A aviation & planes forum. AviationBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » AviationBanter forum » rec.aviation newsgroups » Soaring
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Flying with Parachutes



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old August 11th 18, 04:55 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Frank Whiteley
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,099
Default Flying with Parachutes

On Saturday, August 11, 2018 at 6:31:39 AM UTC-6, waremark wrote:
At my UK club parachutes have been used for all flights in club owned gliders for more than 20 years. Shortly after the then CFI made this a rule a ASK21 flying an introduction to gliding day was hit by an extraordinarily strong bolt of lightning and broke up. The instructor and student survived thanks to their chutes. Personally I had a midair collision with another glider 15 years ago. I and the other glider pilot both survived completely unhurt after using our chutes.


The use mandate was indeed fortuitous in that event for the pilot and passenger (first glider flight). Mid-airs seem to be rather more common. Of course if you have a parachute, you must have it repacked and inspected regularly. Missing a parachute AD can be lethal as in the case of the two Kestrel 19's that collided near Stratford-upon-Avon several years ago when a former UK acquaintance became a statistic.

Frank Whiteley
  #12  
Old August 11th 18, 07:06 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Retting
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 121
Default Flying with Parachutes

Do not buy a parachute. Do you wear one flying around in your Cessna?
Plus, we do not wear a chute because we fly cross country, we wear a chute to reduce the risk due to gaggle flying.
It is required use by competition rules. The chute then becomes an expensive convenient vetted cushion. Which is why glass pilots are always putting on their chute, even when the sky is filled with chuteless trainers and they are the only chuted one airborne.
You will know, later, when you need a chute.
Risk.....you have a much greater chance of dying driving using your phone. Driving fast. Eating while driving. Lightning. Gunshot, Crime.
The list goes on.
Yes, I know...Arcus, rudder, bailout....whatever.....he needs to strap on a 1-26 with a sports canopy first.
R
  #13  
Old August 11th 18, 08:16 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
JS[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 624
Default Flying with Parachutes

On Saturday, August 11, 2018 at 11:06:07 AM UTC-7, Retting wrote:
Do not buy a parachute. Do you wear one flying around in your Cessna?
Plus, we do not wear a chute because we fly cross country, we wear a chute to reduce the risk due to gaggle flying.
It is required use by competition rules. The chute then becomes an expensive convenient vetted cushion. Which is why glass pilots are always putting on their chute, even when the sky is filled with chuteless trainers and they are the only chuted one airborne.
You will know, later, when you need a chute.
Risk.....you have a much greater chance of dying driving using your phone.. Driving fast. Eating while driving. Lightning. Gunshot, Crime.
The list goes on.
Yes, I know...Arcus, rudder, bailout....whatever.....he needs to strap on a 1-26 with a sports canopy first.
R


Apologies from many of us, John. 2G mentioned something about this in another thread of yours.
Jim
  #14  
Old August 11th 18, 09:48 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Andrzej Kobus
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 585
Default Flying with Parachutes

Absolutely buy a parachute and wear it. You will never regret having one, but you might regret not having one when needed. Get a couple of jumps so you know how to use it. Tim Mara bailed out from a pattern altitude due to controls failure and thanks to the shoot he lived to talk about it.
  #15  
Old August 11th 18, 10:15 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 190
Default Flying with Parachutes

Generally, a student and their instructor do not wear parachutes unless you will be doing aerobatics. If you advance to flying a single place sailplane, a parachute should be worn. Some sailplanes minimum operating equipment mandate a parachute.

Do not buy a used parachute until you pay for an inspection and repack by a certified rigger. This way you will have a professional opinion of the 'chute's condition.

In any measure, it is better to wear one and not need it than to need one and not have.

  #16  
Old August 12th 18, 12:37 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Al McNamara[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14
Default Flying with Parachutes

I'm amazed at some of the comments on this issue. In 20+ years of gliding,
I can remember only one flight without a parachute - at Seminole Lakes in
Florida. It was in a Grob Acro and was possibly the most uncomfortable
flight I've ever had, as the Acro seat (like most gliders built in Europe)
is designed to be sat in with a parachute.

Aside from comfort (yes of course you could use a parachute shaped cushion)
I personally know 3 pilots whose lives have been saved by parachutes in my
time gliding, and know of many more occasions where this has been the case
(including the lightning strike at Dunstable previously mentioned by Mark
Ware).

The US appears to have a culture of not wearing parachutes which I find
really surprising. In my view, wearing a parachute during flying training
should be mandatory. This would build a culture where it was the norm, and
every single seat pilot would see a parachute as being an essential bit of
equipment.

