On Sunday, July 1, 2018 at 4:00:18 PM UTC-5, Dave Walsh wrote:
At 19:04 30 June 2018, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Saturday, June 30, 2018 at 1:45:05 PM UTC-5, Dave
Walsh wrote:
At 14:33 30 June 2018, Dan Marotta wrote:
To me the major advantages of a BRS over a
personal=20
parachute are the=20
speed and certainty of deployment.=C2=A0 Of course
either=20
system may fail or=20
malfunction, but with the BRS, you lose the difficulty
of=20
getting out=20
into space and deploying at in unfavorable position.
Simply=20
pull the=20
handle and enjoy the ride.

But, upon landing in a windy situation, you run the
very=20
real risk of=20
being killed in a tumbling, disintegrating wreck
being=20
dragged along the=20
ground.=C2=A0 Is there a jettison capability that could
be armed=20
by the=20
sudden deceleration of landing?=C2=A0 Perhaps an
automatic=20
jettison?=C2=A0 Might=20
that malfunction at 500' and give you a last thrilling
ride?

On 6/29/2018 10:49 PM, Charlie Quebec wrote:
Beacause floating around out of control under a=20
parachute is safer?
BRS sounds good, but in practice I would prefer
a=20
personal chute every
time.

--=20
Dan, 5J

Of course you could be struck by lightening as you
descend=20
under your BRS canopy but has anyone ever died
being=20
"dragged along the ground" after a successful BRS
escape?
Plenty have died following a conventional parachute mal-
function.
The bottom line is that BRS will work at a lower height
but is=20
hardly available in any common sailplane on sale today.
Retro fitting a BRS to an EASA sailplane would be a=20
expensive, possibly impossible, task. With ultra-light=20
sailplanes it's different.
The other major problem, as clearly explained on
DG's=20
website, is that "safety does not sell sailplanes". The=20
majority of DG sailplanes sold were NOT equipped with
the=20
NOAH system: the new buyers simply did not order
the=20
NOAH system. Even if BRS was available today how
many=20
buyers would buy it?
Dave W

If a BRS system were available factory installed at a
reasonable price, I
s=
uspect that a very large percentage of buyers would sign
up. It's a huge
s=
elling point if you are trying to get the OK from your
spouse to upgrade
to=
a new glider. =20

Offering a BRS system standard on all of their airplanes is
probably the
#1=
reason that Cirrus is now the largest piston engine aircraft
manufacturer
=
in the world.

Yes you're probably quite right about the Cirrus BUT in a
Cirrus you might well have wife and kids along for the ride.
The fact remains that the majority of DG customers do not
specify the NOAH system; it's actually relatively cheap
compared to the new cost of a DG808C or DG1000x. Why is
that?
Dave W


Maybe people think that the NOAH system is a half baked solution. Cirrus and Phoenix think that BRS systems are important enough that they make them standard and a significant part of their marketing.