Martin Gregorie wrote in message . ..


A question for the PPLs amongst us: just how high would you need to be
to start egress from a full 4-place GA plane for everybody to exit
with room for the chute to open?


Modern emergency parachutes are designed to be fast opening. But in
the end, the decision that is being weighed when seriously considering
whether to bail out of a broken airplane or to stay with it is this:
what are the relative probabilities of survival? If there is
absolutely zero chance of survival if the pilot elects to stay with
the airplane, then perhaps there is no real "minimum" bail out
altitude...

That issue aside, I did some research that wound up as an article in
Sport Aerobatics magazine awhile back on the subject of emergency bail
outs. In one case, one pilot successfully bailed out at about 300 feet
AGL. See http://www.richstowell.com/bailout.htm for the full article.

Rich (still leaning on the "power" crutch)
http://www.richstowell.com