THE Ultimate Safety System - Recovery Parachute?
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Age: 76
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There's something else on that list for the Cirrus, the last item, which refers, I believe, to a sort of shoulder harness with an airbag built in. (Some airliners use that for these new seats that are off-axis, the luxury ones that lie flat.)
Weren't they trying airbags for attack helicopters recently?
I think that many manufacturers are trying to find ways to make their products more user-friendly and inherently safer, aircraft included.
I recently renewed my CFI in the States, when I was surprised to see all the new categories for recreational pilot licences. The idea of skill levels below the FAA PPL seems a bit odd to me, but hey, it gets more guys into the air!
You can see a certain level of friction here, I think, with many people being a bit sceptical about the R-22 and R-44 as not being 'proper' helicopters in some essential ways. All I can say is that I don't really like to see things held together with blind rivets, but that might be just being old-fashioned.
When you combine the low-skilled licence and the cheap airframe then you do seem to get a certain sort of accident, though. With you guys it seems to be, typically, mast-bumping and with us it seems to be operating beyond one's skill level. That could be the same thing, perhaps.
There's a new kind of entrepreneur around who looks at aviation as a pure business opportunity. You build something to a price, market it 'so' and make big bucks. The idea of backing way off to take a careful look at what sort of trouble your new class of customer can get into doesn't seem to come into that. There has always been the dream of an aerial vehicle as simple to operate as a family car. Of course most people don't stop to think just how dangerous even the family car can be!
Some of the high-profile accidents seem to be people buying into this dream and then getting themselves into big trouble, so that I wonder if the FAA will move to tighten up the rules again, reversing what seems to be the trend.
Soon there shall be a lot of VLJ (Very Light Jet) aircraft coming to market, perfect for your hard-charging executive types, or so it would seem. It may turn out to be the modern version of the old joke about how if there weren't so many doctors then the airport ramps would be crammed with Beech Bonanzas!
From the professional pilot's point of view, without wishing anyone to come to harm, I think it's clear that we would like the dream of owner-flown business aircraft to remain just that!
Weren't they trying airbags for attack helicopters recently?
I think that many manufacturers are trying to find ways to make their products more user-friendly and inherently safer, aircraft included.
I recently renewed my CFI in the States, when I was surprised to see all the new categories for recreational pilot licences. The idea of skill levels below the FAA PPL seems a bit odd to me, but hey, it gets more guys into the air!
You can see a certain level of friction here, I think, with many people being a bit sceptical about the R-22 and R-44 as not being 'proper' helicopters in some essential ways. All I can say is that I don't really like to see things held together with blind rivets, but that might be just being old-fashioned.
When you combine the low-skilled licence and the cheap airframe then you do seem to get a certain sort of accident, though. With you guys it seems to be, typically, mast-bumping and with us it seems to be operating beyond one's skill level. That could be the same thing, perhaps.
There's a new kind of entrepreneur around who looks at aviation as a pure business opportunity. You build something to a price, market it 'so' and make big bucks. The idea of backing way off to take a careful look at what sort of trouble your new class of customer can get into doesn't seem to come into that. There has always been the dream of an aerial vehicle as simple to operate as a family car. Of course most people don't stop to think just how dangerous even the family car can be!
Some of the high-profile accidents seem to be people buying into this dream and then getting themselves into big trouble, so that I wonder if the FAA will move to tighten up the rules again, reversing what seems to be the trend.
Soon there shall be a lot of VLJ (Very Light Jet) aircraft coming to market, perfect for your hard-charging executive types, or so it would seem. It may turn out to be the modern version of the old joke about how if there weren't so many doctors then the airport ramps would be crammed with Beech Bonanzas!
From the professional pilot's point of view, without wishing anyone to come to harm, I think it's clear that we would like the dream of owner-flown business aircraft to remain just that!
