The Durachute Vacuum Sealed Rescue Parachute
Heiko Froehlich
The paper describes a new technology for parachute vacuum packing and sealing by the example of the Durachute aircrew emergency bailout parachute, that will be in service for the German Aircraft C-160 Transall and BR-1150 Breguet Atlantic. The Durachute is the civil name of the Thinpack parachute that has been intro-duced to the US Navy.
The Durachute canopy and the suspen-sion lines are vacuum packed and envi-ronmentally sealed to protect it from the elements and extend its life. The patented sealing technology provides a long repack cycle of more than 5 years and a canopy shelf life of 27 years, which significantly reduces maintenance time and cost. Due to the vacuum packing the parachute as-sembly achieved a low weight and small volume and is especially suitable for a seat integrated application.
To download the full paper CLICK HERE (.PDF)
