Publications Details
Low altitude high speed cargo parachute system development: A status report
A Low Altitude High Speed Cargo (LAHSC) parachute is being developed for deployment at velocities up to 250 knots at 300 ft altitude. The LAHSC parachute will decelerate and turnover a load to a 40 to 60 ft/sec vertical velocity at first vertical at approximately 30 ft AGL. The acceleration limit is 5 g's. Main chute cargo extraction will be necessary. A single parachute will be utilized for a 7500 lb load, and clusters will be used for larger loads. The 64-gore, 70-ft-dia parachute has a ring-slot/solid construction with a flare at the skirt to aid the inflation. This paper describes the parachute, the design process and testing to date. Model parachutes have been tested in wind tunnels and in free flight. A single full-scale parachute has been tested at low speeds with conventional load extraction, and with a vertical trajectory at deployment. 5 refs., 18 figs., 3 tabs.