Originally Posted by
MagnumPI
Serious question, please don’t shoot me down. I’ve been considering doing an aerobatics endo, does anyone use parachutes? Is it common or practically unheard of except in competitions and the like…?
Depends on what aircraft you do the spin/aerobatic endorsements in and where. I guess that the majority do not use parachutes in basic spin/aerobatic endorsement training.
If you are going to wear a parachute you need adequate training in its use plus the discipline of using it as briefed. Egress procedures must be rehearsed every flight.
To avoid jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane then you would need to do the training exercises high enough above your hard deck. Hard deck consideration needs to consider the type of aircraft and the time required for two people to get out.
Read the article on page 7 here
https://www.iac.org/files/magazines/SA_2011_05.pdf
In a Decathlon the instructor has to get the student to eject the door, student to get out first and then the instructor - that can use up a lot of altitude. I am aware of two fatal acccidents where parachutes have been used - in both cases only one person got out and the other did not.
In something like a Pitts my briefing is something like: I will say "bail out" three times and on the third time I won't be there. I am aware of fatal accidents where there had been sufficient height but the pilot left the decision too late.
Another consideration is weight and CG. Most aerobatic aircraft are fairly tight for useful load and some can be tight for loading within the allowable CG range.
Pay your money and take your pick.
https://www.airshows.aero/GetDoc/1470