Parachute Lanyard

I am interested in the pros and cons of a
parachute lanyard.

My ship is an ASW-27. I am 6ft. 3in. and
the cockpit is somewhat crowded.

Thanks.

Douglas (EDW)

Pro - if you depart the ship, your chute is activated

Con - same applies if you land and get out and forget you're connected


E. Douglas Whitehead wrote:
I am interested in the pros and cons of a
parachute lanyard.

My ship is an ASW-27. I am 6ft. 3in. and
the cockpit is somewhat crowded.

Thanks.

Douglas (EDW)

Gary Emerson wrote:
Pro - if you depart the ship, your chute is activated

Con - same applies if you land and get out and forget you're connected

It seems to me that it would be relatively easy to come up with a cheap
device that holds a good size loop in the lanyard behind the seat, and
starts beeping madly if the loop gets pulled out. That's assuming that
this happens often enough to be an issue...

Marc

The one problem I have heard:

As long as there is substanial mass left on the sailplane when the
pilot exits, the chute should open. If there is not enough mass left
on the part of the sailplane the chute is attached to, possibley due
to flutter or a collision, the chute will not open. If I am not
mistaken, this is how Bjorn Stender, the designer of the BS-1 died. It
is probably a rare occurrence though.


On Aug 25, 5:23 pm, E. Douglas Whitehead
wrote:
I am interested in the pros and cons of a
parachute lanyard.

My ship is an ASW-27. I am 6ft. 3in. and
the cockpit is somewhat crowded.

Thanks.

Douglas (EDW)

Mike wrote:
The one problem I have heard:

As long as there is substanial mass left on the sailplane when the
pilot exits, the chute should open. If there is not enough mass left
on the part of the sailplane the chute is attached to, possibley due
to flutter or a collision, the chute will not open. If I am not
mistaken, this is how Bjorn Stender, the designer of the BS-1 died. It
is probably a rare occurrence though.

You can pull the D-ring yourself if the lanyard fails to pull it. If
you can't pull the D-ring for some reason, not having the lanyard won't
make much difference...

Marc

I flew with a lanyard for several years, it was about 20 feet long and
held in a pouch attached to the parachute (s-turned so that it played
out as I departed)
I was mainly concerned about a mid-air, but stopped using it after
thinking about the wild gyrations that my ship would probably be
doing. If the lanyard was to become wrapped around my arm, leg or
neck, I would be married to the stricken ship. I don't even want to
think about having the lanyard wrapped around part of my body and then
have the chute deploy!

Next, I seriously considered a ballistic chute, but none had been
certified for my ship. This may be the way to go, certified, or not.
At my age, I doubt I could make it up and out of a ship pulling any
G's. Pappy Boyington got out of a Corsair by kicking the stick forward
which shot him up and out. I came close to a mid-air in the pattern as
I turned down-wind for 17, I passed 50 feet for a ship turning down-
wind for 35! The wind was 260 /15 knots (who was wrong?) We were both
on 123.3, but failed to mention which runway we intended to use. I
assumed the same one that all the other land-outs had
used...............not so!
Keep your eyes open,
JJ


On Aug 25, 4:23 pm, E. Douglas Whitehead
wrote:
I am interested in the pros and cons of a
parachute lanyard.

My ship is an ASW-27. I am 6ft. 3in. and
the cockpit is somewhat crowded.

Thanks.

Douglas (EDW)

Perhaps another problem with the lanyard is that it might trigger the
opening of the chute too soon.

I remember a midair accident in France in the mid eighties, where the
pilot opened his parachute too close to the falling glider, and part
of the wing got mingled with it. His parachute never fully opened as a
result.

Doug,

If you do go with a lanyard, be sure it is installed by your parachute
rigger. Typically, a lanyard is attached directly to the pins on the back
of the parachute. Parachutes with D handles are designed to be pulled by
hand, in line with the tube through which the ripcord travels. If you hook
up a lanyard to the handle directly, you risk a failed deployment.

In normal operation after a flight, be sure to remember to disconnect it,
otherwise you'll pop the chute.

One of the best things you can do is go do a tandem jump to get the hang of
it. Even better, go do an AFF jump or two.

Hope all is well with you.

Jim


"E. Douglas Whitehead" wrote in
message ...
I am interested in the pros and cons of a
parachute lanyard.

My ship is an ASW-27. I am 6ft. 3in. and
the cockpit is somewhat crowded.

Thanks.

Douglas (EDW)

On Aug 25, 4:23 pm, E. Douglas Whitehead
wrote:
I am interested in the pros and cons of a
parachute lanyard.

My ship is an ASW-27. I am 6ft. 3in. and
the cockpit is somewhat crowded.

Thanks.

Douglas (EDW)

Doug,

There are some benefits of having the lanyard attached. But there are
also some drawbacks. If a pilot is up there in the age group, yes, it
would be a good idea. Under normal circumstances the load on the rip
cord cannot exceed 22 lbs. so it is not that difficult to pull it out,
but: 1.) If you bail out in the high altitude, you might consider a
freefall for some time, lets say 1 minute to get you down to more
dense air. If you have a lanyard (also known as a static line, which
can only be installed by a rigger) you would need some sort of oxygen
supply because the parachute will open immediately. 2.) If you are
very close to the ground, there is an alternate method of leaving your
glider: disconnect seat belts, don't jump but rather turn your back
sideways, pull the rip cord and let the parachute pull you out of the
glider. You might have a broken "something" but chances are more
"survivable", so, if you have a lanyard attached to your glider you
certainly cannot perform that type of exit. 3.) If your bird in
mortally wounded and is spinning like mad, again, you might want to
take a couple of seconds delay before you pull the cord or the glider
will strike you with a tremendous force, more than likely not
survivable. So, we can talk about those issues for hours, however I
would recommend to go to the local DZ (drop zone directory under
uspa.org) and take a tandem jump or maybe even better take a AFFF
(accelerated free fall) and also practice on a regular bases your
emergency exit under various situations, so you know what to do if
things go "south".

Jacek
Pasco, WA

1.) If you bail out in the high altitude, you might consider a
freefall for some time, lets say 1 minute to get you down to more
dense air. If you have a lanyard (also known as a static line, which
can only be installed by a rigger) you would need some sort of oxygen
supply because the parachute will open immediately.

Jacek
Pasco, WA[/quote]

Guys, you a scaring me!

How long does it take to freefall (say) 10000' ?
Or 5000 ?
We know if we have departed the cosy cockpit real high because we would have a sore nose from the oxy supply being ripped out, and, we were real high when we lost control. Things get sticky after that, like how long did it take me to depart?
How long was I spinning/tumbling/flipping before I departed?

Most of the bale-outs I have heard of (not many) have occured as a result of a mid-air or the wings departing for whatever reason, luckily quite high.
More dangerous Mid-airs are normally quite low, as the gliders hit whilst entering a thermal during pull-up.

I suppose the luxury of having any height is a good start, but now I have to think of oxygen starvation during a successful bale-out as well!

Is there a good way to determine a 10000' height when falling, to pull a ripcord? Surely there is enough go-gas available at even 15000 for a minute or so of slow decent under a canopy to survive the fall?
Or should we wait until 2 or 3000' before pulling (and be guessing that height too) the ripcord.

As a non-jumper, how long does one actually have freefalling at our glider flying heights before hitting the ground?

I fear over-complicating such an emergency is a step backwards, but I am open to the conversation.

Thanks,

bagger