Parachute recommendations

I'm looking at a parachute for a glider. Would like to use it for
other flying, as well, if it is suitable. INo clue of the advantages/
disadvantages of any of them.

Suggestions?

On Mar 15, 10:24*pm, Jim Meade wrote:
I'm looking at a parachute for a glider. *Would like to use it for
other flying, as well, if it is suitable. *INo clue of the advantages/
disadvantages of any of them.

Suggestions?

The National "Softie" is probably the best selling emergency parachute
on the market. Strong makes a great bailout rig as well. The most
important thing in a parachute for glider/aerobatic flying is the
right fit, profile, and comfort of the system which depends greatly on
the seating arrangement in the aircraft you're flying. Ideally, and
most likely you will never use it in an actual jump, but you will
spend many hours sitting against it. Make sure that it is going to be
comfortable in your aircraft. Paragear has a great catalog. Also, as
a skydiver with 1000+ jumps, glider, and recreational aerobatic pilot
I highly recommend that you go through a basic jump course and at
least a few levels of AFF or static line training at least to the
point where you feel comfortable with getting out of an aircraft and
opening the parachute on your own. There's no point in having a
parachute if you are too scared or don't have the proper training to
use it. At the moment of truth, if you ever need to use it, you want
to have all the cards stacked in your favor.

Blue Skies,
Adam

Oh, one more thing...make sure that the parachute you buy is
sufficient for your weight. A parachute that's too small is better
than none at all, but could mean the difference between landing
completely unharmed and landing with two broken legs.

Blue Skies,
Adam

On Mar 15, 10:54 pm, Adam D wrote:
Oh, one more thing...make sure that the parachute you buy is
sufficient for your weight. A parachute that's too small is better
than none at all, but could mean the difference between landing
completely unharmed and landing with two broken legs.

Blue Skies,
Adam

Size and operating environment. Out west, you might land at 10,000msl
or higher.

Any UK distributors selling Irvin's?
http://www.irvinaerospace.com/build.html
They have a 29.8ft canopy in an emergency chute.

Frank Whiteley

On Mar 15, 11:52*pm, Adam D wrote:
On Mar 15, 10:24*pm, Jim Meade wrote:

I'm looking at a parachute for a glider. *Would like to use it for
other flying, as well, if it is suitable. *INo clue of the advantages/
disadvantages of any of them.

Suggestions?

The National "Softie" is probably the best selling emergency parachute
on the market. *Strong makes a great bailout rig as well. *The most
important thing in a parachute for glider/aerobatic flying is the
right fit, profile, and comfort of the system which depends greatly on
the seating arrangement in the aircraft you're flying. *Ideally, and
most likely you will never use it in an actual jump, but you will
spend many hours sitting against it. *Make sure that it is going to be
comfortable in your aircraft. *Paragear has a great catalog. *Also, as
a skydiver with 1000+ jumps, glider, and recreational aerobatic pilot
I highly recommend that you go through a basic jump course and at
least a few levels of AFF or static line training at least to the
point where you feel comfortable with getting out of an aircraft and
opening the parachute on your own. *There's no point in having a
parachute if you are too scared or don't have the proper training to
use it. *At the moment of truth, if you ever need to use it, you want
to have all the cards stacked in your favor.

Blue Skies,
Adam

I believe Adam is referring to the "Paraphernalia" Softie Line
http://www.softieparachutes.com/

I have a Mini Softie and have been very happy with it. I also own a
National chute. They both are highly regarded companies/designs on
the market.

Curt - 95

Adam D wrote:
Also, as
a skydiver with 1000+ jumps, glider, and recreational aerobatic pilot
I highly recommend that you go through a basic jump course and at
least a few levels of AFF or static line training at least to the
point where you feel comfortable with getting out of an aircraft and
opening the parachute on your own. There's no point in having a
parachute if you are too scared or don't have the proper training to
use it. At the moment of truth, if you ever need to use it, you want
to have all the cards stacked in your favor.

This recommendation seems reasonable, but I wonder if there is any
research, even just an informal survey, that provides evidence for it.
After all, the suggestion is about 4000 USA glider pilots should make
several parachute jumps to improve the outcomes of the bail-out from a
that happens every two three years.

My fuzzy recollection of the last 30 years is that any pilot that gets
out of the glider has a pretty good outcome, meaning no or small
injuries. In other words, we'd be risking injury or worse from 8000 to
12,000 practice jumps to make 3 or 4 bail-outs come out a little bit better.

Perhaps my recollection is wrong.

Are there pilots with no parachute training that bailed out of a glider,
then made some practice jumps afterwards so they'd be better prepared if
it happened again?

Are there pilots that did have parachuting training before they bailed
out of a glider in an emergency, and were damn glad they had the training?

--
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

On Mar 17, 8:18*am, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Are there pilots with no parachute training that bailed out of a glider,
then made some practice jumps afterwards so they'd be better prepared if
it happened again?

Are there pilots that did have parachuting training before they bailed
out of a glider in an emergency, and were damn glad they had the training?

I don't fit either category since I never jumped out of an aircraft in
an emergency. I do have several hundred hours flying jump planes and
have made about 50 jumps.

Point 1 - Almost all sport jumping is done with ram air parachutes
that can be steered and flared. I doubt that any canopy experience
with these has much benefit for an emergncy landing under a round.

Point 2 - Almost all glider emergency parachutes are rounds. I know
of a few pilots, one with no jump experience at all, that use ram air
emergency chutes. I also know of a least one very experienced jumper
who would never consider using a ram air emergency chute in a glider.

Point 3 - The biggest advantages of jump experience may be less fear
exiting the aircraft and more stable position on opening. I watched
lots of first time jumpers exit my aircraft. The thing that impressed
me most was that I never saw a malfunction despite the horrible
positions sometimes adopted after leaving the strut.

So my priorities would be:

1.Familairity with my own emergency chute particularly what I have to
do to turn it into the wind.

2.Getting ground training in parachute landing fall technique.

3. Getting an actual jump, but just because it's fun (until you break
something)

I know one pilot that baled out over Arizona. He was so calm and
collected he spent most of the descent trying to get nice and stable
and nearly hit the ground before he pulled. There are no style points
for the jump, get it open.

Andy

I also know of a least one very experienced jumper
who would never consider using a ram air emergency chute in a glider.

I am a very experienced jumper (known by Andy) and I would never
consider using anything BUT a ram air emergency chute in my glider.

With appropriate wing loading, of course!

2NO

On Mar 17, 3:56 pm, Tuno wrote:
I also know of a least one very experienced jumper
who would never consider using a ram air emergency chute in a glider.

I am a very experienced jumper (known by Andy) and I would never
consider using anything BUT a ram air emergency chute in my glider.

With appropriate wing loading, of course!

2NO

But would you recommend a chute like the P-124 emergency ram air for a
pilot that was NOT a experienced jumper ?

Todd

On Mar 17, 2:56*pm, Tuno wrote:
I also know of a least one very experienced jumper
who would never consider using a ram air emergency chute in a glider.

I am a very experienced jumper (known by Andy) and I would never
consider using anything BUT a ram air emergency chute in my glider.

With appropriate wing loading, of course!

2NO

So do you drop your water ballast before of after exiting the sticken
glider :-)

Pete