Flying with Parachutes

Eric Greenwell wrote on 8/13/2018 7:36 PM:
wrote on 8/13/2018 7:13 PM:
Having a chute needing one not having one

Yeah, yeah. I know. I screwed that one up. Sorry.

Better to have a chute and not need it than to need one and not have it.

I was always better at English than Math. Thank God for free apps.

In 5 minute, I was able to recall 7 pilots I know/knew whose lives were saved
by parachuting from their glider. I can't remember any pilots that were saved
by seat belts in their cars. So, if you know me, please wear a parachute,
because there is a good chance you will need to bail out of a glider, and I
don't want to lose any friends.

Correction: I do know a glider pilot that survived a car crash due to seat belts,
so the score is...

Parachutes: 7
Seat belts: 1

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf

At 16:24 14 August 2018, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote on 8/13/2018 7:36 PM:
wrote on 8/13/2018 7:13 PM:
Having a chute needing one
Yeah, yeah. I know. I screwed that one up. Sorry.

Better to have a chute and not need it than to need one and not have
it.

I was always better at English than Math. Thank God for free apps.

In 5 minute, I was able to recall 7 pilots I know/knew whose lives were
saved
by parachuting from their glider. I can't remember any pilots that were
saved
by seat belts in their cars. So, if you know me, please wear a
parachute,
because there is a good chance you will need to bail out of a glider,
and
I
don't want to lose any friends.

Correction: I do know a glider pilot that survived a car crash due to
seat
belts,
so the score is...

Parachutes: 7
Seat belts: 1

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email
me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"

https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf

I've had two car accidents where I was wearing a seat belt and got out
without a scratch. (Neither my fault.)
If I hadn't been wearing a belt I don't think that would have happened.
No I wasn't lucky, I'd made the decision to always wear a seat belt long
before.
We don't notice when things just work.

On Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at 9:24:55 AM UTC-7, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote on 8/13/2018 7:36 PM:
wrote on 8/13/2018 7:13 PM:
Having a chute needing one not having one

Yeah, yeah. I know. I screwed that one up. Sorry.

Better to have a chute and not need it than to need one and not have it.

I was always better at English than Math. Thank God for free apps.

In 5 minute, I was able to recall 7 pilots I know/knew whose lives were saved
by parachuting from their glider. I can't remember any pilots that were saved
by seat belts in their cars. So, if you know me, please wear a parachute,
because there is a good chance you will need to bail out of a glider, and I
don't want to lose any friends.

Correction: I do know a glider pilot that survived a car crash due to seat belts,
so the score is...

Parachutes: 7
Seat belts: 1

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf

I was in a car crash and was wearing a sear belt. It was pretty dramatic: I slid under a moving semi at high velocity.

Tom

2G wrote on 8/14/2018 8:49 PM:
On Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at 9:24:55 AM UTC-7, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote on 8/13/2018 7:36 PM:
wrote on 8/13/2018 7:13 PM:
Having a chute needing one not having one

Yeah, yeah. I know. I screwed that one up. Sorry.

Better to have a chute and not need it than to need one and not have it.

I was always better at English than Math. Thank God for free apps.

In 5 minute, I was able to recall 7 pilots I know/knew whose lives were saved
by parachuting from their glider. I can't remember any pilots that were saved
by seat belts in their cars. So, if you know me, please wear a parachute,
because there is a good chance you will need to bail out of a glider, and I
don't want to lose any friends.

Correction: I do know a glider pilot that survived a car crash due to seat belts,
so the score is...

Parachutes: 7
Seat belts: 1

I was in a car crash and was wearing a sear belt. It was pretty dramatic: I slid under a moving semi at high velocity.


I did not recall that - when did it happen? Do you believe the seat belts saved
your life?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf

On Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at 9:24:55 AM UTC-7, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote on 8/13/2018 7:36 PM:
wrote on 8/13/2018 7:13 PM:
Having a chute needing one not having one

Yeah, yeah. I know. I screwed that one up. Sorry.

Better to have a chute and not need it than to need one and not have it.

Saved by a seat belt here.. someone ran a light and I t-boned them going about 50. No airbags back then. Also saved by a helmet riding a motorcycle.

I make my own luck. I wear seatbelts, helmets, and parachutes when possible.

On Friday, August 10, 2018 at 8:22:54 PM UTC-4, John Huthmaker wrote:
I'm just starting out with soaring. Simple question for you guys. How many of you fly with an emergency parachute? It looks like they cost around $2000 online. Pretty steep price; although the cost is insignificant if it saves your life. Is this something I should be looking to purchase?

I own my own glider and parachute and usually fly with the chute. I am also a licensed jumpmaster (or was) with a few hundred jumps, so I'm pretty comfortable jumping out of planes. I feel WAY safer wearing the chute (in gliders and planes), and I've had no comfort issues with it. I may not survive the accident (canopy jams, too low to bail out, etc.) but at least I'll have something to keep my mind occupied while I'm going down and won't feel totally helpless to save myself.

Be aware that I've had two riggers now tell me that they will not repack any rig that is more than 20 years old. There is a new legal(?) standard going around on that. A rigger showed me the printout of it, but I forgot what legal body is endorsing it. It's not official yet, but riggers are worried about being sued because of it.

A new square canopy and container is going to cost me $3-5k apparently. Ugh! Gotta pay to play.

There are riggers packing 20+ year old parachutes. Shipping is cheap compared to a new parachute. Of course if you can afford going square it is smart.

On Thursday, August 30, 2018 at 7:32:15 PM UTC-7, wrote:
There are riggers packing 20+ year old parachutes. Shipping is cheap compared to a new parachute. Of course if you can afford going square it is smart.

Yet to see the 20-year rule on paper, other than something like "paraphernalia won't pack our own chutes beyond 20 years" which is their option but not a rule.

A friend just donated two 20-year-old chutes to our pilot mentoring group. I saw them opened, and the containers, harnesses and chutes looked well taken care of. Picked them up from inspection and repack a couple of days later.
This was a great donation, since the pilots learning XC do not have parachutes and the mentors fly XC with their own.
Jim

I believe the FAA rule is that there's no life limit on a parachute
unless it is unairworthy (by inspection) or the manufacturer specifies a
life limit at certification.Â* If your rigger won't inspect/pack your
chute due to age, find another rigger.Â* My previous round parachute was
42 years old when I removed it from service and bought a square rig.

On 8/30/2018 8:58 PM, JS wrote:
On Thursday, August 30, 2018 at 7:32:15 PM UTC-7, wrote:
There are riggers packing 20+ year old parachutes. Shipping is cheap compared to a new parachute. Of course if you can afford going square it is smart.
Yet to see the 20-year rule on paper, other than something like "paraphernalia won't pack our own chutes beyond 20 years" which is their option but not a rule.

A friend just donated two 20-year-old chutes to our pilot mentoring group. I saw them opened, and the containers, harnesses and chutes looked well taken care of. Picked them up from inspection and repack a couple of days later.
This was a great donation, since the pilots learning XC do not have parachutes and the mentors fly XC with their own.
Jim

--
Dan, 5J