Parachutes are made of fabric and slow down falling objects. They have various uses, from recreational skydiving to delivering aid. The Chinese invented them in the 9th century BC. Parachutes have evolved from simple round designs to more complex parafoils and drogue parachutes.
A parachute is a device made of fabric, usually silk or nylon, designed to slow your descent by providing resistance, causing a falling object to slow down. Parachutes are used for both people and cargo and have a wide range of applications, from recreational skydiving to delivering humanitarian aid to areas reachable only by air. There are also several types designed for specific applications.
The credit for the discovery of the parachute belongs to the Chinese, who apparently manufactured them as early as the 9th century BC for use as toys. The trend spread to the Middle East, and several variations on the inventors’ sketchbooks were made in the Middle Ages, with many people realizing that the device could be a key to manned flight. In the late 18th century, the modern form as it is known today developed.
The basic design of a parachute includes some form of “wing” to provide drag, attached to the rigging that secures the device securely to the parachutist or cargo to be delivered. The material is folded and rigged in a very specific way so that when a rope is pulled while descending, it unfolds and unfolds. Many people use reserve parachutes to ensure that main chute failure is not fatal.
The first parachutes were simple round or square type designs. They were carefully packed and worn on the back and released with the use of a drawstring, distinguishing them from earlier designs and initiating more modern shapes. By choosing the timing of the slide’s deployment, people could control their descent. However, they could not drive with this basic design, which made deployment timing critical. The first parachutes were advertised as safety devices for people using hot air balloons. This type is still used in equipment deliveries.
Over time, more complex designs of the parafoil or ram-air type have been developed. These are made from filled cells of nylon, silk, or other materials and include the rigging that allows the skydiver to steer. Most skydivers use parafoils, because they want to be able to control their descent more effectively, and this design allows the user to steer to a specific location on the ground. In fact, parafoil flying is a recreational sport in some regions of the world, with participants jumping from great heights or leaping out of an airplane and then slowly returning to the ground.
In addition to these two basic types, drogue parachutes can also be found. This type is designed for high speed distribution. They’re small and narrow, providing less drag, but the drag reduction prevents a drogue from exploding when deployed at speed. Some skydivers use them as “pilot chutes” to partially slow their descent and trigger the deployment of a secondary chute. Drogies are also used to slow down some aircraft and rockets for landings.
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