Pilot chute
Encyclopedia
A pilot chute is a small auxiliary parachute
used to deploy the main or reserve parachute. The pilot chute is connected to the deployment bag containing the parachute by a bridle. On modern skydiving rigs three types of pilot chutes can be found:
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. When the user pulls the ripcord, the container opens, allowing the pilot chute compressed inside to spring out. Spring-loaded pilot chutes are mainly used to deploy reserve parachutes. They are often also used to deploy the main parachute on skydiving students' parachute equipment.
With the pull-out system, the pilot chute is packed inside the container. The activation handle is attached to a lanyard, which in turn is attached to the closing pin. The lanyard is also attached to the bridle. When the user pulls the handle, the closing pin is pulled, opening the container. Continuing the pull, the user pulls the pilot chute out of the container and into the airstream, at which point the pilot chute inflates and pulls the main parachute out of the container.
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Some designs replace the kill line with a fixed length of shock cord, which stretches when the pilot chute is moving quickly, allowing it to inflate. When the pilot slows down (after opening a canopy, for example) the shock cord retracts, killing the pilot. While this avoids the possibility of pilot-in-tow malfunction due to an un-cocked pilot, it has the disadvantage of requiring significant airspeed to operate. This could cause a delayed deployment if used for a BASE or balloon jump, or any other jump with a low speed deployment. This type may also begin to re-inflate behind a highly loaded, fast moving canopy, negating the usefulness of a collapsible pilot.
used on tandem
-systems are basically large throw-out pilot chutes, but the bridle is anchored on the container with a release system. When the user throws the drogue, the drogue inflates and the bridle extends. The deployed drogue slows down the free-fall
speed of the tandem pair. When the user wants to open the parachute, he pulls a ripcord, releasing the bridle and allowing the drogue to open the main container.
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
used to deploy the main or reserve parachute. The pilot chute is connected to the deployment bag containing the parachute by a bridle. On modern skydiving rigs three types of pilot chutes can be found:
- Spring-loaded
- Pull-out
- Throw-out
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Spring Loaded
The spring-loaded pilot chute is used in conjunction with a ripcordRipcord (skydiving)
A ripcord is a part of a skydiving harness-container system; a handle attached to a steel cable ending in a closing pin. The pin keeps the container closed and keeps the spring-loaded pilot chute inside. When the ripcord is pulled, the container is opened and the pilot chute is released, opening...
. When the user pulls the ripcord, the container opens, allowing the pilot chute compressed inside to spring out. Spring-loaded pilot chutes are mainly used to deploy reserve parachutes. They are often also used to deploy the main parachute on skydiving students' parachute equipment.
Pull-out
The pull-out and throw-out pilot chutes are identical in construction; the difference is in their connection to the handle and the bridle, and in the way they are packed.With the pull-out system, the pilot chute is packed inside the container. The activation handle is attached to a lanyard, which in turn is attached to the closing pin. The lanyard is also attached to the bridle. When the user pulls the handle, the closing pin is pulled, opening the container. Continuing the pull, the user pulls the pilot chute out of the container and into the airstream, at which point the pilot chute inflates and pulls the main parachute out of the container.
Throw-out
The throw-out pilot chute is the most popular type in use today. The pilot chute is packed in a pouch at the bottom of the container (often called BOC for short). The handle is attached to the apex of the pilot chute. When the user grabs the handle and throws the pilot chute into the airstream, the bridle extends, pulling the closing pin and opening the container, as the pilot chute continues in the airstream it extracts the deployment bag containing the main parachute from the container. The throw-out pilot chute was invented by Bill BoothBill Booth
Bill Booth is an engineer, inventor, serious beard aficionado and entrepreneur in the skydiving equipment manufacturing industry. His invention of the 3-ring release safety device greatly enhanced skydiving safety. This device allows the rapid release of the skydiver's main parachute in the event...
.
Collapsible
With the advent of smaller higher performance canopies, the drag induced by trailing a pilot chute behind a canopy has become a significant concern. To reduce this drag some pilot chute designs of the Pull-out and Throw-out variety are collapsible. Once deployment of the parachute has occurred a kill line running up the center of the pilot chute bridle becomes loaded. This kill line pulls down on the apex of the pilot chute collapsing it and greatly reducing its drag on the canopy.Some designs replace the kill line with a fixed length of shock cord, which stretches when the pilot chute is moving quickly, allowing it to inflate. When the pilot slows down (after opening a canopy, for example) the shock cord retracts, killing the pilot. While this avoids the possibility of pilot-in-tow malfunction due to an un-cocked pilot, it has the disadvantage of requiring significant airspeed to operate. This could cause a delayed deployment if used for a BASE or balloon jump, or any other jump with a low speed deployment. This type may also begin to re-inflate behind a highly loaded, fast moving canopy, negating the usefulness of a collapsible pilot.
Drogues
DroguesDrogue parachute
A drogue parachute is a parachute designed to be deployed from a rapidly moving object in order to slow the object, or to provide control and stability, or as a pilot parachute to deploy a larger parachute...
used on tandem
Tandem skydiving
Tandem skydiving or tandem parachuting refers to a type of skydiving where a student skydiver is connected via a harness to a tandem instructor. The instructor guides the student through the whole jump from exit through freefall, piloting the canopy, and landing. The student needs only minimal...
-systems are basically large throw-out pilot chutes, but the bridle is anchored on the container with a release system. When the user throws the drogue, the drogue inflates and the bridle extends. The deployed drogue slows down the free-fall
Free-fall
Free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it, at least initially. These conditions produce an inertial trajectory so long as gravity remains the only force. Since this definition does not specify velocity, it also applies to objects initially moving upward...
speed of the tandem pair. When the user wants to open the parachute, he pulls a ripcord, releasing the bridle and allowing the drogue to open the main container.