Ballistic chutes

[Guest jhonan]

Deployment Height

 

Regarding deployment height:

 

"While personnel parachutes (worn by the pilot) require a minimum of 800-1,000 feet for full deployment, Mercer was able to deploy at less than 150 feet and survive without injury."

 

 

 

http://www.ultralightnews.ca/brs/saves/123.htm

 

 

 

'the joystick "went soft" in his hands and failed to control the aircraft. The weld had failed and the pilot found himself holding the vital control stick in his hand.'

 

 

Jamie

 

 

[Guest RLP]

Don't know about being in an aircraft with a chute out but I can tell you what happens when you depart an aircraft with a working one on your back - you float gracefully to the ground ( sort of ). Is it optional for aeros'? Gliders at Kingaroy used to have them but I dont know whether they are used these days. Strong, among others, make seat and slim pack chutes, so if you got the height but not enough wings, you can still get back ok.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

500 FT is the minimum as taught in skydiving. But i have deployed from a exit height of 175ft with zero airspeed, opened in less than 50ft.

 

i prefer to wear one and will not hesitate to use it no matter what height if the situation was dire.

 

Rule 1 never ever ever give up

 

Rule 2 never go in with a with a packed canopy

 

Ozzie

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

If needed i have copies of owners and packing manuals for the 'Bullet" range of recovery systems. These are spring loaded pilot chute systems manufactured by Parachutes Australia from 1985.

 

Ozzie

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

I know a fair bit about pyrotechnics having done an apprenticeship in this area several years ago. The BRS system is very much like a rocket flare (distress signal) that people use on board boats etc. Basically there is a firing mechanism (a trigger if you like), once the safety pin is pulled yes, it is armed but you must pull that trigger/mechanism in a BRS to make the primer fire (primary charge) to ignite the rocket (secondary) fuel. The BRS system has the same material, a dry fast burning propellant as has a rocket flare. The chances of this going off without the primary charge are virtually zero. I have not heard of too many airbags going off in cars willy nilly. There needs to be a significant impact, ie, aboce 60 km/h to trigger that primary charge. So for those worried about premature firing (in a BRS that is) fear not. It won't go off (well should not theoretically) for no reason. Also believe they take quite a bit of elbow grease to fire once the pin is out. Be aware though on a bit of a different subject when approaching a downed aircraft. Usually the BRS is indicated by a 'danger zone' triangle. If this fires when you are close to it it does have the potential to kill you. Rocket charges release a massive amount of energy in microseconds.

 

 

[Guest RLP]

you a base jumper Ozzie, or did you just forget to tally up the take offs and landings?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I have my "BASE", completed it back in '89. Now it is a full blown sport with its own specific equipment. Glad i've outgrown it.

 

I have also test jumped a few of PA.'s pilot rigs and round reserves a few years before that.

 

Personal preferance is a SST Racer container and a 22' Featherlight round reserve.

 

I will consider changing the container to a 'Slimpack' for comfort reasons only in the near future.

 

Good debates on pyro types as they are fast for deploying a large canopy but are expensive to service and potentionally dangerous in other situations.

 

The downside of any backup system is that some may put to much faith in them. There are those who when faced with a situation may deploy it rather than follow the correct emergency procedures. If the aircraft is still controllable it may be better to fly the aircraft into adverse terrain ect rather than have no control of where or how you land under canopy. They are like a life raft, only to be used when the boat has slipped beneath the waves. You can take all the precautions you can. Have all the safety gear. But it all comes down to the operator to make the correct decision under intense pressure. Some do and some don't

 

Ozzie

 

 

[icebob]

I agree with ozzie, my background in parachutes is military and I have the slim pack he talked about, a very good unit however after about four hours of flying you tend to walk funny for a short while after. I would be hard pressed to exit an aircraft at altitdude if the airframe was relativly in tact.

 

Ballistic chute by their nature have a shelf life and as by the international explosive standards are classed as 1.4 they have at least a 5 year shelf life from date of manufacture, which may not be the same as date of assembly.

 

This class of explosive is fairly safe and the projectors(the explosive bit and the chute bit combined) themselves have two safety devices that are obvious, the first is some sort of safety bolt or interrupter between the pull handle and the main propellant/s, the other is the safety pin at the handle. There are also two more safety devices built in that may not be documented. The first is the grab handle pull weight may be set to 9,12,18 or 20 lbs pull and the other is bursting disc's or bursting areas within the projector.

 

The busting disc's or bursting area are there should the projector be subject to intense heat. The heat causes the solid explosive to turn to liquid(at its most dangerous) the liquid expands and either pushes out the chute or bursts the in built disc's or bursting area and all you get is a Roman Candle like effect.

 

one safety aspect not talked about is the enermy of all explosives, static electricity. In the litriture i have seen on these devices there is no or minimal information on this subject, it is critical more so than re-fueling.

 

I too am concerned that this device will be used in preference to flying the aircraft to the end.

 

 

[Guest RLP]

"...I would be hard pressed to exit an aircraft at altitdude if the airframe was relativly in tact...."

 

 

icebob, do you say that because you physically couldnt get out of the aircraft, or do you mean you just wouldn't exit while there was a chance you could fly it down?

 

 

[icebob]

OH, I'll have you know that belly bulge is just wind! ;) ha,ha, although someone told me once that when you brain gets full it goes to the belly:thumb_up:.

 

Actually I would try to fly it all the way.

 

 

[Guest RLP]

yep fair enough, i've been wracking my brain over a quote i read recently ( maybe in this forum or maybe in a magazine) where the writer talks about his willingness to bale if neccessary but as long as the aircraft had a viable airframe, he would pay it due respect and attempt to fly it in. As a non-pilot I can't hold a truly meaningful opinion on that, though it does seem to make a whole lot of sense.