Glider Cockpit Safety

Ballistic chutes would save more lives then safety cockpit. Too bad that ballistic chutes are not built into every glider. There would be far less fatalities.

Ramy

On Sunday, 9 September 2018 19:26:19 UTC+3, Ramy wrote:
Ballistic chutes would save more lives then safety cockpit. Too bad that ballistic chutes are not built into every glider. There would be far less fatalities.

Ramy

Yes, safety cockpit can save you or your back in occasional landing gone bad, probably survivable anyway. Spinning to ground or crashing ridge at flying speed is not survivable with any cockpit, there is too much energy and too little structure to absorb this.

European ultralights (LSA with 1000lb MTOW) are mostly (?) equipped with airframe rocket parachutes. Cost doesn't seem to be prohibitive, judging from number of them in use. This should have been mandatory equipment for gliders since 90's, think of lives saved after midairs.

At 05:56 10 September 2018, krasw wrote:
On Sunday, 9 September 2018 19:26:19 UTC+3, Ramy wrote:
Ballistic chutes would save more lives then safety cockpit. Too bad
that
=
ballistic chutes are not built into every glider. There would be far less
f=
atalities.=20
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Ramy

Yes, safety cockpit can save you or your back in occasional landing gone
ba=
d, probably survivable anyway. Spinning to ground or crashing ridge at
flyi=
ng speed is not survivable with any cockpit, there is too much energy and
t=
oo little structure to absorb this.

European ultralights (LSA with 1000lb MTOW) are mostly (?) equipped with
ai=
rframe rocket parachutes. Cost doesn't seem to be prohibitive, judging
from=
number of them in use. This should have been mandatory equipment for
glide=
rs since 90's, think of lives saved after midairs.

Ballistic chutes can only protect against problems at altitude, high enough
for the chute to deploy. If the accident only starts to happen at low
altitudes then it won't help at all. And the chute has to be menually
deployed so the piilot has to recognise there is going to be an accident
while still at altitude. Not sure how many glider accidents meet these
criteria. Midairs are the only ones I think.

Chris

Is there any aircraft which has room for a ballistic shute and an engine aft of the cockpit? I think it is the popularity of engines which has prevented more widespread fitment of ballistic chutes.

The weight of an F1 tub is about the same as a std class glider out if the moulds. I have made plenty of both

Yes, you can make a glider cockpit like a F1 tub but the cost will be crazy.
Where you currently have 3-4 plies of carbon kevlar in a Discus 2 you then need 15-20 and honeycomb etc to make the F1 tub.

Designing it to withstand the different crash situations is the problem.
F1 is tested straight ahead against a wall at something like 750kg and 15m/s. It only has to work like that, not at 45 deg
Likewise the side crash and squeeze tests.

A good challenge and should be done, but not the easiest to realize

Thanks, Ross--very interesting. Spent yesterday reading about f1 cockpit design, about which I was clearly ignorant, other than being amazed at how well drivers are protected. Hadn't realized the tub was part of the car's structure. Or so heavy.

And yes--whole different impact profiles to consider.

The DG link was also a great read--thanks for sharing.

Only 15 m/s? That seems very slow considering the speeds in F1.

maanantai 10. syyskuuta 2018 13.08.08 UTC+3 waremark kirjoitti:
Is there any aircraft which has room for a ballistic shute and an engine aft of the cockpit? I think it is the popularity of engines which has prevented more widespread fitment of ballistic chutes.

GP 14/15E has a tiny fuselage that likely has less wetted area than any other glider fuselage. It has room for both chute and engine.

Chris,
Ballistic chutes have been successfully deployed as low as 300 feet and BRS claims 386 lives saved, so far! Deployment requires 35 pound pull on the "little red handle", which fires the rocket hooked to a long sleeve with the parachute inside. Rocket and sleeve completely separate, leaving chute with a slider ring up near the fabric. Chute only partially fills at first, then the slider drops and allowes full deployment..........thus preventing chute failure from high speed deployment. My BRS 1050 system is good for 1050 G/W and 130mph at deployment.
JJ