Sport Pilot Talk

Safety Pin

I noticed that the red flag attached to the safety pin wasn't on the dashboard as is my habit (velcro). So wilst flying I reached over and tried to pull it out to arm it, just in case, as is my habit when aviating.

To my HORROR, I could not pulled the pin out. I couldn't even find the red tab with my hand but the pin definitely was in and the chute would be useless.

I finally figured out that it was put in backwards. I always put it in so that I can pull it out toward the passenger side and then YANK it out.

But, earlier, my passenger PUT IT IN to assist me (in his mind) and put the pin back to be most comfortable to him as passenger...the flag next to my buttock on the left side.

If we needed the chute there would be no time to figure this all out!

No one died but these details might kill ya one day.
(Also, I should use the checklist no matter how many times I fly.)

BRS VIDEO BRS VIDEO *** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAwET3Q9Og4 AND HAPPY LANDINGS (looks real soft) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt4biNan_JA

cogito wrote:Harry Bell kept his sting sport at the same airport, Whiteman (WHP,) as I did.

Harry's accident was shocking here in Santa Clarita - he was the Man of the Year in the city last year. My first thought was the same, why didn't he pull the chute? (If he had enough altitude and time.)

Unfortunately I've had to ask that question too many times. I've been involved with flying Cirrus aircraft for about 9 years, and every year there have been fatal accidents with that aircraft where lives would have been saved had someone pulled the chute. The good news is that in every case when the chute has been pulled early enough it has saved lives.

Fast Eddie described it. There are several reasons for not pulling the chute. The first is that we are not trained to do it. A second reason, the big one, is that in an emergency we simply cannot think - our rational brains lock up. We only follow whatever emergency procedure we know - if that. The solution is to routinely practice emergency procedures where, taken to their conclusion, you would pull the chute. Any engine out above the chute minimum you would pull the chute. Any loss of control you would pull the chute. Practice reaching for the handle. Practice. So that in a real emergency you won't need to think.

One Cirrus accident still haunts me - a couple of years ago a VFR pilot departed Van Nuys under a low overcast. He entered the clouds near Agua Dulce and lost control; his two teenage passengers died with him. Just up the road from here - why didn't he pull the chute?

I was so sorry to hear about Harry Bell. And yes, you can't beat a Diamond DA40 for safety.

saintlfd wrote:I have 25 hours of training in a chute-equipped LSA. Not ONCE has the CFI mentioned anything about how/when the chute should be used. Not ONCE have we pulled the pin to make it even possible to deploy the chute.

That nonsense stops now!

in the ctls pulling the pin is part of the pre-flight checklist

My primary instructor didn’t have a chute in his sportcruiser. His rationale; pilots take more risks in an aircraft with a parachute. I think he was more concerned about useful load.

One of the planes I’m considering is the Bristell lsa, but the dealer in NY, where I’m working this summer, said he didn’t order any planes with chutes. His snide remark, “what, your girlfriend won’t fly without a parachute?”
Idiot.

I’m a belt and suspenders kind of flyer.

cogito wrote:My primary instructor didn’t have a chute in his sportcruiser. His rationale; pilots take more risks in an aircraft with a parachute.

Sorry, that's just inane.

I wonder if he feels the same about seatbelts. Or motorcycle helmets. Or ABS. Or safety goggles. Or...or...

I flew a Cirrus for several years. Not because of the chute. Yet I always appreciated having one extra option if everything went to hell.

To be honest, I miss having one in my Sky Arrow. There are times here in the mountains where I realize my choice of landing sites is severely limited or, in some cases, nonexistent. Going into the trees at about 40k might be survivable, but might not be. I would so prefer descending vertically into them, but that's no longer an option.

FastEddieB wrote:Sorry, that's just inane.

Eddie, even although I'm not a big fan of 'chutes, I have to agree with you. His reason is just crazy. My reason for not having a parachute in an LSA is much more reasonable. If I have to choose between the weight of the BRS and an extra hour of fuel, I pick the latter. (But that's just me.)

As a former rodeo bull rider, I get a little huffy when people tell use a helmet when riding a bicycle (even though many bull riders wear helmets now they didn't when I rode). I think it's my risk to assume and nobody else's business. I see it as an individual thing. At the same time, society doesn't owe me a cent if I take that position and get injured.

Like the old Indian said, "what you see depends on where you stand" and we often bring lots of personal perspective to an emotional subject like this. We often assign nasty motives or diminished intellectual capacity to people who don't agree with us.

When people make decisions for other people, things can get different. One of the most powerful books I've read is "No Parachute", A Fighter Pilot in WWI"
http://www.amazon.com/No-Parachute-Figh ... 0809496127
This book is essentially a compilation of letters this young pilot wrote to his new bride. As a Vietnam vet, I can tell you I cannot conceive of telling my wife the kind of detail he wrote - his wife must have been terrified. A wonderful read.
The topic touched on by the title is the fact that parachutes were available before the war and were used by many aerial participatns, but were denied the British pilots partially on the ground that they would be too likley to abandon a plane that could be saved. Ghastly. But this is the idea of one person deciding for another.
Anyway, read the book if you want to get a grass runway view of WWI unlike any you have read before.

drseti wrote:

FastEddieB wrote:Sorry, that's just inane.

Eddie, even although I'm not a big fan of 'chutes, I have to agree with you. His reason is just crazy. My reason for not having a parachute in an LSA is much more reasonable. :wink: If I have to choose between the weight of the BRS and an extra hour of fuel, I pick the latter. (But that's just me.)

drseti, what if the FAA granted a weight exemption for parachutes, like they do for floats on a seaplane(and it didn't raise your stall speed out of LSA limits,) would you then be a fan of 'chutes?

I'm all for the weight exemption, as long as the chute is optional. I would oppose an FAA mandate requiring one. Not sure if I'd want one myself, but I certainly wouldn't argue with anyone's choice to have one.

It is interesting that emergency procedures training doesn't even incorporate the BRS at most flight schools. I personally have never even pulled the pin out of the BRS on the plane I fly.

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I'm going to now make it part of my run up routine-practice reaching for it and practice YANKING the red handle.
They can always make another CTSW but they can make another me.

Of course they can make another you, Dan. The law schools in this country crank out like a million attorneys a year!

Seriously though, is it hazardous to yank the handle? One day something goes bad and BRS will fire inside a hangar.

When Bonnie Mauldin checked me out in CTLS, she briefed me on the chute, including a warning that the handle must be pulled about 2 feet on its cord, else deployment won't initiate. But we only practiced simulated pull, and did not tug on the handle against the safety pin.

Simulated YANKS on the red handle. That is what the father of BRS says to do-not a mere pull. (He gave a speech which was reproduced in this thread earlier). I just want to make it muscle memory so when I'm in real trouble and have no more options to set her down then I won't fumble. Split seconds mean life or death.

When I bought the air ship the seller told me "you've got to pull it out and there is a long cord and then you YANK it." He must be repeating what Flight Design told him.