Ballistic Chute....

[Cloud Warrior]

Lies , damn lies and statistics!

[gertcoetzee]

I quoted the UK stats as given. I agree, I think the gyro-stats is probably a bit skewed due to (a) limited number of hours for the class, and (b) incorporating accidents during development. I do not like stats, but if I have quoted the known stats (whether lies or not) the lawyers will have to have a go at me for some other reason (in my unrelated experience).

On the topic of BALLISTIC PARACHUTES, somewhere else in this forum there has been a discussion as to whether or not the magnetos should be switched off prior to pulling that red handle. The argument was that once the magnetos is switched off, the propellor will stop and minimize the risk of the chute's cables getting wrapped/snagged into the prop. I think this argument can now be laid to rest with the video by Damien Beresford - he had a wing mounted camera running while practicing power-out landings i.e. switching off the magenetos. From the moment you can see him switching the magnetos off until the prop is static is at least 3-5 seconds. Me? I will be swithcing off the magnetos if I have time to spare, else pull the red lever. The recent post by the Australian who shared his experience with us showed that even with the cable winding through prop there was no nose-dive (when the wing was intact).

See..
http://www.emuvideo.com/videos.php?page=trike20051120

[TouchNgo]

We installed a BRS unit on our Cobra trike some time ago. When conducting our own assessment of a trike accident apparently due to structural wing failure, we realised that even with a chute installed, the pilot may have been incapacitated during the structural failure of the wing as a result of the control bar impacting heavily in the chest area.

My trike partner and I are both trike pilots and often fly together for recreation. In certain attitudes and with inertia- reel shoulder belts it is physically impossible to deploy the chute from the rear position. We eventually came up with a simple cable device that attaches onto the release handle of the chute and straps around the pilots leg using a velcro band. This effectively extends the activation device within reach of the rear passenger. We also installed additional mag switches in the rear for easier access to cut the motor from the rear position.

Obviously this system is probably of little use flying a pax for the first time, as one would not burden a new person with this kind of responsibility. It should work great if flying regularly with someone with more experience in the back who could be briefed with the deploy procedure should the pilot become incapacitated for any reason.

[Microwave]

This sounds like a good idea, but what happens if you forget to disconnect the strap from your leg and you get out of the plane after a long flight or if you quickly want to go and get something out of the car that you left behind? One would look like and feel like a real charlie activating your ballistic in front of your hangar or at an airfield you are visiting

[TouchNgo]

This sounds like a good idea, but what happens if you forget to disconnect the strap from your leg and you get out of the plane after a long flight or if you quickly want to go and get something out of the car that you left behind? One would look like and feel like a real charlie activating your ballistic in front of your hangar or at an airfield you are visiting

Good point - you just have to adhere to your post flight shut down procedure rather strictly and replace the safety pin and remove the strap as a matter of habit before exiting the driver seat.

[Chaz]

Ive had my trigger mechanism for my GRS attached to the the seat belt locking mechanism untill i can actually find a better place

Just a comment on some of those stats namely the skydiving one which is something like 128 fatalitys for every million hours of jumps. Actually very low as it equates out to something like 128 fatalitys for every four million jumps considering from a height of about 10000ft above ground a skydiver falls for about 25 seconds. So percentage wise it is in the region of 0.0032% of four million jumps. Most sky-diving accidents are seem to be caused by low hook turns ,in-experience with different chutes than actual equipment faliure.

Anyway some useless information for those that want to or are interested in Skydiving.

Your's in Flying
CHAZ