Paraglider Recovery Systems

In 1945 it occurred to the writer that if we could discover how to make flexible wings that could be packaged and deployed somewhat like a parachute, such wings would have many new applications as well as replacing some parachutes and rigid wings. Previous uses of flexible materials in aerodynamic surfaces - parachutes, kites, boat sails, and wind mills - were reviewed, and some crude experiments were performed with gliders and kites. Before the end of 1948, the device now generally called a paraglider was evolved and developed sufficiently to merit a patent application. The study was continued privately as time permitted, and in 1954 a short paper on the subject was presented to an audience of about 50 Reserve Air Force officers. This paper was given rather wide distribution, although it suffers from lack of the many kite and glider demonstrations of the original presentation. Little serious interest was shown by the aeronautical community, however, until about a year after Sputnik I. In December 1958 the flexible-wing concept was presented to the Langley Committee on General Aerodynamics with the aid of the hurriedly prepared charts shown in figure 1, faithfully reproduced here for historical purposes.