There was an accident during the testing of the ballistic chute. The
gilder collided with the helicopter that was towing it. As the
helicopter pilot died, all the equipment was confiscated by the prosecutor.

The test will only continue when the prosecutor releases the equipment.
For that reason you can neither get the option from Schempp-Hirth nor
Schleicher.

DG and LS have a different philosophy. The developed an "ejection seat"
for glider pilots. It is inflatable cushion that will ensure that you
get out of the cockpit. This option can be bought immediately.

Hans



Andy Durbin wrote:
Dave Martin wrote in message

An in built parachute with automatic deployment would
surely help. Tests have been carried out and shown
to work.



Manually deployed built-in parachutes have been tested and shown to
work in controlled conditions. I am not aware that anyone has
developed or demonstrated an automatic deployment parachute for
gliders.

Schleicher offered a ballistic chute option in the marketing brochures
for the ASW-28. As far as I know it was never an available option. I
heard the testing showed problems. Anyone know details.


Andy