimes an umbrella may be all you need to break your fall. One time a man landed on the wing of the plane and slid all the way down a mountain and lived. Think about it. Then he walked into town and went to a bar and nobody believed him.He was supposed to be in Vegas and ended up in Erie Pa.

Answer 8

Several certified airplanes, starting with Cirrus, offer full-airframe parachutes. All Cirrus SR20 and SR22 have them, standard. Cessna offers a 'chute on 172; many LSAs, including the Sport Aircraft Works SportCruiser and the CT (among others), include them standard.

As for engine trouble, a parachute isn't necessary (as already mentioned). 'Chutes are really good for when the pilot gets into weather he shouldn't have gotten into, or when he becomes incapacitated, or when he just really fouls up.

Answer 9

Not to mention planes are already so reliable, the cost of some kind of advanced parachute system wouldn't be worth the lives saved :O

Answer 10

After Lionel Morrison's small plane crashed earlier this month in a patch of Texas scrub, he walked away from the craft and into the history books. Morrison became the first civilian pilot to be saved when his entire plane successfully floated down under a parachute.

For more info go to / http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-10-14-chute-usat.htm