Stay in, or get out?

"Dan G" wrote in message
ups.com...
You've had a whack, but everything feels fine. Do you stay in the
glider, or leave? Just how reliable are the parachutes we use? I
understand that they're fairly simple quick-opening designs, but
there's no reserve, right? Has a glider-pilot parachute ever failed?


Dan


That depends. The chute is very reliable..super high tech yet very simply
elegant. How reliable are you? Have you ever jumped before? Would you be
stable in free fall, and have your wits about you to pull the ripcord in a
stable position?

Jim Vincent wrote:

That depends. The chute is very reliable..super high tech yet very simply
elegant. How reliable are you? Have you ever jumped before? Would you be
stable in free fall, and have your wits about you to pull the ripcord in a
stable position?

Does it matter how stable you are with an emergency parachute? My
observation is untrained people that get out of the glider get the
parachute open and land with minimal injury. Apparently, the emergency
parachutes are so well designed, no training is needed to do an adequate
job. The real problem appears to be getting out, and there aren't any
places offering training in that. If the glider manufacturer offers a
Roeger hook, pilots can improve their chances considerably by
retrofitting a one to older gliders that don't have one.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
news:k_lFi.1688$eh3.572@trndny07...
Jim Vincent wrote:

That depends. The chute is very reliable..super high tech yet very
simply elegant. How reliable are you? Have you ever jumped before?
Would you be stable in free fall, and have your wits about you to pull
the ripcord in a stable position?

Does it matter how stable you are with an emergency parachute? My
observation is untrained people that get out of the glider get the
parachute open and land with minimal injury. Apparently, the emergency
parachutes are so well designed, no training is needed to do an adequate
job. The real problem appears to be getting out, and there aren't any
places offering training in that. If the glider manufacturer offers a
Roeger hook, pilots can improve their chances considerably by retrofitting
a one to older gliders that don't have one.

37 years ago while flying in an A-6A Intruder I was faced with the decision
to "stay in, or get out." With the starboard engine and wing on fire, the
decision process was simple. If I "stayed in" I would die. If I got out I
might live.

I feel the same decision process applies to sailplanes. If the bird is out
of control, you most likely will die and your emergency chute becomes your
hope of survival.

That being said, jump training will give confidence and reading accident
reports like the following will further your understanding of unforeseen
perils that may be encountered.
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/Stories/Bailout.htm

Wayne
HP-14 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/

That depends. The chute is very reliable..super high tech yet very simply
elegant. How reliable are you? Have you ever jumped before? Would you be
stable in free fall, and have your wits about you to pull the ripcord in a
stable position?

Jim, while I appreciate your concern about being stable in freefall
(having tried it myself, long long time ago), I think you overestimate
the need to get into a stable free fall in an emergency bailout
situation. In most cases, there will be no need to delay opening
until lower altitude (wave flights excepted). So the real task is to
successfully exit the glider, find the ripcord (not any of the other
hard shiny things on the harness), then pulling it with enough
altitude to get a good chute. Tens of thousands of military aircrew
managed to do this for real and survive, and I am pretty sure 99.9%
didn't have ANY training in getting into a stable arch before pulling!

My concern is that someone with only a little training might be more
concerned with "style points" and delay opening too late - especially
back east where a lot of time is spent below 3000' agl, and a midair
with another glider or a spamcan is a real risk.

I know I'm not going to even think about getting into a nice hard arch
- I'm getting clear of the glider as fast as I can, looking for the D-
ring, grabbing it with both hands, and yanking that sucker ASAP! If
it hurts the old nads during opening, so be it - I can deal with that
later.

Absolutely agree that every glider pilot who wears a chute should try
to experience a tandem or static line jump, if possible - great
confidence builder, and a lot of fun, too!

Cheers,

Kirk
66

On Sep 10, 8:50 pm, "Jim Vincent" wrote:
"Dan G" wrote in message

ups.com...

You've had a whack, but everything feels fine. Do you stay in the
glider, or leave? Just how reliable are the parachutes we use? I
understand that they're fairly simple quick-opening designs, but
there's no reserve, right? Has a glider-pilot parachute ever failed?

Dan

That depends. The chute is very reliable..super high tech yet very simply
elegant. How reliable are you? Have you ever jumped before? Would you be
stable in free fall, and have your wits about you to pull the ripcord in a
stable position?

There was a thread about 2-3 years back on static lines. I know
they're in common use in Europe, but not in the US. Anyone ever get
to the bottom of that?

P3