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ACRO E-mail Archive Thread: accidents & parachutes

Thread: accidents & parachutes

Message: accidents & parachutes

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From: steve coan <scoan at mail.flnet.com>

Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 16:22:47 UTC

Message:

  My condolances go out to Rick's family. We all know how hard it is to loose
a loved one. Perhaps it's our selfeshness of continuing to want them around
and refusing to allow them to be realeased. I feel Rick will is somewhere
else now...somewhere better than here - and in that context, I am happy for him.

Regarding fatal accidents that might be preventable, I believe it's about
time that power ( and glider ) aerobatic pilots look into the possibility of
a Ballistic Recovery Chute. I had a friend loose his wings in a Polish Kobuz
aerobatic glider at the World Glider Aerobatic Championships in Hockenheim,
Germany in 1989. That wouldn't have happened had his ship been equiped with
a BRS. Several soaring glider pilots have also lost their lives by not
having the alternative given by a BRS. In fact, The German equivilent of the
FAA will be making it mandatory for German manufacturers of sailplanes to
equip the new designs with a BRS !The Genisis sailplane comes with a BRS as
standard equipment. The WINDEX 1200 C motorglider kit comes with the BRS as
an option. You pilots out there should think about it! I have and am
installing a BRS into my WINDEX aerobatic motor-glider. BRS's have saved
about 80 lives so far. I am not a dealer of the system, only an advocate for
an alternate ( and additional ) choice to the standard parachute. "Saves"
have been made as low as 200 agl. I know that my peace of mind as well as
that of my family deserves and demands this extra bit of safety.

If anyone is interested in incorporating a BRS into their mount, you may
contact Dan Johnson  at  BRS ,1845 Henry Av.; South St. Paul, MN
55075-3541;phone: (612) 457-7491; FAX: (612) 457-8651. 

Time has come for an alternate form of protection from a fatal crash. We
must leave no stone unturned!

Steve Coan
WINDEX 1200 C