Ian,

Just a couple of years ago, a friend of mine told me he didn't use a chute
as he had back problems. I invited him to sit in my glider and see how
comfortable a well fitted chute could be (I've added Confor lumbar padding a
sheepskin so it really is comfy.).

He didn't take me up on the offer, but asked if I used a parachute in my
certified Mooney. When I answered, "No", he said, "There - - same thing, my
glider is certified too. If I have a problem I'll ride it down."

He was dead two month later, not a mid-air, but the wings came of the ship
and . . . he rode it down.

Your comment reminds me of the people who refuse to wear seat belts, saying
that if they do have and accident, they'd rather be "thrown clear" so as to
avoid the wreckage. No offense, but that makes about as much sense.

bumper
ZZ Minden


"Ian" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 14 Sep, 10:05, Dan G wrote:
On Sep 13, 7:33 pm, Paul Hanson

wrote:
Wear your chutes folks

A pilot in Britain died in 2002 when his glider was damaged in a
collision but he did not have a parachute. The pilot who had flown the
glider previously did not use a parachute due to his size, and when
the accident pilot got into the glider afterwards he did not get a
parachute to use himself. When a person helping him board commented on
the lack of a parachute, the accident pilot replied "it'll be
alright".

But remember the Idaflieg survey which found no evidence that anyone
had ever made the decision to use a parachute from a glider below
500m and survived. There were a fair number of cases when the actual
deployment happened much lower but it seems that the time it takes to
leave a glider as about the time it takes a badly damaged glider to
fall 500m.

I don;t wear a parachute when flying myself: I prefer "not hitting
things" to "trying to survive after hitting things"...

Ian