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Parachute brakes

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Joined
Nov 1, 2005
Messages
16
Dear All,

Pursuing the theme of "landing is a tougher nut to crack than taking off" on the basis that you can choose whether to take off but once you're up you've got to come down sooner or later: Does anyone know of any research into using parachutes to slow down seaplanes coming in to land?

The idea is to minimise the speed of the first contact between water and plane. If you could come down to say 40 knots 3 feet above the wave crests of some pretty rough water, then deploy the parachute, how much could you slow down before hitting the surface? I imagine the parachute being fitted somewhere in the tail as high up as structurally convenient to help maintain the high angle of attack.

The other option is to deploy the parachute from the top of the plane and come down vertically, an ideal solution from the rough water perspective, but as you are all aware that gives precious little control over where you land!

Regards, Max
 
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