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When a jet has to make an emergency landing, pilots should be able to press a button to cause helicopter blades (with their own engines and fuel systems, etc.) to emerge from the top of the plane. With these, the pilot could more safely land the plane.
Cirrus SR20
http://209.238.147.86/BRS24.HTML
The first FAA-approved aircraft with an emergency airframe parachute system. That's *airframe*. Check out the pictures. [koz, Aug 31 2000]
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That's pretty halfbaked, all right. |
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Actually, you wouldn't even need the engine. Helicopters can autorotate, which means that with the engine off and the blades pitched correctly, the helicopter will go straight down, slowly enough to make a safe landing. This could function like a full-plane parachute. |
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Problem is, it'd probably be several hundred pounds, and severely cut down the carrying capacity of the planes. |
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Koz: How does 'airframe' differ from 'airplane'? Best I can figure is if you rip the wings and so on off, it's whats' left, but I would call that more of a 'dropframe', or possibly 'plummetframe'... |
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I was thinking of large planes in my reply, as well, like 7x7's and such... |
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He means 'airframe' as opposed to 'passengers'. (Emergency passenger parachute systems are hardly new, after all.) |
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StarChaser, you said "several hundred pounds"... I think you're off by an order of magnitude or two. If you could build an autorotor system for even the smallest of jet airliners that only weighed "several hundred pounds", I expect the airline makers would be all over that. |
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All this really does is change the situation from a jet that
needs to make an emergency landing to a helicopter (sort
of) that needs to make an emergency landing. That would
be great if helicopters were a lot easier to land than jets,
which I don't think they are. Not to mention trying to
land a jet that has suddenly transformed into a
helicopter. I'd rather deal with a jet that stays a jet... a
bit more predictable that way. |
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A jet with no control is also known as a 'brick'...It would require skill to make a helicopter autorotate to a landing where you wanted it, but making it just go straight down and not assume the aspect of a crumpled toilet paper tube would be better than using a multi million dollar jet as an inefficient shovel... |
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I think that without the engine or controls, only enough stuff in it to get it extended, it wouldn't be necessary to weigh a lot. Only need the airfoil shape and enough strength to carry the weight, and a honeycombed blade may work for that. I'm not an engineer, but I think this should be workable...Unlikely, but workable, which makes it perfect for the .5bakery... |
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justme: I was once talking with someone who couldn't believe that it didn't take much to knock a modern fighter plane could be knocked out of the sky--that they didn't have much of anything in the way of armor or redundant systems. My response was that if someone wanted to use armor plating, triple-redundant systems, etc. it would be possible to design a plane that couldn't be shot down--but that would only be because it would never get off the ground in the first place. |
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On a smaller scale, how about an emergency parachute feature for an RC model plane or helicopter. |
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How about an underslung giant airbag system ? Booster sections available on sections most prone to the greatest impact force, such as the nose section. Very lightweight and could easily be shed if it were to accidentally inflate in mid flight. Airbags in cars are made from a very lightweight fabric. I think 7x7 grade airbags would need to be a bit more heavy duty, but I think it may still work. |
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How about having a passenger compartment that seperates from the rest of the plane. When the pilot realizes it's all going to worms he presses a button in the cockpit (should not be too easily done for obvious reasons). Then explosive bolts release the wings, tail section and the bottom cargo half of the fuselage. At the same time rocket deployed parachutes could fire from the top of the cabin. The cabin would now be much lighter enabling the parachutes to slow it down so that it seperates properly from the rest of the debris and can then float safely to earth. As all the fuel tanks have already been dumped with the rest of the plane there would be no risk of fire. |
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The problem with this and the other solutions above is that most accidents happen when planes are landing or taking off and are either on or just above the ground. By the time the helicopter blades or the parachutes start to be effective it's too late (hence the rocket deployed 'chutes - give you a few extra seconds). |
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You might be better off with emegency
rockets that fire split seconds before
you hit the ground. |
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