Seems that the discussion became quite expansive in the past few hours. Good to see. Let me go back to something that merits discussion.
Originally Posted by Pace
you have failed to discuss that concern or the effects of winds on descending aircraft under a chute.
You presume in the case of an engine failure that the aircraft will descend vertically at 25 mph ( I use mph to compare car speeds) you presume a still Day !
Take a windy day say 40 mph winds does your advice hold true to pull the chute in the event of engine failure?
You will now descend at 25 mph but travel horizontally at speed slamming into hard objects at speeds which in a car could kill you and under no control from you the pilot. You would experience not just a descent impact but a forward impact too.
Has happened. Luna, NM, was a parachute pull with winds aloft over 30 knots. Surface winds were not measurable in that uninhabited area, but presumed to be quite high. We have recorded data from that pull. The plane descended at 1700 fpm (17 knots or 20 mph) as expected. The plane moved backwards (tail first) with the prevailing winds and struck trees and then flipped over. The pilot wisely placed his hand on the cockpit headliner and released his seat belt then walked out of the wreckage uninjured.
Cirrus considered occupant safety in their cockpit design, which helps avoid injury in the event of a ground impact, both under canopy vertically and crash landing horizontally. The side yoke removes the potential for impaling injury (vs center yoke or center stick). The recessed instrument panel is padded and free of protrusions. All seats conform to the 26G test requirement. The four-point shoulder harnesses keep the occupant upright and restrained. The front seats contain 3-inch honeycomb energy absorption material for vertical forces, and the rear seats have an 8-inch compression zone under the floor.
Originally Posted by Pace
I know which option I would take on a windy day with half decent landing sites.
With a conventional forced landing you would use those winds to your advantage for low ground speed landings into wind and have control over not hitting hard stuff on the ground ! So on windy days do you still promote the idea of pulling the chute ?
Possibly.
However, consider the advice to pilots contemplating these decisions under stress of an emergency event from Dick McGlaughlin, who lost oil pressure while flying near the Bahamas and pulled the parachute handle and survived:
"Don't be sitting in your living room thinking well I've figured it out and I'm going to get it down, I've calculated the wind vectors -- YOU ARE NOT! You are going to be lucky to survive, and you are going to have to remember that you have that parachute!"
I did two things right
Full hour-long version of Dick's talk
COPA M10 Dick McGlaughlin keynote: Haiti, a Crash Course.
Originally Posted by mad_jock
Must admit I was chatting about this with the FO this morning. And he has just sent me this.
Cirrus Chute Deployment Fails Over Texas, Pilot Still Makes Safe Landing | Aero-News Network
Bit of a bastard but at least he got down safe. Bet he won't go near a thundercell again. To add I have never had a problem with steam instruments near cells. I have had EFIS give me black screens and standby instruments 4 times. I have 4 times as many hours on steam as I do on EFIS.
Interesting that the NTSB has opened an
investigation into this incident and invited the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association to send a party representative, me, along with the usual manufacturer investigators, airframe, rocket, parachute, etc. The NTSB Investigator in Charge authorized the following statement after the initial extensive examination that "No conclusive root cause has been identified." The investigation continues.
Cheers
Rick