SPbPU Engineers’ Enhanced Parachute Helps Fyodor Konyukhov Reach North Pole

Famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhov and pilot Igor Potapkin set a record — the first in the world to make a flight along the route: Franz Josef Land archipelago — the North Pole on a two-seater paraglider.

The key part of the paraglider — the fairing made of composite materials — was designed by specialists of the School of Advanced Engineering Studies in Digital Engineering of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU). The fairing was also manufactured under the scientific, methodological and technological control of engineers from the SPbPU Advanced Engineering Studies, and advanced materials — carbon fiber and glass fabric — were provided by the Composite Division of Rosatom.

Engineers of the Advanced Engineering Studies of SPbPU have significantly improved the design of the famous traveler’s paraglider. To increase the flight range, the developers, using their own platform for the development and application of digital twins CML-Bench^®️, integrated into the design of the paraglider strong and lightweight fuel tanks with a volume of 75 liters and a weight of 2 kg each. In order not to create additional aerodynamic drag, the tanks were hidden behind the fairing panel, and by integrating the fairing into the paraglider’s power scheme, the structure became significantly stronger and stiffer.