Should I buy a parachute?

Somedudeintn

Somedudeintn

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somedudeintn
Ok, so I don't have access to a cirrus like 6PC and was thinking I should just buy a parachute like the aerobatic guys have to wear in case my engine vibrates out of the airplane when I lose half of half of my propellor, or when someone on a 42 mile final runs into me and takes my wing off.

Thoughts?
 
I think you should just get a hot air balloon and some bungee jumping gear. Things go awry you can inflate the balloon with ram air to slow your descent while you put on your bungee harness. Bad day goes from bad to awesome.
 
Lachlan said:
I think you should just get a hot air balloon and some bungee jumping gear. Things go awry you can inflate the balloon with ram air to slow your descent while you put on your bungee harness. Bad day goes from bad to awesome.
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We should go into business together with this idea!
 
Wayne, if you are flying a typical Cessper aircraft, and have not removed the door before flight, you will find it is all but impossible to depart the aircraft. Then duck as the stabilator/Vstab goes whistling by.

IOW getting a chute will be likely a waste of money. But I thrown money away on worse things....
 
I've been in a spinning Lockheed Lodestar wearing a parachute and with an open door five feet away. Getting to the door with that weight on your back and changing G-forces made it impossible. I know you're kidding, but this question does come up from time to time.
 
write-stuff said:
I've been in a spinning Lockheed Lodestar wearing a parachute and with an open door five feet away. Getting to the door with that weight on your back and changing G-forces made it impossible. I know you're kidding, but this question does come up from time to time.
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Good to know! I'm 95% kidding and 5% genuinely curious why more people who want airframe parachutes don't go buy an individual parachute. I have no knowledge or experience with parachutes.
 
Skip Miller said:
Wayne, if you are flying a typical Cessper aircraft, and have not removed the door before flight, you will find it is all but impossible to depart the aircraft. Then duck as the stabilator/Vstab goes whistling by.

IOW getting a chute will be likely a waste of money. But I thrown money away on worse things....
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At least a few people have managed to open the door of a Cessna / Piper in flight and take the big first step to commit suicide, attempt to fake their death, or just jump because they ran out of gas while on final during a solo cross country flight.

And, more than a few people have spun into the ground in spite of having a 'chute and an eject-able canopy.
 
Wearing a parachute in a seat not designed for it is another problem. If you have a structural failure in a spam can and you're wearing a parachute, you might as well be tied to the seat. You aren't going anywhere that the airframe doesn't take you.
 
Somedudeintn said:
Ok, so I don't have access to a cirrus like 6PC and was thinking I should just buy a parachute like the aerobatic guys have to wear in case my engine vibrates out of the airplane when I lose half of half of my propellor, or when someone on a 42 mile final runs into me and takes my wing off.

Thoughts?
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I'm fairly certain a malfunction of your propellor won't be an issue for you.
 
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Wonder how your passengers will feel when you leave? Not that they will have long to consider what a selfish person you are.
 
There are lots of issues with bailing out of a plane. First, if you're even going to consider this, you might want to get some rudimentary skydive training.

The next problem is that even in stable, level flight a lot of small aircraft are not easy to get out of (especially when wearing a chute). There was a story of a couple of Piper engineers who decided to do some tests in the Tomahawk prototype. They wore chutes and were close to bailing out when they managed to recover and land. On landing they found that they could not open the doors (which would have precluded being able to bail out). They had to be passed tools through the clear prop window to disassemble things from the inside to free themselves.
 
Skip Miller said:
Wayne, if you are flying a typical Cessper aircraft, and have not removed the door before flight, you will find it is all but impossible to depart the aircraft. Then duck as the stabilator/Vstab goes whistling by.

IOW getting a chute will be likely a waste of money. But I thrown money away on worse things....
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Getting out of the door might not be the problem.
If you say Sayonara to your engine because of a thrown prop blade, you might be lucky to move your arms where you want them to go.
G-forces in a wildly spinning, uncontrollable vehicle are not minor problems to consider nor is the induced vertigo that you will be experiencing.

