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Would you consider adding a BRS parachute to your plane ?

Rwy20 wrote:

This is incorrect as well. The alternative means of spin recovery accepted by the FAA is CAPS, not the wing. What is correct is that with the right procedure, it is possible to get a Cirrus out of a spin.

Incorrect. The FAA forgave the spin recovery testing due to BOTH the NASA wing and the demonstration of CAPS. The combination of both makes a superior solution to any plane that does spin certification and then placards the plane for no spins.

Last Edited by USFlyer at 13 Dec 22:31

Does anyone here know how much a BRS installation for a C182 costs? Nothing on the BRS website other than ‘call us’. Btw, I’m talking about a new install, not a repack.

Cirrus/CAPS statistic: 114 survivors (12 serious injuries, 12 minor injuries, 90 uninjured) and 1 fatality

Which was the one fatality?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

If the whole thing is done in a day, then presumably there’s an exchange programme rather than a ‘repack’ program where the same chute is repacked and returned to the original aircraft.

If that’s the case, then presumably you organise with Cirrus for the replacement parachute to be ready prior to starting work.

And if that’s the case, then why is the shipping cost so high? Presumably, even as dangerous goods, it can’t cost that much money to ship them in bulk. And it would be nonsensical to do it on a one-by-one basis. That’s a huge price differential between the US and Europe.

If the aircraft is in the normal category the spin testing is only to the incipient stage. Utility category are tested to stable autorotation. Flat spins are performed by some aerobatic aircraft, and can form part of advanced routines. The flat spin might be upright, inverted or in the case of the ‘eventail’ on a climbing 45 degree line (source Better Aerobatics, Alan Cassidy).

As said in other threads the more spin resistant an aircraft is, the more difficult it might be to recover from a fully developed stable autorotation spin. Hence most GA aircraft with spin resistant designs are not put through full spin testing, including the Cirrus which has only been tested to the incipient stage in Europe. The Cirrus safety package combining CAPS and a spin resistant design seems to be a natural advance in safety engineering. Pilots who argue it is unrecoverable in a spin are missing the point, there are probably dozens of GA types which may be more ‘unrecoverable’ (I can think of a couple) in a spin, but these types like the Cirrus are not approved for spinning. Please read the instructions booklet before operating.

Charles Lindbergh is affectionately known as the first Cirrus pilot as he had to use a parachute on four occasions, one of which was an unrecoverable spin.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

@Peter

the fatality was the one where the chute was released at 300 KIAS. All the injuries happened i cases where CAPS was released outside the system’s envelope (135 KIAS, 500 ft AGL)

Flyer59 wrote:

All the injuries happened i cases where CAPS was released outside the system’s envelope (135 KIAS, 500 ft AGL)

Quote from the NTSB report about the second fatal accident I linked to a few posts ago (the Indianapolis one):

The altitude at system activation indicated by the PFD data was about 1340 feet msl (528 feet agl).

Last Edited by Rwy20 at 14 Dec 10:42

This is what I found on COPA about this accident. 528 ft AGL is actually not below the minimum CAPS altitude. There was one at 400 ft AGL without injuries.

CAPS event #9, Aug 2006, Indianapolis, IN (CAPS Save #8, parachute observed not fully deployed)

1 fatality, 3 serious injuries; Factors: IMC, loss of control, stall/spin descent; Activation: low altitude; 528 feet AGL in 100 knot spin (3-1/2 turns) just 4 seconds prior to impact, well below design parameters for survivable CAPS deployment, first activation of CAPS by non-pilot; Weather: IMC; Landing: water, pond among residential housing

This is the first fatal one:

CAPS event #5, Feb 2005, Norden, CA (not CAPS Save, parachute separated from airframe)

1 fatality; Factors: severe icing at 16,000’ over Sierra mountains, high speed descent well above Vne of 204 knots; Activation: uncertain if intentional activation or due to airframe stress in high speed descent, located along track to crash site; Weather: IMC, icing; Landing: high speed impact in mountainous area

What about N147KA?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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