Gliders & Parachutes

[vjmehra]

Wow, thanks for the suggestions, looks like a few useful options!

[A and C]

Just for the record there is a gliding club at Booker, Train to high Wycombe and Bus to the airfields gate !

[wrecker]

I stand to be corrected but I think "the Caterpillar Club" is for an emergency parachute descent using an Irving Chute

[GAZSD]

Minimum height

100m metres is min deployment height for many chutes and that will put you on the ground with chute safely fully deployed

I know of others where the minimum deployment height is only 60 metres

You pays yer money and takes your choice

Richard

[thing]

I think the chances of getting out of a glider are considerably higher than getting out of a spamcan. Flying both, I would feel distinctly naked without a 'chute in a glider yet it doesn't bother me at all not wearing one in a spammy. Weird.

I think glider 'chutes are fast deployment as well. Don't ask me how or what the difference between that and an ordinary 'chute is; I just wear 'em.

[vjmehra]

Yep, presumably the canopy can be opened quickly and that makes it a hell of a lot easier to get out, than out of a side door in a hurry, with the airframe tumbling towards the ground!!

[treadigraph]

If you want to see an example of a low exit and fast 'chute deployment, look up Rob Davies' jump from the Mustang at Duxford in 2011 which is a classic. Mid-air with a Skyraider at, what, 700'?, bail out at 500', full canopy at perhaps 200 or 250'. Quick decision to abandon, superfast deployment of the kit.

[thing]

Bit OT but further to the last post I remember when I was in the mob reading an accident report on a Gnat (yes I'm that old..) that said if the pilot had ejected a third of a second later he would have been killed....

I also remember a Jag having badly rigged controls that entered a slow roll directly after take off, the pilot had the presence of mind to wait until it had done almost one complete roll before he pulled the handle otherwise he would have fired himeself into the deck...I bet that seemed like the longest slow roll in history.

[POBJOY]

Caterpillar Club

Caterpillar Club = Irvin Equipment
" " with diamond eyes = " " & a/c on fire

Goldfish Club = P B Cow* Ltd Dinghies L-Jackets

No doubt many had all three !!

Better Known for the Li-Lo Air bed.

[Heady1977]

So there you go, parachutes in gliders a good idea. Would they let you carry your parachute on board an airliner? It might upset the other passengers.....

I carried a parachute onto a commercial jet to Spain last year... with no problems. Was glider flying at Jaca and was rung up by the club a day before I left - was subsequently told that there had been an accidental deployment of a chute by one of the members in the previous group and they now had no spares. Would I be able to take one with me? Wore the parachute as a backpack through check-in, (didn't want the chute tampered with or left out in the elements so elected to take it hand luggage), had it weighed, scanned at security, and boarding of a well known British airline. Stowed the parachute in its bag in the overhead bins. Then wore the parachute as a backpack from disembarkation through luggage collection, through immigration and into the arrivals hall. No-one battered an eye.

[India Four Two]

Heady,

You were lucky. Obviously no one recognized it for what it was. I was once carrying a Security 150 (in its bag) and I was required to check it in.

[Heady1977]

I was once carrying a Security 150 (in its bag) and I was required to check it in.

Maybe I was lucky. My experience was in the UK at Heathrow - other countries and airports may be different.
I also understand that the UK over does most rules. I did expect being interrogated/questioned - but was not.

Carrying parachutes on aircraft as hand luggage is allowed in the security conscious USA - so I couldn't see why it would not be allowed in the UK (I could not find equivalent advice specifically for the UK).
http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downlo...20Dec%2009.pdf
U.S. Parachute Association > USPA Members > Membership > Travel > Within the U.S.

Edit: This was not the airline I traveled with but after an internet search found this:
Can I bring a Parachute?

[Thecope]

AAIB website

A search for Glider on the AAIB website and you'll find número use ones that have used a parachut

[abgd]

I think I'd be alarmed to have a Puma helicopter land by me before I'd gathered up my parachute, and even if I'd stepped out of the harness... I would have thought any sensible helicopter pilot would also want to keep well clear. Or perhaps it looked different at the time?

[BackPacker]

Why are we discussing whether parachutes are allowed in hand luggage? Of course they are, assuming they fall within the weight and size limits for hand luggage in general. How would a terrorist make use of a parachute to hijack a plane?

In 1971 there was a guy who extorted $200.000 and subsequently jumped from a 727 (rear airstair) in-flight. As a result of that, the 727 is now equipped with a vane that prevents opening of the airstair in-flight. All other doors of airliners are constructed so that they cannot conceivably be opened in-flight. So this type of hijack/extortion/"terrorist attack" is no longer possible.

D. B. Cooper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The only provision, as mentioned in the Ryanair page, is that your parachute cannot have any pyrotechnics or such incorporated.

[Anywings]

re parachutes on planes

Bill Waterton (I think it was) wrote in his book that he'd delivered a Meteor to Egypt and caught a commercial flight home; one of the passengers seeing the parachute he was carrying 'looked perplexed', so he winked back and said "I know the pilot..."