Ballistic Parachute Deployment

[Guest jodel]

Most people I hear that are sceptical about BRS/GRS are very ill informed and quota crazy figures. I rearly correct them just put them down as flat world thinkers.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Getting back to who's responsibility, whilst both pilots should have been keeping a good look out, I think that the tow pilot was probably more at fault than this poor, frightened pilot. My reasoning is that it is easier to see an a/c coming from your left than it is from the right,and, in a low wing a/c (tug) it is also easier to see an a/c slightly above you than it is one slightly below. Therefore the tug pilot had the better opportunity to take avoidance action. Now it is possible that they were both 'transfixed' on the third plane and would therefore been looking away from each other. However, the tug pilot also had the responsibility of keeping his tow safe and in this he failed. I would like to know what happened in the glider. It appears to have remained attached to the tug (look carefully) but I bet that pilot s**t him/herself. Had the tug pilot seen both a/c, he could easily have flown under this particular one and avoided any conflict. He could also have put out a warning radio call to alert this pilot. As it happened, no call from the tug, and a next to useless mayday from a very frightened, older man. Thank God for his ballistic parachute.

 

 

[timshel]

I am a fan of a Ballistic chute and will have one installed in my new plane but check this out...

 

Makes you realise everything has a downside.

 

 

watch the third take off with two trikes side by side.

 

Cheers

 

Tim

 

 

[Guest Bendorn]

Damn!!!!! That's gotta hurt.....:ah_oh:

 

 

[Yenn]

BRS chutes not much use at that low altitude. They have been most in the news with Cirrus aircraft, which have deployed them many times. It seems the reason they are in Cirrus is that Cirrus cannot demonstrate an ability to recover from a spin and the BRS is their way of getting certification. I am told that they will not sell a Cirrus without a chute.

 

I know of one badly injured pilot who used a chute. The problem was he came down in water and there was no collapsing of the undercarriage to slow down the impact. He is now confined to a wheelchair, didn't have an aircraft problem but felt a bit ill.

 

 

[rick-p]

Hi Ian,

 

Are you back old fella?

 

I thought that you were O/S.

 

Anyway, I actually saw the aftermath of an accidental deployment of a BRS.

 

When I say accidental I mean that it wasn't deployed deliberately but as a result of the Quicksilver it was instaled on impacting the ground after an engine out.

 

The aircraft frame spread and activated the triger mechanism.

 

The instructor ended up with third degree burns to his arm and left side of his body from the rocket motor facing in the wrong direction due to the impact leaving the aircraft in an inverted position.

 

The student, a mate of mine, ended up with a crushed vertabrae but is now back flying.

 

The instructor froze and didn't flare, not a good thing in a Quicksilver because of it's brick like glide ratio.

 

I had a BRS fitted to the Drifter I was recently flying but didn't even think of the BRS when I had two (2) engine failures on the same day.

 

The first landing was back onto the strip no problem but the second was into swampy land inhabited by buffalo and cattle, plenty of melon holes but much better than the rice paddy one side and big building and residences on the other side.

 

No damage to aircraft or POB.

 

I do know now that I would rather have an engine out here in central Queensland than where I was then flying as here there are no rice paddy's only paddocks with crops such as wheat and sorgum.

 

Kind regards,

 

Rick-p