American ballistic parachute manufacturer
Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc.
, doing business as
BRS Aerospace
(and commonly referred to as simply
BRS
), is a manufacturer of aircraft
ballistic parachutes
.
The company was formed in 1980 by Boris Popov of
Saint Paul, Minnesota
, after he survived a 400-foot (120 m) fall in a partially collapsed
hang glider
in 1975. As a result, Popov invented a parachute system that could lower an entire
light aircraft
to the ground in the event of loss of control, failure of the aircraft structure, or other in-flight emergencies.
[1]
Popov was granted a U.S. patent on 26 August 1986 for the so-called Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) - patent US 4607814 A.
[2]
The company has two divisions:
BRS Aviation
and
BRS Defense
.
[3]
[4]
History
[
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]
BRS was founded in 1980 and introduced its first parachute model two years later in 1982, with focus on the
ultralight aircraft
market. The company recorded its first successful aircraft and crew recovery in 1983: Jay Tipton of Colorado.
[1]
In 1998, BRS collaborated with
Cirrus Design
(now called Cirrus Aircraft) to develop the first recovery parachute system to be used on a line of
type certified
aircraft: the
Cirrus SR20
, followed by the
Cirrus SR22
in 2001. The companies named the design the
Cirrus Airframe Parachute System
(CAPS), and, as of April 2023, made it standard equipment on all 9,000+ Cirrus SR aircraft. In 2002, BRS received a
supplemental type certificate
to install their parachute system in the
Cessna 172
, followed by the
Cessna 182
in 2004 and the
Symphony SA-160
in 2006.
[1]
In response to the
economic recession of 2008
and associated falling orders, the company announced in November 2008 that it would lay-off 25% of its workforce for an indefinite time period.
[5]
Products
[
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]
Ballistic rescue parachutes
[
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]
Components
[
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]
A small
solid-fuel rocket
is used to pull the parachute out from its housing and deploy the canopy fully within seconds. Typically on ultralight installations the rocket is mounted on the parachute container. On larger aircraft installations the rocket may be remotely mounted.
Over the years the BRS systems employed have been improved and updated and the current version is the BRS-6. This has a separate rocket installation that can be removed from the parachute so that the parachute can be sent for re-packing without the problems of trying to ship the rocket along with it. Typically the parachute requires repacking every six years and the rocket requires replacing every 12 years.
Rescues completed
[
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]
The first ballistic recovery parachutes were on the market in 1982, and the first deployment was in 1983. Between then and April 2007, over 225 people were aboard 201 aircraft which deployed BRS parachutes; most of whose lives were presumably saved by those parachute deployments.
[6]
As of January 2023, the company's website states that 466 lives have been saved (of which over 240 of those lives were involved in CAPS rescues).
[7]
[3]
Development
[
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]
According to the company, it has provided more than 35,000 parachutes for various light and microlight aircraft as of 2022.
[3]
On 18 July 2008 BRS announced that its new 5000-series canopy had completed compliance testing to
ASTM International
standards. This parachute system is intended to provide a recovery capability for much larger aircraft, including
very light jets
and other light
pressurized
aircraft. Initial applications were to include the
Diamond D-Jet
, which is currently suspended, and the
Lancair Evolution
, which completed production in 2017. As of 2008,
FAA
certification was being pursued to allow installation on certified aircraft.
[8]
[
needs update
]
Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS)
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
BRS Aerospace (2009).
"BRS History"
. Archived from
the original
on October 5, 2009
. Retrieved
November 17,
2009
.
- ^
"Patent US4607814 - Ballistic recovery system - Google Patents"
. August 26, 1986
. Retrieved
June 9,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
"BRS Aviation"
. Archived from
the original
on April 13, 2017
. Retrieved
April 12,
2017
.
- ^
"BRS Defense"
. Archived from
the original
on April 13, 2017
. Retrieved
April 12,
2017
.
- ^
Grady, Mary (November 2008).
"BRS Lays Off A Quarter Of Staff"
.
Archived
from the original on December 6, 2008
. Retrieved
November 27,
2008
.
- ^
"BRS Lives Saved"
. Archived from
the original
on April 25, 2010
. Retrieved
April 21,
2010
.
- ^
"CAPS Event History"
. Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association. March 29, 2023.
Archived
from the original on February 7, 2023
. Retrieved
April 28,
2023
.
- ^
Pew, Glenn (July 2008).
"BRS Announces Possible VLJ Parachute"
.
Archived
from the original on August 3, 2008
. Retrieved
July 21,
2008
.
External links
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]