Also consider the comfort you will be experiencing by sitting on the front edge of your cushy seat with that plush backpack between you and the seatback cushion.

Not an advisable proposition
 
I think if youre trying to prepare for EVERY eventuality you might want to just try a safer hobby like golf
 
I think we should all spend more time worrying about the things that cause 98% of all accidents rather than worrying about the weird stuff that is terribly unlikely.

I think the weight in fuel you have to give up to wear the chute is more likely to cause you issues than what you might gain.
 
I don't worry about running out of fuel or being a VFR pilot and ending up in IMC. I don't worry about being slow and uncoordinated turning final. I just worry about the 0.00001% chance items.

Now you guys got me thinking. I usually fly a da20, I wonder if I opened the canopy in an attempt to jump if the canopy would just rip off. May be an easier plane to jump from than some others.
 
IMHO I would (and did) just spend a fraction of that money on a nice flight helmet... Probably more likely to help you out, but YMMV.

There have been several times that glider tow pilots, and skydive pilots had a much better day thanks to a 'chute.
 
Somedudeintn said:
I don't worry about running out of fuel or being a VFR pilot and ending up in IMC. I don't worry about being slow and uncoordinated turning final. I just worry about the 0.00001% chance items.

Now you guys got me thinking. I usually fly a da20, I wonder if I opened the canopy in an attempt to jump if the canopy would just rip off. May be an easier plane to jump from than some others.
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You spin it in turning final the chute ain't going to help.
 
James_Dean said:
You spin it in turning final the chute ain't going to help.
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:yes:

I do worry about my speed and coordination, particularly when close to the ground. The parachute thought was just that, a thought, I'm not worried about those super slim odds, just curious about why the cirrus airframe parachute is such a great safety feature, but individual parachutes don't get much attention.

I've got some good info already that there are a lot of situations where you can't get out of the plane due to physics, or time until impact.
 
DFH65 said:
Wonder how your passengers will feel when you leave? Not that they will have long to consider what a selfish person you are.
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1447341053513


they'd be looking at you like this when you jump out of the plane. :lol:
 
DFH65 said:
Wonder how your passengers will feel when you leave? Not that they will have long to consider what a selfish person you are.
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I'm going for help...you stay here.
 
I think if youre trying to prepare for EVERY eventuality you might want to just try a safer hobby like golf
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Well people have been known to be hit by golf balls so the OP would have to wear a suit of armor to protect himself from that possibility. It might affect his swing just a tad but he would be safe from ball strikes.

I've been in a spinning Lockheed Lodestar wearing a parachute and with an open door five feet away. Getting to the door with that weight on your back and changing G-forces made it impossible. I know you're kidding, but this question does come up from time to time.
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On a more serious, different note: I once had the privilege to walk through a B-17, "Aluminum Overcast." One thing that becomes immediately apparent is just how cramped it is. Consider trying to bail out while: wearing bulky clothes, wearing a bulky parachute, the aircraft spinning, the footing treacherous due to spent ammo cases and other equipment and it becomes apparent that it was a miracle anyone was able to bail out of a stricken B-17.

If you ever have a chance to tour the inside of a B-17 it is quite an experience.

/Sorry for the thread hijack.
 
Another thing to consider is that it's not just the cost of a parachute. You need to have it repacked every 90 or 120 days (depending on the design) by a licensed rigger. Safety would be better spent spending that money on getting some recurrent training.
 
Buy a 172 with the brs parachute system installed,or pony up for a cirrus. You might also want to practice dead stick landings to handle the prop problem.
 
