Parks College Parachute Research Group

Inflation and Glide Studies of Slider-Reefed Cruciform Parachutes

J. Potvin, G. Peek, B. Brocato, T. Perschbacher and R. Kutz
Parks College Parachute Research Group
Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63103

R. J. Benney
U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command
Natick Soldier Center Natick, MA, 01760

Presented at the 16th AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference and Seminar Boston, MA, May 2001, Paper AIAA-2001-2021

Abstract

This two-part study is aimed at testing the performance of slider reefing on cruciform parachutes deployed in cargo airdrop environments, and at evaluating their glide and turn performance when flown with selected suspension lines trimmed to various lengths. The results of the inflation study include both numerical simulations and experimental data, calculated for, or collected from half-scale and full-scale cruciform parachute drops involving sliders. We also present the preliminary results of a series of inflation studies performed on a slider-reefed parachute outfitted with an additional reefing line routed around its crown area. In the second part of the paper we discuss the results of wind tunnel tests performed on 1/8th -scale models trimmed for several glide configurations, and briefly discuss the details of upcoming radio-controlled test flights of a full-scale cruciform parachute system.

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