Ballistic Recovery System

On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 9:07:21 PM UTC-8, JS wrote:
In control? Somehow I'm missing the point.

Jim



On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 8:24:33 PM UTC-8, Sean F (F2) wrote:

Essentially, you must be in control of the airplane when you pull the cord or its probably going to fail.

I believe Sean's point is the cruise speed and max deployment speed can be pretty close in the RS-22 giving the pilot very little time to decide to use the BRS. In a sailplane where cruise speed would normally be 60 to 90 knots, and max deployment speed of 130 should allow more time to make the decision and pull the handle. My main concerns are mid-air and medical condition. I believe a BRS would have saved Chris O'Callaghan in the Uvalde mid-air and Dick Johnson's apparent heart attack.
I have come close to a head-on collisiom in the pattern. If we had hit, I believe the BRS would have been my only chance to survive.
Cheers,
JJ

On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 10:24:33 PM UTC-6, Sean F (F2) wrote:
The French guy who popped it at 9k when the engine quit sounds a little odd to me. Should have easily been able to make an airport from 9k, don't you think?

Unless you have more information than what is in the NTSB link, we do not know at what altitude the pilot pulled the handle. We are told he was cruising at 9,000 feet, the engine lost power, he pulled the chute, and descended to the ground. Does not say he pulled the chute immediately upon loss of power. Also, 0700 UTC on January 6 in Grenoble, France, would be, if I am doing the corrections properly, 8 AM local. Sunrise, according to my internet search would be at approximately 8:15 AM local time. So, not totally dark but certainly not middle of the day. May not have had a clear picture of what was below.

As many have said, "NTSB reports leave a LOT to the imagination."

Steve

Good points. Perhaps, perhaps not ;-).

On Wednesday, February 5, 2014 2:29:40 PM UTC-5, Steve Leonard wrote:
On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 10:24:33 PM UTC-6, Sean F (F2) wrote:

The French guy who popped it at 9k when the engine quit sounds a little odd to me. Should have easily been able to make an airport from 9k, don't you think?



Unless you have more information than what is in the NTSB link, we do not know at what altitude the pilot pulled the handle. We are told he was cruising at 9,000 feet, the engine lost power, he pulled the chute, and descended to the ground. Does not say he pulled the chute immediately upon loss of power. Also, 0700 UTC on January 6 in Grenoble, France, would be, if I am doing the corrections properly, 8 AM local. Sunrise, according to my internet search would be at approximately 8:15 AM local time. So, not totally dark but certainly not middle of the day. May not have had a clear picture of what was below.



As many have said, "NTSB reports leave a LOT to the imagination."



Steve