Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., doing business as BRS Aerospace (and commonly referred to as simply BRS), is a manufacturer of aircraft

ballistic parachute A ballistic parachute, ballistic reserve parachute, or emergency ballistic reserve parachute, is a parachute ejected from its casing by a small explosion, much like that used in an ejection seat. The advantage of the ballistic parachute over a co ...

s. The company was formed in 1980 by Boris Popov of

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, after he survived a fall in a partially collapsed

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

in 1975. As a result, Popov invented a parachute system that could lower an entire

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...

to the ground in the event of loss of control, failure of the aircraft structure, or other in-flight emergencies. Popov was granted a U.S. patent on 26 August 1986 for the so-called Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) - patent US 4607814 A. The company has two divisions: BRS Aviation and BRS Defense.

History

BRS was founded in 1980 and introduced its first parachute model two years later in 1982, with focus on the

ultralight aircraft Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and Aircraft flight control system, conventional three-a ...

market. The company recorded its first successful aircraft and crew recovery in 1983: Jay Tipton of Colorado. In 1998, BRS collaborated with

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

-based

Cirrus Design The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance and management company, as well as a provider of flight training services, that was founded in 1984 by ...

(now called Cirrus Aircraft) to develop the first recovery parachute system to be used on a line of type certified aircraft: the

Cirrus SR20 The Cirrus SR20 is an American piston-engined, four- or five-seat composite material, composite monoplane built since 1999 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota. The aircraft is the company's earliest type certificate, type-certified model, ea ...

, followed by the

Cirrus SR22 The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine four- or five-seat composite aircraft built since 2001 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It is a development of the Cirrus SR20, with a larger wing, higher fuel capacity and more powerfu ...

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 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Cessna 182 The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats in the baggage area. Introduced in 1956, the 182 has been produced in a ...

in 2004 and the

Symphony SA-160 The Symphony SA-160 is a Canadian Aviation Regulations, CAR 523 certified, two-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane that was manufactured by Symphony Aircraft Industries in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada in the m ...

in 2006. 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.

Products

Ballistic rescue parachutes

Components

A small

solid-fuel rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses Rocket propellant#Solid chemical propellants, solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder. The incepti ...

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

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. 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).

Development

According to the company, it has provided more than 35,000 parachutes for various light and microlight aircraft as of 2022. On 18 July 2008 BRS announced that its new 5000-series canopy had completed compliance testing to

ASTM International ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is a standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical international standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems and s ...

standards. This parachute system is intended to provide a recovery capability for much larger aircraft, including

very light jet A very light jet (VLJ), entry-level jet or personal jet, previously known as a microjet, is a category of small business jets that seat four to eight people. VLJs are considered the lightest business jets and are approved for single-pilot opera ...

s and other light

pressurized Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment. Examples Industrial Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric. Atmospheric This is the process by which a ...

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.

Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS)

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.brsaerospace.com
''AVweb'' article about a 2004 deployment

BRS and Cirrus on ''How Do They Do It?'' in 2009

2015 ''Flying'' magazine article
Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States Manufacturing companies based in Saint Paul, Minnesota Aerospace companies of the United States Companies established in 1980