First-hand video of a BRS deployment.

I got the following link to this video via the Matronics Zenith e-mail
list. What's interesting and fascinating about it is that it contains video
from a cockpit camera that shows the impending mid-air collision and the
cockpit view when the aircraft hits the ground under the chute:

http://www.turbopilot.com/copa/image3/brs.wmv

I guess cockpit cameras are becoming common enough that this sort of video
would be inevitable.

(Not sure why the pilot didn't see the towing aircraft - unless it was
because the other plane was coming up from below to his right.)

On Feb 9, 3:21 pm, Jim Logajan wrote:
I got the following link to this video via the Matronics Zenith e-mail
list. What's interesting and fascinating about it is that it contains video
from a cockpit camera that shows the impending mid-air collision and the
cockpit view when the aircraft hits the ground under the chute:

http://www.turbopilot.com/copa/image3/brs.wmv

I guess cockpit cameras are becoming common enough that this sort of video
would be inevitable.

(Not sure why the pilot didn't see the towing aircraft - unless it was
because the other plane was coming up from below to his right.)

Amazing video...

wrote:
Amazing video...

I just noticed that the pilot appears to have been following another
aircraft (white winged). At least that is the way it looks because the
white area moves relative to the ground at times.

Jim Logajan wrote:
wrote:
Amazing video...

I just noticed that the pilot appears to have been following another
aircraft (white winged). At least that is the way it looks because the
white area moves relative to the ground at times.

Further followup with a bite more info:

Here's what appears to be the full cockpit video from collision to
touchdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_JAg1ZedGo

According to the comments, he was flying a Rans S6. Also, the CNN video was
also posted to YouTube, and based on the dates of those postings this
appears to have been reported back in December (around Christmas) of last
year.

Why pull the parachute?

It appears the prop cleared the tow rope and he didn't lose any control
surfaces, in fact it looked like he was gliding in control for awhile
before he pulled the 'chute. He even sounded like he shut down the
engine, that the engine didn't quit and it didn't sound too rough like
it was misbalanced.

I always wondered if the availability of such a device made for more
accidents or less. It sure sounded like a rather solid landing!

He did walk away though.

Bart D. Hull

Tempe, Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html
for my Subaru Engine Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html
for Tango II I'm building.

Remove -nospam to reply via email.

Jim Logajan wrote:
Jim Logajan wrote:
wrote:
Amazing video...
I just noticed that the pilot appears to have been following another
aircraft (white winged). At least that is the way it looks because the
white area moves relative to the ground at times.

Further followup with a bite more info:

Here's what appears to be the full cockpit video from collision to
touchdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_JAg1ZedGo

According to the comments, he was flying a Rans S6. Also, the CNN video was
also posted to YouTube, and based on the dates of those postings this
appears to have been reported back in December (around Christmas) of last
year.

"Bart D. Hull" wrote:
Why pull the parachute?

Just speculating, but when he ran into the tow rope it definitely shook
the plane bad enough that it moved the camera around in its mount (or may
be that the pilot knocked the camera when he cutoff the engine).

It appears the prop cleared the tow rope and he didn't lose any
control surfaces, in fact it looked like he was gliding in control for
awhile before he pulled the 'chute. He even sounded like he shut down
the engine, that the engine didn't quit and it didn't sound too rough
like it was misbalanced.

First, the pilot (and reporter) said in the CNN report that the prop
struck the tow rope.

Secondly, consider the following:

In the "original" cockpit video (link quoted below), it sounds like the
BRS rocket is fired at about 11 seconds into the video and the plane hits
the ground at about 51 seconds into the video. Assuming nothing was cut
from the video, it took about 39 seconds to descend under the chute. The
BRS web site says descent rates are typically between 15 fps and 28 fps
at 5000 ft density altitude. That puts the altitude possibly somewhere in
the range of 600 to 1100 feet agl. The Rans web site lists the glide
ratio of the Rans S-6 at about 9:1. So the pilot would have had between 1
and 2 miles of best-glide distance to find a good landing spot. I don't
know what the best glide speed of the Rans S-6 is; I'll guesstimate 60
mph. That gives the pilot between 1 and 2 minutes of air time - absolute
max. Decision height for the BRS is around 300 feet.

Given the altitude, unknown condition of plane and insufficient time to
determine the extent of the damage, the decision to deploy the chute was,
in my very humble opinion, the correct one. It is just the sort of
situation that I believe ballistic chutes were originally designed for.

I always wondered if the availability of such a device made for more
accidents or less. It sure sounded like a rather solid landing!

He did walk away though.

I most definitely disagree - the parachute no more caused this accident
than the pilot's seatbelt did.

Solid landing perhaps, but as the CNN story mentioned, not only did the
pilot walk away, he was able to rebuild his plane - with of course a new
chute.

The end result appears no different than a typical successful emergency
landing where some damage occurs.


