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A new look at parachute opening dynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

Peter R. Payne
Peter R. Payne*
Affiliation:
Payne Inc.
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Extract

There is some evidence to indicate that injuries associated with parachute opening shock are much less frequent than injuries associated with the acceleration loads imposed by ejection seats, even though the stresses presumed to be induced in the human body may often be of the same order. Since all such data is based on operational experience, the details are necessarily vague, and it is hard to draw firm conclusions.

The Aeromedical Research Laboratory, USAF, as part of its studies of aircrew injury, decided to see whether there was any difference between the dynamics of parachute opening when used with a rigid anthropometric dummy of the type normally used to obtain opening shock data, and a human parachutist whose body is naturally more resilient.

Type
Technical notes
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 77 , Issue 746 , February 1973 , pp. 85 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1973 

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