Anybody remember the Gemini program Astronaut movie (The rite stuff?) . The first crew examined the first capsule and ask where the manual flight controls were, then went on strike. The monkey made the first hop, but the pilots (Astronauts) got their way.
Aye, not sure I would put my arse in that little drone or whatever they call it. Sure, a bunch of Chinese wiz-kids come up with a model aircraft, steered by computers and fancy lines of code that is supposed to transport you from home to office and back Jetson style. (My iPad Air stalls out occasionally, just stops working. Have to turn it off, then back on to get going. Not sure I want to ride on similar technology 1000 feet above the ground) When that thing falls out of the sky there is no gliding like a fixed wing aircraft, nor any auto-rotation like a helicopter. Any fall from more that 6 feet will probably break your back even with a shock absorbing seat, that is, if you are lucky enough to hit terra-firma right side up. Up side down or sideways 2 or 3 feet, perhaps more with a crash helmet and a carbon fiber cage with airbags. Call me a sceptic, but after 38 years piloting airplanes for a living, I have seen enough to stay away from a "manned drone" unless it was tested for years and approved by the FAA for commercial passenger transport with multiple back up systems.
From less than 1000 feet, NOT sure about that. Once a rotor fails and the unit tumbles, NO chute can clear, deploy and save the stupid kid inside. This is nice to spend some R&D time (OPMs) on. I'd rather strap on a jet pack.
Good idea Lars, but them parachutes need at least 500 feet to open and to slow the impact. If the China-copter goes tits up at 200 feet, you will ride it all the way down and hit the ground @ 200 km/hr. Barely enough time to bend over and kiss your arse goodbye.. My first and last jump was from 3000' chute opened okay, but broke shattered and twisted my left ankle. October 10th 1982, tried to forget a girl that dumped me so I took up parachute jumping instead. It did solve the girlfriend problem, never thought of her again, but got steel and screws in my foot, and now it is acting up some 34 years later, arthritis, inflammation, pain, etc. That being said, she was good in the sack, really good...
You obviously forgot the first rule of flying in an airplane. NEVER jump from a perfectly good one. Rule two, Never think about girls when doing stupid things. Rule three, When in doubt, stay in the sack. Rule four, if still confused, restart at rule two and continue till a light (somewhere) comes bright. I'm afraid Lars flys one of those Mooney's and still trying to justify the extra (chute) expense.
You fly a Mooney Lars? 201 or 231? I flew a few Mooneys, among them a rare bird called a Mooney Mustang. That would be 36 years ago. Jeez, time flies...
I was making fun. I've been in a few Mooneys. Pretty fast. I had heard of their built in chutes and thought I'd have some fun from his post of his plane chute post above.
Aye, you are probably talking wrong airplane? Meh thinks the Cirrus machines have a built in chute, not Mooneys...? I could Google to make sure, but I have not been wrong in 2 weeks so there.
Cirrus have the built in parachutes from BRS Aerospace. They made it famous, but the system is available for other aircraft as well, from ultralights to Cessna 172/182s . And they can be deployed and useful at far less than 1000 feet.
Wonder what the Low Altitude record for deployment is..? If any craft needs those things it would be the V-tail Bonanza and the MU-2s. Not that the airplanes are bad, but a string of accidents occurred due to pilot problems. A last minute parachute could have saved life's.
Well. If you talk to my second wife,, I was always wr,, wro,,, wronnnn,,,, Incorrect. However, I'm just some owners friend and ride, hold on, and try to pick up on what they talk about. I do remember a Mooney flight from Treasure Kay to PBI. Only a right side door and darn fast. Half the time of the usual 182s. Before we raid another post, if we continue on this, lets open another thread.
Concerning the MU-2: after numerous full FAA reviews of the aircraft, it was determined the type had a training problem, not a design problem. In 2008, the FAA issued a Specian Federal Air Regulation (SFAR) that essentially mandated a Type Rating and recurrent annual training in order to fly the aircraft. Since the SFAR, the MU-2 has become (statistically), the safest Part 91 turboprop flying. Being a long time MU-2 pilot (on my second aircraft), I squealed like a stuck pig when the SFAR came down. However, I will now concede it's the best thing that ever happened for the type.