Ballistic Recovery System (BRS)

Is anyone out there installing a parachute system (BRS) in a 7? I thought I saw a post on here in the past, but cant find it now. I have been considering one , but it seems like alot of extra work.

I don't have the guys website address, although I researched it for several days.. yes he went through alot of extra work, it turned out pretty well considering he put the cords on the outside
of the craft, I wanted to do something like this, from the start, still learning
to fly, anyway his turned out exceptable to me, I just don't think the design
lends it self to our aircraft very well, vans may do something better on the
sportpilot plane like the zodiacs have a clean setup for them, no cables or
cords on the outside of the aircraft.. You can make it work , I didn't care
for the results.. Its a great idea though..

Danny

Not even considering it.

Extra weight, more cost, another "thing" to do and not really worth it to me.

The descent rate with the para deployed is kinda steep as I recall.

I seem to remember the benefit of this whole thing to be assuring the ship's return to earth with the greasy side down.

I plan on being able to handle that on my own with a shallower descent rate and without the para.

Anyone??

CJ

IMHO, the only time that I could see a BRS being of use is if you have a midair or some catastrophic airframe failure. Both of which are not very common if you review the NTSB accident reports.

Stall spin accidents are much more prone to happen and are more common while in the pattern....read that at lower altitudes. A BRS down low will not be of much help. Like John said, flying the airplane to the ground in an emergency is a better option. Be prepared, be trained, and FLY THE AIRPLANE in an emergency. Also build your RV per plans and don't fly it outside its (or your) performance envelope.

Just my two cents.

Regards,

Check out this web site - looks like a BRS system on a 7A:

http://rvparachutes.com/


I agree with the above posts; in addition, a midair collision would likely render the system unusable if it broke the attach points, cut the lines to the chute, or damaged the rocket.

Thomas
-8 empennage
wings ordered...

This is in no way intended to badmouth those that have installed BRS systems. The pics I've seen of Chuck's plane are really impressive and I admire the ingenuity; however, I've read over many accounts of BRS "saves" and can't help but feel that had the added cost of the chute been used for other things, the BRS would never have been needed. For example, I read of one case where a pilot fired the rocket after getting into the soup and getting behind in some way. Yes, things worked out ok with the chute, but it could have gone VERY badly had they floated down onto an expressway or lake. Suppose the thousands spent for the chute had been spent on an additional rating or in-flight weather instruments. Look at the situations where a chute would be needed and ask if more safety couldn't be had for less money/trouble by spending on training, robust plumbing, rock-solid engine, engine monitor, etc.

Again, kudos to all who experiment!

Steve Zicree

I feel the same way about BRS systems that I do about the air bombs in my car. Why do you want to sit so close to a pyrotechnic device? More so when sitting on top of all that fuel?