As you are all probably aware, parachutes are required by the FAA for bank
angles in excess of 60 degrees and/or pitch attitudes in excess of 30
degrees.  Spin training is excepted, as are solo flights.  The IAC requires
parachutes for all competition flights.

As a result, those of us who commit aerobatics on a regular basis are used
to wearing parachutes pretty much every time we go up.  On the rare
occasions that I fly in a spam can it feels strange not to have my chute --
sort of like driving my car without the seat belt.

Hamid's sarcastic? insensitive? abrasive? comments notwithstanding, 400' AGL
is generally considered the final decision point for jumping vs. riding it
in.  This is based on the time it takes the chute to open, which does not
vary much based on airspeed.

You do need to be concerned about airspeed, however, as most mil-spec
reserve chutes are only rated to 135Kts if memory serves.  Any higher than
that and you may find yourself attached to a bunch of ribbons instead of a
canopy.  Some manufacturers build canopies that can open successfully at
much higher speed -- Butler chutes come to mind, and the Softie ram air
canopy.  These may be appropriate for any Lancair drivers who want to make
that particular safety investment.

As far as escaping from a plane in distress goes, circumstances obviously
vary widely.  A control failure may render an airplane unable to land but
relatively stable in flight.  (Recent example: Sean Tucker.)  In case of
fire or engine-out over hostile terrain, egress would usually be
straightforward.  Yes, if a wing falls off, you're definitely going to have
a difficult time getting out of the plane.  So no, a parachute is not silver
bullet.  But chutes can and do save lives.

This is obviously a highly personal decision, and for non-aerobatic types
there is no obvious "right answer".  To help with the decision process, let
me recommend some excellent articles by master rigger Allen Silver.  They
are on the web at: http://www.silverparachutes.com/wst_page11.html.

Regards,
DJ Molny, Extra 300L N133DF



-----Original Message-----
From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Hamid
A. Wasti
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:00 PM
To: Lancair Mailing List
Subject: [LML] Re: AW: MT-Propeller

Hamid Wasti wrote:
> Posted for Kevin Kossi <kevin@airforcemechanical.com>:
>   A parachute may have come in useful in this case!
>  
How so?  So the rescuers could use it to cover the body till the ME arrives?