(StellaStar) wrote in message ...
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/du...or/9723097.htm

I'm a bit concerned that I never heard about another recent deployment...

"Still, the parachute system has not proven a cure-all, as evidenced by the
Sept. 10 crash of a Cirrus SR22 in Park Falls, Wis. That crash claimed the life
of Gerald Miller, 60, of Seboygan, Wis."

It doesn't make clear whether the old fellow in Sheboygan deployed...

Well, I look at a BRS the same way I look at an ejection seat: as a
last-ditch system that gives you a fighting chance, not a guarantee.

In some cases, say some kind of structural failure or engine failure
over open water, it's a no-brainer. You pull the cord and become a
passenger.

What I'd wonder about, were I wealthy enough to have problems like
this, is what about more marginal cases. Let's say I'm flying up here
in densely populated New England, on top of an overcast at 4000' at
night, and the engine quits. Let's say I've got 1500' ceilings. Do I
pull the plug right away, or do I drop down through? How high do I
have to be for the chute to open properly? Anything I can do to
position myself so that the chute puts me down in that parking lot,
rather than on I-95, or into some hospital building?

Maybe I'm nuts for thinking about a bunch of highly unlikely
situations when there are a dozen other things ten times more likely
to kill me. who knows.

Best,
-cwk.