Al

  #17  
Old August 12th 18, 12:54 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Eric Greenwell[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,939
Default Flying with Parachutes

Retting wrote on 8/11/2018 11:06 AM:
Do not buy a parachute. Do you wear one flying around in your Cessna?
Plus, we do not wear a chute because we fly cross country, we wear a chute to reduce the risk due to gaggle flying.
It is required use by competition rules. The chute then becomes an expensive convenient vetted cushion. Which is why glass pilots are always putting on their chute, even when the sky is filled with chuteless trainers and they are the only chuted one airborne.
You will know, later, when you need a chute.
Risk.....you have a much greater chance of dying driving using your phone. Driving fast. Eating while driving. Lightning. Gunshot, Crime.
The list goes on.
Yes, I know...Arcus, rudder, bailout....whatever.....he needs to strap on a 1-26 with a sports canopy first.


There are also collision risks in straight flight, not just gaggles. Glider
control failure is another risk: controls break, jam, or become ineffective when
mylar adhesive fails. Turbulence or mishandling can put the glider into an
unrecoverable situation. I spend far more time in my glider each year than
students do in their trainers, and I fly in more demanding conditions. My risk is
higher than theirs, so I think it's wise to wear a parachute while flying
cross-country.

Now that Cessna thing: I don't wear a parachute when I'm flying my Cessna, because
I don't have a Cessna; instead, I bought an airplane with it's own parachute.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf
  #18  
Old August 12th 18, 12:54 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
WB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 236
Default Flying with Parachutes

On Saturday, August 11, 2018 at 6:45:15 PM UTC-5, Al McNamara wrote:
I'm amazed at some of the comments on this issue. In 20+ years of gliding,
I can remember only one flight without a parachute - at Seminole Lakes in
Florida. It was in a Grob Acro and was possibly the most uncomfortable
flight I've ever had, as the Acro seat (like most gliders built in Europe)
is designed to be sat in with a parachute.

Aside from comfort (yes of course you could use a parachute shaped cushion)
I personally know 3 pilots whose lives have been saved by parachutes in my
time gliding, and know of many more occasions where this has been the case
(including the lightning strike at Dunstable previously mentioned by Mark
Ware).

The US appears to have a culture of not wearing parachutes which I find
really surprising. In my view, wearing a parachute during flying training
should be mandatory. This would build a culture where it was the norm, and
every single seat pilot would see a parachute as being an essential bit of
equipment.

Al


Since I have a parachute for my glider, I also wear it whenever I fly in powered aircraft (except commercial of course). No reason to leave it hanging in the closet at home. I do get some funny looks, though, when I climb out of a Cessna wearing a chute.
  #19  
Old August 12th 18, 01:17 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
John Foster
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 354
Default Flying with Parachutes

On Saturday, August 11, 2018 at 5:45:15 PM UTC-6, Al McNamara wrote:
I'm amazed at some of the comments on this issue. In 20+ years of gliding,
I can remember only one flight without a parachute - at Seminole Lakes in
Florida. It was in a Grob Acro and was possibly the most uncomfortable
flight I've ever had, as the Acro seat (like most gliders built in Europe)
is designed to be sat in with a parachute.

Aside from comfort (yes of course you could use a parachute shaped cushion)
I personally know 3 pilots whose lives have been saved by parachutes in my
time gliding, and know of many more occasions where this has been the case
(including the lightning strike at Dunstable previously mentioned by Mark
Ware).

The US appears to have a culture of not wearing parachutes which I find
really surprising. In my view, wearing a parachute during flying training
should be mandatory. This would build a culture where it was the norm, and
every single seat pilot would see a parachute as being an essential bit of
equipment.

Al


I think one of the reasons so many student pilots do not wear a parachute in the United States is because most of the training is done in a 2–33. These are not particularly amenable to wearing a parachute, especially for the instructor in the rear seat. And they would be very difficult to get out of quickly in an emergency situation. Otherwise, I would agree with your recommendation.
  #20  
Old August 12th 18, 04:29 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
2G
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,439
Default Flying with Parachutes

Unless you have an emergency door ejection on your Cessna (I have never seen one with this), you won't be able to get out to use your parachute.

Tom
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Looking for parachutes. Bruce Soaring 0 September 4th 08 10:08 PM
Why I have parachutes Joaquin Home Built 1 September 3rd 06 03:31 AM
Parachutes again [email protected] Soaring 31 February 26th 05 10:53 PM
Parachutes Rodney & Becky Home Built 3 October 9th 03 12:33 AM
Parachutes Rodney & Becky Aviation Marketplace 0 October 8th 03 04:20 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:29 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 AviationBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.