How many have a BRS ?

[motoadve]

Are they reliable?I have heard about a few malfunctions , like when the Cessna 162 was being tested went into an irrecoverable spin and the test pilot pulled the BRS didnt work and had to jump off the plane with a regular parachute.

Im thinking of buying a BRS, is a last chance card in case everything goes wrong, many people specially in GA planes are against them.

But I read the 4 times were used in the Cirrus it worked.

My instructor for example who flies both GA and ultralights is totally in favor

Wanted to hear the opinions here.

[jrthomas]

Lot's of pilots have back up things like radios,GPS's and fuel pumps. My opinion is if it makes you feel better, do it. For me personally, I don't do aerobatics and I have confidence that my plane is solid, I'd rather take my chance of making a controlled landing into the place of my choice. I know some will say we don't always have those choices. Any thing can happen but you can't possibly be prepared for every possible situation. I believe in taking reasonable precaution but if I wanted to play it completely safe I'd stay on the ground. With my luck I'll probably end up run over by a dump truck. Also I have to consider the cost and weigh the possible benifits. So my answer is "NO" I don't have a BRS. I should have just said that to start with, Right?

[Skybolt]

I know of two guys that had the BRS system installed.
Good friend took off on first flight stalled at end of runway. Wing droped went into a spin. Did not employ his BRS.
It did not help him.

One other guy went flying in his ultra light. Had trouble with a wing, used his BRS and landed safely.

If you got it; use it.

[SkyPirate]

you have got to have at least 800 foot altitude on the lighter capacity (1200 lbs or less)BRS's for it to deploy,..and if you deploy it ,..you chance of going into the trees is the same,..the only real advantage of a BRS is if you have structural failure,..and deploy it immediately..if you can fight the G's and pull the D ring..or "T handle " in the case of the BRS.

I have installed them on lighter aircraft for weight issues,..I figured if I've got to ad 16 lbs to meet W&B ..might as well add a BRS..
Now if you install it ..you have to maintain it,..different BRS systems have different maintenance schedules,..rocket deployed..canister or soft packs..etc.
The web site for BRS chutes the last I looked at it..shows a deployment ..but on the ground .. not in actual flight conditions ..but they do have some stories posted of individuals using them in flight.

Chase

My old kitfox 2 had one in it .. the one in my profile photo.

I'd like to add,..on a GA airplane ..installation of a BRS is different,..they not only have to install it ..but put it in a place where it is not going to change the flight characteristics..which is ussually with in the fuselage..now ..they have got to either install a hatch for deployment ..or perferate the skin for the rocket to successfully exit the fuselage,(unless your flying a piper p-18 or something with fabric covered fuselage)without damaging the Chute..the area's to mount the sling/harness is another issue,..your strongest points on the GA aircraft are the wing mount points,..now route the sling/harness so it will successfully deploy bit not have a part of the aircraft interfer it's deployment..
BRS has it's hands full to retro fit there system to GA aircraft..no so with an experimental,..if in fact the decision to install a BRS is pre construction of the Experimental aircraft. but no limited to pre..it can be added post.

[Slyfox]

Gee, for those guys that go under 800ft all the time, that BRS is useless. .

The other day I was coming in to land and I got a good vibration under my feet. I thought, oh my. It lasted about 60 seconds, but you get the picture, I was over the city and a bunch of things crossed my mind. I decided to lower the rpms and than raised them back up. Engine seemed just fine. In fact, I have been getting some vibration for some time but this was concerning. Than it quit, nice and smooth. better than it has been. I put in a new motor in january. So what's going on. I landed and looked under the plane. Guess what, my radiator bottom plate broke off at the passenger side and the plate was hanging down, that's hanging down about 2ft. Walla, I found my vibration. don't you think.

Would have been pretty stupid to deploy a BRS on that one. That's how scared I was with the vibration, by the way.

[jsimmo97]

Steve... not sure what your point is. Like airbags in a car... there is a time to use them and a time not to but that shouldn't preclude you from using all available resources when necessary.

Thanks for sharing your opinion though.

[Slyfox]

I was busy with other things at the same time I wrote it, so bear with me.

I remember back to the Cirrus airplanes that the pilots pulled the rip cord when they could have done other things. Like not flying in known icing, or just pulling because they were scared.

The first one was do to the fact that many of the kitfox's like to fly low, so that may not be feasable at all.

On my account, sometimes we loose reality when something happens and pulling the cord becomes a reality when we can do with out it.

Personally I feel flying the plane to the ground gives many options, more than pulling the cord, mainly because you don't know where you will end up, on top of a tree 150ft up, I think you get the picture.

If you do get a BRS, please go over in you mind the times that you will use it, and be very smart about it.

[zadwit]

In April 2017 a Titan tornado took off from Spanway Washington. At about 100 ft the plane started to roll right and the the pilot realize the ailerons were not connected. As he rolled past 90 degrees he deployed the chute. The kevlar bridle wrapped up in the prop so it lowerd theplane nose first into the dirt and he broke both ankles but survived and otherwise unsurvivalbe event.
1) midairs, (2) failure of flight controls(3) loss of control vfr into IMC, are just some of the reasons to have a BRS in the plane, not just for structural failure.
(4) engine failure over hostile terrain large rocks and tall trees....

[avidflyer]

Wonder if the Titan pilot's pre flight involved only removing the safety pin from the BRS.....JimChuk

[SkyPirate]

I am going by what I read concerning the BRS as for the 800 foot minimum,..as for quote" How aobut a prop breaking and ripping the engine from the plane, rendering it unflyable,end quote" ..I would classify that as structural failure,..
I never said a BRS wasn't a good thing,..I've owned a few planes/ultralights with BRS's in them ..never had to use one (knocks on wood) didn't get a warm and fuzzy feeling because it was on the plane ..but you can bet if I had structural failure I'd be pulling the rip chord no matter what the altitude if there was a BRS on board ..there is always the chance you will get lucky and the deployment will open the canopy to full ,..short of the 800 foot altitude that's recommended for deployment,..maybe the manufacturers listed the 800 foot altitude because they had to present a number?

Chase