Patent Issued for Breakable Plane

[craichead 0]

Gotta give those Canadians some credit for having big dreams. Could you imagine if jet planes actually had parachutes? "I'm sorry, this 747 jet can't be flown today because it's due for a repack!"

_Pm

Patent Issued for Breakable Plane

Wed Mar 3, 8:31 AM ET

By Chris Mallinos

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada has issued a patent for a futuristic commercial jet design that would protect passengers in an emergency by breaking apart and letting the sections parachute gently to the ground.

But industry experts said on Tuesday that the scheme -- which sounds like something out of a James Bond movie -- had little chance of success. A parachute-equipped plane would be too heavy and would cost too much.

"For a big airliner, it's just not feasible," said David Greatrix, associate professor of aerospace engineering at Ryerson University in Toronto.

"It's just such a wacky idea. If you talk to anyone in the aerospace industry, you'd see that this is pretty far fetched."

The proposal, which received a patent last month, calls for aircraft to be built in separate parts, then sealed together. In an emergency -- anything from mechanical failure to a missile attack -- the pilot could push a button to sever the parts with controlled explosions or by using a "laser cutting" device.

Each section would be equipped with parachutes, shock absorbers, inflatable rafts, and propulsion jets that would guide it to the ground, the patent said. The Toronto-based inventor, Chui Wen Chiu, could not be reached for comment.

Greatrix said the added weight of parachutes, shock absorbers and propulsion jets would be too much for a commercial jet, and the planes would be able to carry only a few passengers.

"It would never get certified in the near future based on current technology," he said. "It's just too complex."

Greatrix added that the majority of airline crashes occur on takeoff or landing, when the plane is too close to the ground for parachutes to work.

James DeLaurier, who teaches aircraft design at the University of Toronto, said his initial reaction to reading the patent was "holy cow."

"This would be a maintenance nightmare," he said. "How could you make sure that all these systems are ready to go? The consequences of them not working, or working prematurely, would be dreadful."

But DeLaurier added that the unfeasibility of this design should not deter others from trying to make planes safer.

"I do have respect for (Chiu's) intentions," he said.

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"Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

[FrogNog 1]

I think there is too much prior art for breakable planes, including ones that descend to the ground under a parachute, in the skydiving community.

I can think of at least one jump of mine that was aborted (well, delayed until the next day) because the plane broke on the load before mine. And we've seen the pictures of planes with s/l students in tow with the s/l around their leg and the reserve open, helping the plane to the ground....

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[Lee03 0]

I fail to see how this concept could have even half a chance of succeeding. For a couple of years now, Cirrus has built the SR-20 amd SR-22 four-place private airplanes. These planes come equipped with a Ballistic Recovery System, that consists of a parachute that can be deployed to "Let the plane down" safely in case of emergency. From what has been rumored, the only way the planes could have ever received their certification from the FAA was with the BRS, It has been used on several occasion, and on half of these usages attempts, the system has failed, with fatal results. Your talking about a plane that weighs 2900 lb at it's maximum take off weight, that uses a simple single chute system. If they cannot make it workable in other than 1/2 of the attempt at uses in a small plane with a simple, one chute system. How on earth will it ever be expected to work in a complicated, complex, multi chute, explosive/laser seperation system, on an aircraft that can weigh up to 833,000 lb at it's max take off weight?

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To put your life in danger from time to time ... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities.

--Nevil Shute, Slide Rule