Bart D. Hull

Tempe, Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html
for my Subaru Engine Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html
for Tango II I'm building.

Remove -nospam to reply via email.

Jim Logajan wrote:
Jim Logajan wrote:
wrote:
Amazing video...
I just noticed that the pilot appears to have been following another
aircraft (white winged). At least that is the way it looks because
the white area moves relative to the ground at times.

Further followup with a bite more info:

Here's what appears to be the full cockpit video from collision to
touchdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_JAg1ZedGo

According to the comments, he was flying a Rans S6. Also, the CNN
video was also posted to YouTube, and based on the dates of those
postings this appears to have been reported back in December (around
Christmas) of last year.

On Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:28:38 -0000, Jim Logajan
wrote:

Jim Logajan wrote:
wrote:
Amazing video...

I just noticed that the pilot appears to have been following another
aircraft (white winged). At least that is the way it looks because the
white area moves relative to the ground at times.

Further followup with a bite more info:

Here's what appears to be the full cockpit video from collision to
touchdown:

They called it a "near collision. Unless the other video shows contact
this one does not. They appear to be about 30 to 50 feet apart.
Did they or did they not collice?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_JAg1ZedGo

This site I could get to with no problem.

My question is, "why pull the chute" if they didn't collide, I don't
see any reason for the chute excpet panic.


According to the comments, he was flying a Rans S6. Also, the CNN video was
also posted to YouTube, and based on the dates of those postings this
appears to have been reported back in December (around Christmas) of last
year.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

"Jim Logajan" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Amazing video...

I just noticed that the pilot appears to have been following another
aircraft (white winged). At least that is the way it looks because the
white area moves relative to the ground at times.


Yes, he was attempting to film a buddy.

From rec.aviation.soaring:

From:
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.soaring
Subject: Video of midair with tow rope
Date: 2 Jan 2007 10:57:13 -0800

Following is a translation of the French text posted regarding this
incident:

"The team (tow plane & glider) had just taken off and was in its
initial climb at speed between 110 & 130 kmh (68 - 81 mph), a normal
climb speed with a Duo-discuss on tow. A witness on the ground
confirmed that the ultralight and the towplane flew pretty much at the
same speed with converging tracks. The towplane did come from the
right but did not cross his path. As can be seen on the film, the
pilot of the ultralight, busy with filming the other
ultralightabsolutely did not react to avoid the accident. No avoidance
maneuver is seen on the film. This was confirmed to me by the witness
on the ground. The ultralight did not move to avoid the tow plane.
The tow plane, a DR400, turned knife-edge to the right (one sees the
belly of the plane on the film) in order not to take the full brunt of
the ultralight. I am a tow pilot and can assure you that one very
seldom banks over 30 degrees with a glider on tow. Furthermore the tow
pilot released the rope even before he felt the contact with the
ultralight. The accident would have been much worse if he had not done
so. The glider pilot also maneuvered to avoid the out-of-control
ultralight. His altitude allowed him to return to his field with part
of the cable below his port wing and trailing behind the glider.

Luckily the use of the ballistic parachute on the ultralight proved its
undeniable advantage as can be seen on the other video of the spin
tests of the MCR 01.

Other comments:

I confirm that the two ultralight pilots are Germans. The pilot was
not on the correct frequency, he merely followed his pal and filmed
him. When one knows the volume of traffic at Tallard (between 80,000
and 90,000 flights per year), that's frightening. Either that guy had
not studied navigation or his neurons were not all connected."

Cheers, Charles


--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

"Jim Logajan" wrote in message
.. .
I got the following link to this video via the Matronics Zenith e-mail
list. What's interesting and fascinating about it is that it contains
video
from a cockpit camera that shows the impending mid-air collision and the
cockpit view when the aircraft hits the ground under the chute:

http://www.turbopilot.com/copa/image3/brs.wmv

I guess cockpit cameras are becoming common enough that this sort of video
would be inevitable.

(Not sure why the pilot didn't see the towing aircraft - unless it was
because the other plane was coming up from below to his right.)


Looks like the glider might have been released as there is "something" in
the lower left of the windscreen, still pretty incredible video.

------------------------------------
DW

Jim Logajan writes:

I got the following link to this video via the Matronics Zenith e-mail
list. What's interesting and fascinating about it is that it contains video
from a cockpit camera that shows the impending mid-air collision and the
cockpit view when the aircraft hits the ground under the chute:

http://www.turbopilot.com/copa/image3/brs.wmv

I guess cockpit cameras are becoming common enough that this sort of video
would be inevitable.

I'm surprised that the pilot believes he is alive today because of the
parachute. The aircraft doesn't look severely damaged; the control surfaces
are in place. What would have prevented him from gliding to a landing?

While I have no problem with pilots saving themselves with a parachute if they
wish to do so, it seems like this one at least gave up pretty quickly. And
how did he manage not to see the other aicraft? The weather certainly looked
clear.

--
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