Cirrus Lands via Parachute in Nantucket

("Ron Wanttaja" wrote)
Every time Cirrus BRS deployments come up, I'm reminded of the
anti-parachute arguments during WWI.


John O says the funniest post (of all time!) was the "bailing out" of a Link
Trainer, which was on fire and in an uncontrolled spin, story.

Was that your adventure?

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/i...000/k05796.jpg

http://www.starksravings.com/linktra...inktrainer.htm


Paul-Mont

wrote in
ups.com:

But isn't it a pilot's responsibility to be sure she or he is
proficient before taking off as PIC? If a private pilot doesn't
occasionally use a hood or a simulator (or night VFR over water, etc.)
to practice instrument flying, isn't that pilot shirking a basic
responsibility to maintain required competence?

I am not aware of any regulation in the FARs that indicates that it is a VFR
pilot's responsibility to be proficient at flying in instrument conditions
before taking off as PIC.

"Bob Noel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Kyle Boatright" wrote:

Every time someone uses the chute on a Cirrus, we get people second
guessing
the decision.

Every decision everyone makes is a candidate for being second guessed.

Instead of "second guessed", I'd rather use the word "analyzed". Such is how
we refine our learning.

I hope no one is saying pilot decisions are not open for discussion or
debate.

And for criticism or even derision if so warranted, or praise if so
warranted.

Having a chute is not an excuse for careless or reckless bahavior, just as
seatbelts and airbags are not an excuse for using brickwalls to stop in lieu
of keeping your brakes maintained.

"Vaughn Simon" wrote in message
...

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
m...

Fog setting in is often an area phenomenon. It's not
like flying into a puffy cumulous on a summer day.

And it can happen fast...damn fast...when temperature and dew point
merge for any reason.

I will never forget the time it happened to me. It took less than
five minutes to happen, a sudden ground fog that seemed to obscure the
entire area. I was a solo student...in a glider.

A previous post indicates that the airport (reportedly) went IFR half an
hour earlier.

In article ,
Ron Wanttaja wrote:

I've been taking BFRs since they were instituted, and don't believe I've been
put under the hood more than once or twice since my original Private flight
test. And *that* was ~35 years ago.

ah HA. A downside of having the instrument rating. I've been put under the
hood each and every time I've had a BFR since I got my rating in 1990.

--
Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)

Ron Natalie wrote in news:46c87147$0$23480
:

Fog setting in is often an area phenomenon. It's not
like flying into a puffy cumulous on a summer day.

Does fog simply appear around a plane out of nowhere, and the pilot would not
have seen it coming before he flew into it?

I have never experienced that phenomenon...

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:13:32 -0500, "Montblack"
wrote:

("Ron Wanttaja" wrote)
Every time Cirrus BRS deployments come up, I'm reminded of the
anti-parachute arguments during WWI.

John O says the funniest post (of all time!) was the "bailing out" of a Link
Trainer, which was on fire and in an uncontrolled spin, story.

Was that your adventure?

Yup. Back when I was a CAP cadet, we resurrected an old Link C-3 from the scrap
heap and got it going again. I was working on it alone late one night, getting
the rudder pedals rigged properly. I "took it up" and decided to put it into a
right spin.

Then, I started smelling smoke. I lifted the canopy slightly, cracked the door,
and looked out. As the cabin spun around the base, I saw smoke gushing from the
main electrical control panel in the base of the Link. I stomped on the left
rudder pedal to stop the spin...and the nail I'd used to connect the pedal to
the linkage popped out.

So there I was, spinning down...well, SPINNING at least...to my flaming doom.

I did what any self-respecting aviator would do. I threw open the canopy,
pushed open the door, stood on the step, waited until the Link spun to face a
relatively clear space of floor, and bailed out.

A quick PLF, then I cut the power and starting hosing the thing down with a CO2
fire extinguisher.

The old WWII model link trainers were absolute marvels. They were analog
computers in vacuum rather than electronics. There was a sealed tank up forward
that got air sucked out as the plane climbed, and the aircraft altimeter was
merely plumbed into. One manifold "stored" the airspeed, which depended upon a
valve set by a throttle, another controlled by the pitch attitude, etc.

Ron Wanttaja

wrote in news:1187543218.589116.298870@
57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com:


That's a reasonable question. The answer is that "competent" doesn't
mean perfect. A competent pilot may make a mistake resulting in a
spin, or airframe icing, or the like. At that point, there may be no
safe way to recover without pulling the chute.

So it's acceptable for a competent pilot to get in over his head with respect
to spinning or icing, but not with respect to flying into IMC.

Hmmmmm........

In article ,
"Matt Barrow" wrote:

Every time someone uses the chute on a Cirrus, we get people second
guessing
the decision.

Every decision everyone makes is a candidate for being second guessed.

Instead of "second guessed", I'd rather use the word "analyzed". Such is how
we refine our learning.

yes. good point.

--
Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)

"Judah" wrote in message
. ..
wrote in
ups.com:

But isn't it a pilot's responsibility to be sure she or he is
proficient before taking off as PIC? If a private pilot doesn't
occasionally use a hood or a simulator (or night VFR over water, etc.)
to practice instrument flying, isn't that pilot shirking a basic
responsibility to maintain required competence?

I am not aware of any regulation in the FARs that indicates that it is a
VFR
pilot's responsibility to be proficient at flying in instrument conditions
before taking off as PIC.

He didn't refer to legalities.

Recall the old adage, "What is legal is not necessarily safe (and vice
versa)".