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What's more comfortable for a long journey? Wearing a chunky parachute strapped to your back or a red T-handle above your head and a thinner wallet between the seat cushion and your butt cheek? :idea:
 
RobertSubnet said:
On a more serious, different note: I once had the privilege to walk through a B-17, "Aluminum Overcast." One thing that becomes immediately apparent is just how cramped it is. Consider trying to bail out while: wearing bulky clothes, wearing a bulky parachute, the aircraft spinning, the footing treacherous due to spent ammo cases and other equipment and it becomes apparent that it was a miracle anyone was able to bail out of a stricken B-17.

If you ever have a chance to tour the inside of a B-17 it is quite an experience.

/Sorry for the thread hijack.
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Too late to be sorry.

I spend some talking to a WW-II B-17 ball turret gunner - to get out, you had to crank the turret so the guns were straight down, open the hatch behind you, climb up out of the ball, stop to put on your 'chute (no room for it in the ball) and then bail. He said he beat the waist gunners out the door. Motivation.
 
Ejection seat... much better :)... Who doesn't want to sit with the rocket under their ass anyway?
 
If you are fit, and helps if you've done a few, jumping from a stricken GA plane works. Going to take a while to push the door open and climb out. Not nearly as quick as the Cirrus poptop. Certainly be nice if you were on fire. Or inadvertent IMC, Lindbergh had two or three jumps for that reason. But yeah since using a parachute means not being at the last link of the chain the idea to stop making links is the better idea. If only it were so easy.
flyingron said:
Another thing to consider is that it's not just the cost of a parachute. You need to have it repacked every 90 or 120 days (depending on the design) by a licensed rigger. Safety would be better spent spending that money on getting some recurrent training.
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180 days now.
 
Ejection seat... much better :)... Who doesn't want to sit with the rocket under their ass anyway?
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True. However now you are wearing a flight helmet, you know, in case the new plexiglass canopy you have to install does not get out of the way in time. Or I suppose you could go the F-111 route and eject downward (or is that the B-52 I am thinking of?)

Or you could buy a Cirrus. :)
 
A trip down memory lane for the Vietnam era military pilots.
How much did you trust the Martin-Baker you are strapped into?
How much did you trust the airman last class parachute packer who just came off 24 hours KP because some second lieutenant didn't like the way he was saluted?

Personally, I rated both a Zero.

I did have a GIB pull the handle rather than ride through the crash barriers at Da Nang with me. He survived. Mostly.
 
To be honest, you can bail from a small plane. Provided correct plane design, some training, and enough height.

They used to do this before ejections seats all the time :). It's not the best or legal(if with passengers) way to go, so I say go modern with rockets!

Now, how did that Cirrus story went when a passenger deployed the chute? This would be way cooler with an ejection seat!
 
RobertSubnet said:
True. However now you are wearing a flight helmet, you know, in case the new plexiglass canopy you have to install does not get out of the way in time. Or I suppose you could go the F-111 route and eject downward (or is that the B-52 I am thinking of?)

Or you could buy a Cirrus. :)
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Helmets are for Cirrus pilots! Wait. I meant p....es. My head is harder than that plexiglas!

:D:hairraise:
 
flyingron said:
Another thing to consider is that it's not just the cost of a parachute. You need to have it repacked every 90 or 120 days (depending on the design) by a licensed rigger. Safety would be better spent spending that money on getting some recurrent training.
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Most are 180 days or do I have that wrong?
 
Witmo said:
Most are 180 days or do I have that wrong?
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Sorry, I'm behind the times. It was 120 days ages ago.

Still that's somewhere between $40 and 100 bucks (depending on where you are) that could be better used.
 
Shepherd said:
A trip down memory lane for the Vietnam era military pilots.
How much did you trust the Martin-Baker you are strapped into?
How much did you trust the airman last class parachute packer who just came off 24 hours KP because some second lieutenant didn't like the way he was saluted?

Personally, I rated both a Zero.

I did have a GIB pull the handle rather than ride through the crash barriers at Da Nang with me. He survived. Mostly.
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RF-4C?
 
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