Parachute question (technicality)

[steveinindy]

Hardly sporting to give yourself an easy out if you break the airplane.

LOL You're kidding right?

The rule is ridiculous, an out of date chute is better than none if your wing fails in flight, pfft!

Assuming that it opens or opens correctly. As our Aussie friend points out, there are some serious technical issues with a chute left to sit for years.

Speaking from experience as a skydiver, I've had a chute fail to open and when it was investigated, the rigger was found to have not repacked it when he said they did based on a discrepancy between the label my friend (the owner of the chute) had installed on the chute for his own quick verification and the paperwork the rigger filled out. Luckily, the reserve had been repacked by someone else who actually did it or there's a decent chance I might not be alive today. To this day, that remains the only time I've had to rely on a reserve to get down safely. Also to this day, the guy who did his job and repacked that reserve doesn't pay for his own meals whenever I am around.

I'm getting lazy these days and pay some one else 8 bucks to pack my main.

LOL Exactly, a repack if you have skydiving friends isn't that much.

[WLIU]

Not kidding. The apocryphal story from the other side of the pond is the famous story of how British test pilot Neil Williams came up with a brilliant recovery after breaking the wing of his Zlin. In upright flight the wing wanted to fold upwards and he quickly discovered that in iverted flight the wing stayed in its normal position and the airplane flew normally. He flew down final inverted and rolled upright so low that the wingtip scraped the sod runway. The wing folded just as he reached upright flight, he pancaked onto the runway, and walked away. I am not creative enough to make this up.

Having a pilot emergency parachute sitting in its pack for months or years has little affect on proper function. If you had a problem I suspect that there was more going on than just the time since repack. I am regularly surprised by rigs that come into my shop and when I open them it is obvious that the last rigger did not have, or follow, the correct instructions. I have seen a total malfunction on my packing table. Your friend the skydiver may not be the best choice to repack your round pilot emergency parachute for $8. I can tell every pilot that I have 100 jumps on a round parachute and several reserve rides on a parachute just like the one that they sit on. Age has its advantages some days.

I once watched a bad friend have a total malfunction of his main parachute and deploy a reserve that had been packed for 18months. He had taken good care of the rig in the meantime and my unscientific observation was that the deployment time was the same, or less, then what a freshly repacked rig would do.

The military vacuum packs their ejection seat parachutes and I believe that they can be installed for a couple of years or so before their next inspection. Not the same as what civilians do, but an example that time in the pack is a less important parameter.

Oh, a quality repack costs something like $50 - $70 these days. What is your life worth anyway?

Fly safe,

Wes
N78PS
1680 parachute jumps
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger

[rosiejerryrosie]

I am constantly amazed at how some folks apparently want to save money on safety equipment..

[steveinindy]

Not kidding.

I knew it was a historical attitude (the same attitude that led them to believe that parachutes degraded pilot skill and that it was better to issue pilots a pistol with which to shoot themselves). I just wasn't certain if you were we trying to argue against against a parachute or not. Given how rational you have always come across, it just led me to inquire further. Thank you for clarifying what you were getting at.

Your friend the skydiver may not be the best choice to repack your round pilot emergency parachute for $8

I was actually referring to the fact that anyone who knows skydivers in any number probably has at least one or two riggers in their circle as well.

Oh, a quality repack costs something like $50 - $70 these days. What is your life worth anyway?

Exactly.

[WLIU]

I have a friend who made a career out of auto racing and working on British engines and cars. His advice is "There is no British Engineering. It is all tradition.".

I have no idea as to whether British and Commonwealth pilots are more inclined to wear a parachute when they fly aerobatics these days. A quick look at the British Aerobatic Association web site and its link to their equivalent of an advisory circular suggests that their regs do not require that parachutes be worn at all.

IAC requires parachutes and since they can help make a spartan seat more comfortable while doing snap rolls, you just get used to them.

Fly safe,

Wes
N78PS

[Racegunz]

I have 57 military jumps and I understand the matter pretty well, if you are taking your airplane and your skills to the limit, then wear the damn chute no matter what the regs say. It would of course be prudent to get it checked and re-packed and perhaps you should observe the rigger to make sure you are getting your money's worth. The old cliche "what's your life worth" is meaningless when we sell ourselves for peanuts to businesses /employers/Gov't everyday, so let me put it this way, as soon as you get time do it right. Rant over.

[WLIU]

If you have military jumps, thank you for your service.

That said, if you are familiar with civilian pilot emergency parachutes and their use, you will agree that they have almost nothing in common with military gear or training.

Comparing logbooks is always interesting. I moved from skydiving into more flying, but some of my friends have log books that now record jump totals in the 5000 to 7000 range. And my military friends came home from the middle east talking about going out of the airplane at 40,000' in the dark over a hostile country with their SF team. Everyone's experience is different and some of it overlaps and some does not.

If you fly with a pilot emergency parachute, the best advice is to get it inspected by someone who is knowlegable about the particular rig, take care of the rig between repacks, and walk through a bail out every so often. If you can make the time, stop by a drop zone and make a tandem jump. Being in an airplane on fire is not the best time to start learning about skydiving.

Fly safe,

Wes
N78PS

[steveinindy]

Being in an airplane on fire is not the best time to start learning about skydiving.

....or at night with an engine out. Aim the plane towards somewhere dark and hope you paid attention during your jump training.

I have quite a few jumps to my credit and four of them have been at night out of Cessnas simply for the experience in case I ever need to do it "for real" since the two primary reasons for my bailing out would be fire (or exceptionally dense smoke preventing a safe landing) or a loss of power at night outside of the traffic pattern.