A device for delaying the opening of a parachute, in particular a personal parachute or a cargo parachute, of a person jumping exiting an aircraft or of a cargo dropped from an aircraft, characterized by a delaying means designed to provide a connection between a drogue parachute connectable with a detachable connection to the aircraft and a parachute bridal line, said delaying means being movable from a delaying position in which no deployment of the parachute takes place, to a deployment position in which the parachute is deployed. A delay of the opening of the parachute, i.e. the time required for the movement from the delaying position to the deployment position, can be between 0.5 seconds and 2 seconds by suitable design of the delaying means. Advantageously, the deployment of the parachute is delayed and occurs outside a wake turbulence of the aircraft.

A parachute assembly may comprise a canopy and one or more reefing lines. The one or more reefing lines may limit inflation of the canopy to attenuate impulse load or otherwise mitigate forces exerted by the parachute assembly on cargo or an occupant during deployment of the canopy. The one or more reefing lines may be broken in stages to selectively limit inflation of the canopy followed by selectively permitting inflation of the canopy in stages.

A parafoil system having an adjustable trim angle during flight to control glide slope and descent speed of a parafoil is provided. The parafoil system may include a pulley cluster comprising first and second variable trim pulleys, each having a different diameter. The pulley cluster may be coupled to forward and aft suspension lines of a parafoil canopy such that the pulley cluster may rotate to retract or extend the forward and aft suspension lines to adjust the trim angle during flight. The parafoil system may further include a motor for rotating the pulley cluster to extend or retract the suspension lines to adjust the trim angle during flight. By adjusting the trim angle of the canopy during flight, the glide slope and descent speed of the parafoil system may be controlled.

An aircraft, the aircraft including a whole-aircraft ballistic parachute that is coupled to the aircraft. The aircraft determines if a pre-activation action needs to be performed before activation of the whole-aircraft ballistic parachute. The aircraft also receives a whole-aircraft ballistic parachute activation request. The aircraft then issues a command to perform the pre-activation action and then activates the deployment of the whole-aircraft ballistic parachute. The aircraft then issues a command to perform a post-activation action.

A separable aircraft cabin module is provided with parachutes that are dynamically and independently reefed in order to safely deliver the cabin module, and its occupants from a separation from a main aircraft body at altitude and speed to a landing. The arrangement includes a rear parachute and two front parachutes which particularly handle the cylindrical shape of the cabin module through the various stages after separation from the main aircraft body.

A multi-staged suspension line length parachute is provided. The parachute may comprise a canopy, a suspension line, a bundle, a bundling confluence, a traditional confluence, and a riser. The parachute may also comprise a cutter and a cutter pin puller configured to activate the cutter. The bundle may comprise a bundling line configured to secure secondary length from the suspension line. The parachute may deploy to a first length. In response to tension on the cutter pin puller, the cutter may activate to sever the bundling line in the bundle, causing the secondary length of the suspension line to release. The parachute may then deploy to a second length.

A parachute deployment system is disclosed. In various embodiments, the system includes an interface configured to receive sensor information; a parachute load limiting device; and a parachute load limiting device state controller. The parachute load limiting device state controller sets a state of the parachute load limiting device to a state associated with a corresponding amount of load based at least in part on the sensor information.

A riser release system controllably lands a descending flight vehicle having a parafoil or canopy. The system has control lines and riser lines attached to the parafoil or canopy. The other end of the riser lines are attached to an upper portion of a release structure; a lower portion of the release structure is connected to the payload; and a coupling mechanisms releasably couples the upper and lower portions. When the upper and lower portions are decoupled, a distance control device controls and limits the distance of separation between the two portions, and a rate control device controls the rate of separation. Separation causes the riser lines to increase the distance between the payload and canopy, further causing the canopy to flare and decrease the rate of descent of the flight vehicle.

A system and method is provided for shortening specific suspension lines near the center of a ram air parachute in order to distort the airfoil section only in the center section of the canopy. This distortion of the center section results in a significant alteration of the glide ratio of the parachute by simultaneously reducing the forward speed and increasing the rate of descent. Meanwhile, because the canopy is only distorted in the center section, the wingtips remain extended and pressurized so that the steering apparatus at the trailing edge of the canopy remains fully functional to direct the heading.

A parafoil system having an adjustable trim angle during flight to control glide slope and descent speed of a parafoil is provided. The parafoil system may include a pulley cluster comprising first and second variable trim pulleys, each having a different diameter. The pulley cluster may be coupled to forward and aft suspension lines of a parafoil canopy such that the pulley cluster may rotate to retract or extend the forward and aft suspension lines to adjust the trim angle during flight. The parafoil system may further include a motor for rotating the pulley cluster to extend or retract the suspension lines to adjust the trim angle during flight. By adjusting the trim angle of the canopy during flight, the glide slope and descent speed of the parafoil system may be controlled.