If one is giving serious thought to always flying with a parachute, I would recommend giving serious consideration to engineering in a BRS system from the beginning. In a KR, I would think that would mean extending the engine mount and cowl in order to accommodate the additional weight of the BRS system under the turtle deck. ? Look at the number of "saves" claimed by Cirrus.? A big part of buying a Cirrus Aircraft is doing the Cirrus Pilot Training, which is quite heavy on training for "when to pull the handle", 'cause "If you haven't planned for it, and haven't trained for it, you won't do it."? ? In the last 8 years, I have had 8 friends perish in aircraft crashes.? That is a pretty significant number.? Of those, had the pilot been wearing a chute, one of them likely would have been able to exit the aircraft and would have survived.? Had their aircraft all been equipped with a BRS system and the pilot willing to use it, it is likely that as many as 5 of my friends would still be alive.? Three of them simply put themselves in such a bad position that they had no chance. ? When thinking about airbags, the Cirrus has multiple bags and inflators on the shoulder harnesses to protect the chest, neck and head area of the pilot/passenger.? I've never heard any studies of the impact results, but it is an interesting concept and is something now available for Experimental Aircraft.? Of course the downside is that these things are not inexpensive and require periodic replacement. ? -Jeff Scott Los Alamos, NM ? ?
Sent:?Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 8:22 PM From:?"Mark Langford via KRnet" <krnet at list.krnet.org> To:?KRnet <krnet at list.krnet.org> Cc:?"Mark Langford" <ml at n56ml.com> Subject:?KR> parachutes Regarding parachutes, it's worth mentioning that there's never been an inflight structural failure of a KR (the all-composite one at high speed at the Gathering doesn't count, in my mind), although there is a question of elevator bellcrank failure in one plane, but it's possible it was crash induced. There may be others, but no spar or fuselage failure that I know of. So given that record and the many thousands of KR hours logged, what are the chances that you're going to have to go down somewhere so inhospitable that you can do some semblance of a landing somewhere? Even if it's in the tree tops, you'll likely survive it. So assuming you are still in control of a plane that's capable of gliding, I'd just stall it in the tree tops somewhere. John Schaffer did that in a flat spin from 8000', and survived. And how much time do you spend over that kind of terrain in Missouri anyway? Your chances are looking better already! Jeff Scott probably doesn't like what he sees out the window 75% of the time, but he doesn't wear a parachute. Jumping out of a spinning or otherwise disabled plane is not without its risks as well...perhaps higher than sticking with the plane to put it on the ground somewhere. You could get whacked in the head by the horizontal stabilizer, or your parachute might be a streamer, etc. And what if your plane crashes into a house and kills a family eating lunch? That'd be bad. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you are so concerned about a structural or control failure, you should probably start thinking twin engines and lot of other redundancy. Statistics are on your side though...if your plane goes down, it'll likely be a fuel problem or a broken crankshaft, and then you simply land in a field or on a road. At least that way you still have a plane that you can rebuild or scavenge for parts, or just maybe, it won't have a scratch on it! No need to carry 20 pounds around for years expecting it to pay off someday, when it likely won't. I have about 1400 hours of KR time, and I've had plenty of engine problems, and zero structural problems. With the plane 20 pounds lighter, and the comfort of not being packed into my seat with a parachute, I've had some pretty smooth and enjoyable flying so far. And yes, I do know that the second engine is just there to get you to the scene of the crash... -- Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com http://www.n56ml.com _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search[http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search][http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search[http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search]][http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search[http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search][http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search[http://tugantek.com/archmailv2-kr/search]]]. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to KRnet-leave at list.krnet.org please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html[http://www.krnet.org/info.html][http://www.krnet.org/info.html[http://www.krnet.org/info.html]][http://www.krnet.org/info.html[http://www.krnet.org/info.html][http://www.krnet.org/info.html[http://www.krnet.org/info.html]]] see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org[http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org][http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org[http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org]][http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org[http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org][http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org[http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org]]] to change options
