At 05:22 20 January 2011, shkdriver wrote:

Sparkorama;760406 Wrote:
I'm just getting back into the sport after a long hiatus. I've seen
that
a lot of glider pilots fly with parachutes (ones they wear) and I have
seen Ballistic Recovery System parachutes in planes as well. From my
layman's view, it appears that getting out of a plane using a
traditional chute after a mid-air collision seems exceedingly
difficult
and time-consuming. On the other hand, BRS chutes seem to deploy very
fast and can be deployed very close to the ground. They can lower the
entire plane safely to the ground in almost any terrain, and a few
bruises to your bird or your body seems a lot better than certain
death
if you can't get out of a plane after a mid-air. So if this is true,
and
I am happy to say I am no expert, then why isn't everyone using these
things? I think they should be mandatory in every new glider built.
Thoughts?
Spark

IMHO,
Sailplanes are the ultimate expression of aerodynamics, and as
such, demand an almost fanatical devotion to efficiency. Nothing about a
sailplanes' design or construction is superfluous. Indeed, a cockpit
that is merely adequate in size is deemed a luxury. New gliders run from
about $70,000 to over $300,000. I don't believe adding an explosive or
pyrotechnic device with a very short life limit (read a few years) with
an increase of an estimated $10,000 to $20,000 in cost is what the new
glider buying public wants.
Also, while I don't have hard data, I think backpack worn
parachutes have thousands of lives saved across all aviation, I think
you would have a hard time finding even a hundred lives saved with BRS,
I'll even give you any Fb-111 capsule deployments into the count.

IMHO, BRS belongs in LSA, new GA (read Cessna) and selected
ultralite aviation as an owner/buyer option, even in gliders as optional
equipment.
Never mandatory.

Scott.




--
shkdriver

BRS claim 259 lives saved with their systems

http://www.brsaerospace.com/lives_saved.aspx

A glider sized internally mounted unit is around $6000, with a claimed 12
year lift for the rocket and a six year repack - so not unreasonable?
I'd be worried about accidental operation though.

There's always the ejector seat option

rocket powered :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAA4t...eature=related

or a strange sort of reverse airbag:

http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/noah-e.html