Puchaz spin - now wearing 'chutes

In article . net,
d b wrote:
I'm a bit miffed with the obtuse information about BRS chutes. Name one, just
one, save done by a BRS chute in an airplane, or glider, that was NOT an
ultralight or hang glider, and was done from an out-of-control situation.

In article 402c2ce4$1@darkstar, (Mark James Boyd)
wrote:
In article ,
Andreas Maurer wrote:

Not to mention the possible extremely high (220 kts) speed of a
glider with a missing tail or wing. The deployment speed of the BRS of
the Cirrus is limited to a pretty low speed (iirc 150 kts IAS).

Several BRS saves were quite a bit faster than the "rated"
system velocity.

Like parachute repack recommendations and Vne, the velocity recommendations
are primarily to protect the manufacturer from liability, and
are generously safesided to be far within the
actual limits of the equipment.

LOL...if my glider is missing a tail or wing and the
ASI is pegged, I'm gonna pull the BRS chute anyway.
If it does shred, at least it'll make a nice easy to see
marker on the splat point...

As far as saves already happened, these things just ain't been around that
long, and structural failures of gliders and planes are
REALLY very rare compared to ultralights...

So structural failure doesn't seem to be a big reason to
put on a BRS. Inadvertent IFR, mid-air, control surface (spoilers, elevator)
not hooked up, over unlandable terrain (15 knots impact is better
than 40), unrecoverable spin, student holding stick back or
forward in panic/suicide, etc. seem quite possible.

Would I rather have a BRS with a more crashworthy cockpit vs
a personal chute and flimsy cockpit? Personally, yes.
Would I want both? Personally, no. Would I prefer one
6 year repack vs. repacking a personal chute
18 times? Absolutely...

hmmm...I wonder how much the repacks cost (tightwad hat on)

..........

In fact I just got off the phone with BRS, and asked them about
repack of the 900 sealed canister, and they said it was
$600 (every 6 years). You mail them the canister,
then they mail you a repack...

Looks like about even for repack price, but convenience seems
a lot better than 12-18 repacks of a personal chute...

Perhaps a lot of this is moot, because they're
probably almost impossible to retrofit, and with
most new gliders being motorgliders, the space isn't
there, but for a new "pure" glider (sparrowhawk, AC-4,
etc), it loks good on paper at least...

"Mark James Boyd" wrote in message
news:402d3ccf$1@darkstar...
Perhaps a lot of this is moot, because they're
probably almost impossible to retrofit, and with
most new gliders being motorgliders, the space isn't
there, but for a new "pure" glider (sparrowhawk, AC-4,
etc), it loks good on paper at least...

Actually, a motor and a BRS are apparently not an impossible
combination because the Alpin TST1 glider that was saved by the BRS system
happened to be a motor glider. All aircraft are a bunch of compromises
flying in close formation. If the soaring world demanded motorgliders with
BRS systems, manufacturers would find a way to make them. I agree that
retrofit is a whole different deal.

The below is from the BRS site about that incident:

Flying his Czech-built Alpin TST1 ultralight motorglider, the pilot
could not exit a spin which went inverted. Though G forces were high, the
pilot successfully deployed his parachute to a satisfactory conclusion.

"I turned off the engine, slowly pulled back on the stick, and kicked
in left rudder. My plane went into the spin for the practice I wanted, but
it went inverted and I could not exit. At 2,000 feet I launched the chute
and I am alive. Thank you and you can chalk up another one, BRS!"



Vaughn