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#51
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Parachute 20 year limit
Andy wrote:
On Dec 5, 6:33 pm, Eric Greenwell wrote: The wind and terrain will make a much bigger difference in your landing the difference in descent rate between properly sized round or square parachutes. A soft landing is likely important for someone doing 10 or 20 jumps a day, but not for emergency use. I have made only about 60 jumps but all of them in the last 10 years and all of them with low loading ram air chutes. The significant difference between the ram air canopy and the round canopy is not just sink rate. A ram air parachute has forward velocity and when it is turned it goes in a different direction. A round parachute has very little forward velocity 3 to 5 mph, according to my Softie manual. and when steered just points in a different direction but continues to go in the same direction - downwind. Although a properly flared ram air chute has a lower touchdown sink rate than a round, it's main advantage for emergency use may be that the pilot can have some choice as to the landing location. I still fly with a round but its over 20 years old. If I have to buy a new chute I would seriously consider getting a ram air canopy. My observation over 30 years of soaring is the round emergency parachute works remarkably well for glider pilots. If the pilot gets out, he gets down safely. I can't remember any glider pilot being seriously injured, with the possible exception of the pilot of the glider that broke up in wave near Minden a few years ago (surface winds were about 50 mph when he landed). Does anyone remember incidents where the pilot was seriously injured? Does anyone know of an incident(s) where a ram air parachute, used by a pilot with no jump training, would have significantly improved the outcome? Does anyone know of an incident(s) where a ram air parachute, used by an experienced ram air parachutist, would have significantly improved the outcome? -- Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA * Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly * Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4 * New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more * "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org |
#52
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Parachute 20 year limit
Does anyone remember incidents where the pilot was seriously injured? Don't know of any. But I wouldn't be surprised. Given the average age of glider pilots they need all the help they can get not having to heal. Does anyone know of an incident(s) where a ram air parachute, used by a pilot with no jump training, would have significantly improved the outcome? Not enough events to draw from. Pilot rigs with squares are new(square reserves have been around 20 years) and it's likely the early adopters are mostly former jumpers. Does anyone know of an incident(s) where a ram air parachute, used by an experienced ram air parachutist, would have significantly improved the outcome? If you count skydivers using square reserves then lots. With (I'm guessing)1-2 glider bailouts worldwide per year we don't have the number of incidents to draw from. My position is that if someone is in the market for a new parachute and the price difference isn't a deal breaker then a square is the sensible choice. -- Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA * Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly * Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4 * New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more * "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org |
#53
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Parachute 20 year limit
Gregg Ballou wrote:
Does anyone remember incidents where the pilot was seriously injured? Don't know of any. But I wouldn't be surprised. Given the average age of glider pilots they need all the help they can get not having to heal. Does anyone know of an incident(s) where a ram air parachute, used by a pilot with no jump training, would have significantly improved the outcome? Not enough events to draw from. Pilot rigs with squares are new(square reserves have been around 20 years) and it's likely the early adopters are mostly former jumpers. Does anyone know of an incident(s) where a ram air parachute, used by an experienced ram air parachutist, would have significantly improved the outcome? If you count skydivers using square reserves then lots. With (I'm guessing)1-2 glider bailouts worldwide per year we don't have the number of incidents to draw from. I'm talking about glider pilots using round emergency parachutes in an emergency: do we know of any incident(s) where using "detuned" ram air parachute instead of the round one might have significantly affected the outcome, positively or negatively? My position is that if someone is in the market for a new parachute and the price difference isn't a deal breaker then a square is the sensible choice. My position is there is no evidence the untrained glider pilot will be better off, and some chance the pilot might actually be worse off. So far, the evidence I'm aware of (USA only - not familiar with overseas), is that the round emergency does a good job, even with pilots that haven't jumped before and have no real training. I have no qualms about experienced jumpers using ram air parachutes in a glider. -- Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA * Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly * Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4 * New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more * "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org |
#54
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Parachute 20 year limit
On Dec 7, 3:55*am, Martin Gregorie
wrote: I've done a limited amount of flying in Germany and New Zealand. In both places chute wearing was taken for granted: so routine that NOT wearing one would be surprising. Er .. what? We certainly don't normally wear chutes in our club two seaters for rides or training, which is 99 of what they are used for. I can say I've flown at every club in NZ but all the ones I have been to are the same. Chutes are worn as a matter of course in single seaters. |
#56
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Parachute 20 year limit
On Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:31:11 -0800, Bruce Hoult wrote:
We certainly don't normally wear chutes in our club two seaters for rides or training, which is 99 of what they are used for. I can say I've flown at every club in NZ but all the ones I have been to are the same. My memory must be going. I was certain I wore a chute for my check ride at Paraparam and I certainly did at Omarama - I have pictures to prove the latter. -- martin@ | Martin Gregorie gregorie. | Essex, UK org | |
#57
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Parachute 20 year limit
On Dec 6, 5:31*pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Does anyone remember incidents where the pilot was seriously injured? April 1982 Tulare, California. Pilot baled out after a midair and died on impact with the ground. It was my first contest. Andy |
#58
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Parachute 20 year limit
At 13:41 07 December 2008, Andy wrote:
On Dec 6, 5:31=A0pm, Eric Greenwell wrote: Does anyone remember incidents where the pilot was seriously injured? April 1982 Tulare, California. Pilot baled out after a midair and died on impact with the ground. It was my first contest. Andy Impact with an open parachute? |
#59
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Parachute 20 year limit
Chutes are worn as a matter of course in single seaters. Pretty much the same at my (US) club. But, you have to ask "How weird is that?". Tony V. LS6-b "6N" |
#60
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Parachute 20 year limit
On Dec 8, 4:26*am, TonyV wrote:
Chutes are worn as a matter of course in single seaters. Pretty much the same at my (US) club. But, you have to ask "How weird is that?". Tony V. LS6-b "6N" I would say that with 3000 - 4000 ft cloudbases near the airfield and 2000 - 3000 ft terrain, our trial flights and training flights are probably seldom high enough above the terrain for a parachute to be any use to someone not intimately familiar with its use. |
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