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Old 11th Jun 2013, 13:26
  #328 (permalink)  
englishal

 
Join Date: May 2001
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Mariner exactly ! But it is the pilot flying within his and the aircrafts limits which is important! Natural caution in an in chuted aircraft and the pilot knows he could be dead ! In a chuted aircraft there is a way out which is being seen as very reliable so it's only natural pilots will push that bit further if they know a big mistake does not mean death!
You could argue the same about a Twin, or one with dual alternators, or dual vacuum system, or backup AI's etc.....I would never plan on a flight using a bit of emergency kit as part of the pre-flight planning i.e. I would never plan to fly over mountains, EXPECTING to have an emergency. But there would be no reason NOT to plan a flight across the mountains, at night, if you expected the weather to be ok and your equipment to remain operational. It would only be reckless if you had reason to expect your aircraft to fail.

However with experience one becomes more of a chicken. My buddy won't even fly across the channel in a SEP these days as he is used to twin turbojets . That is not to say that flying across the channel is stupid, or reckless, it just means that his personal limits are higher than mine. I'd mitigate the risk by carrying an EPIRB, ELT and a life raft and life jackets.
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