wesleymarceaux wrote:
All of you are missing the point. The pilot of the RV6 lost power and had to
make allot of choices quick. One fact that sticks is the stall speed of
these heavy planes.The stall speed is the problem. Had she had an emergency
chute to open ,,,the plane and pilots could have been saved.Lighter craft
can land at slower speeds and to decrees the stall speed by 20 miles an
hour will put the impact G forces nearly 100% slower than at 55 miles an
hour.Airbags in the proper places could also have prevented the man from
loosing his wife. Inthe cheapest auto made,,airbags are included and the
price of the car is less than 20k. Not only are the engines antique, but
the safety ideas and design manors are also stuck in the pass.. My heart
goes out to him and his children for their loss and look to the future when
safety in the cockpit will be number one. The devices are there. Just need
to start applying them.
wrote in message
...
The Wright Flyer was also known as the Flyer I


First I have to ask why you put this in a thread about the Wright Flyer?
But I've fixed that.

You do realize that the RV6 is a kit built aircraft? And it is not that
heavy at 1600 lbs MGW. And while 49-55mph isn't the lowest stall speed
out there it is in no way excessive.

BRS does make a chute capable of the weight of the RV6 but I don't think
I've ever seen on installed. To install one you have to give something
up and that something is the ability to carry weight be it fuel, baggage
or people. Also in this case I'm not sure the aircraft would have had
enough altitude to deploy it.

As for airbags and other crash worthiness features that are in modern
cars. There are some seat belt based airbags on the market now. They
haven't been on the market long enough to show if they are actually
helpful though. And no aircraft will every be as crash worthy as an
automobile. They have to be light as compared to a car. And even the
safest cars aren't designed to have the people in it survive a crash
much faster than the speed equal to that of the stall speed of the
slowest aircraft. At least not with the current technology or at a cost
that would make a C-150 cost several million dollars.