The present invention relates to a rotary parachute having a canopy made of individual panels arranged radially, and having the same polygonal asymmetric shape, with the panels being partially sewn together along their long or radially extending sides to form air exit openings which all act in the same direction to cause rotation during descent of the parachute.
A parachute of this type is disclosed in, for example, European Patent No. 0,105,462, which is a counterpart of U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,685.
Such parachutes, whose canopies include a carrying zone provided with nozzle shaped air exit openings and a drawn-in guide zone, are known to offer the possibility of impressing a rotational movement at a stable rate of rotation on the parachute, and on a load rigidly fastened thereto, while providing a stable descent. The configuration, function and further possible uses for such parachutes are described in detail in that European Patent.
However, it has been found that a parachute of this type, as defined in EP 0,105,462 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,685), is inclined to behave in a pendulum-like manner during the steady rotation/descent phase.