May 05, 1954 - John Cobb's Racing Car Used In Demonstration Of Retractable Aircraft Brake...

May 05, 1954 - John Cobb's Racing Car Used In Demonstration Of Retractable Aircraft Brake Parachute: Early in 1951, the C.Q. Parachute Company began work on a scheme to dispense with the necessity for jettisoning an aircraft braking parachute at the end of the landing run. A stowage system was devised by which the parachute could be automatically repacked ready for the next operation. It was decided that the parachute should be stowed in a telescopic cylinder, the rear and outer part of the cylinder being arranged to slide forwards over the inner and forward part, at the same time as the canopy was ejected rearwards by a piston engergized by a large coil spring. To retract the parachute it is only necessary to switch on the electirc winch motor. The attachment strop and parachute rigging lines would then be wound on to the drum, and when this action was complete, the telescopic cylinder would automatically extend, shrouding and stowing the parachute canopy. Seeing its possibilities as a test vehicle for aircraft brake parachute, the G.Q. Parachute Company purchased the late John Cobb's record-breaking Napier Railton racing car of 450 h.p. Photo shows Sir Raymond Quilter at the wheel of the late John Cobb's racing car releases the braking parachute while travelling at high speed, during a demonstration at Dunsfold Aerodrome today