Ooops! Forgot to put a link to the article I wrote about bailouts for
Sport Aerobatics last May: http://www.richstowell.com/bailout.htm

As for the discussion about the Beggs/Mueller "Hands-off" method for
spin recovery in this thread -- as Gene Beggs himself points out in
his recent publication, "Spins in the Pitts Special" (which is
available through the IAC at http://www.iac.org), the technique does
not work in a number of airplanes. Noteworthy examples: Beech T-34C,
Cessna 150/152 Aerobat and Commuter, T-6/SNJ, Decathlon in an inverted
spin.

Some have referred to the inverted spin in the Decathlon in the
Pacific NW a few years back where the "student" -- a commercial pilot
-- bailed out but the instructor didn't after a failed attempt to
recover from an inverted spin using the Beggs method. It appears clear
(based on reading the final NTSB report AND lengthy conversation with
the "student" from that accident) that this accident was a case of an
instructor applying a technique that works well in the Pitts to an
airplane which is known not to respond to the technique.

The instructor had a fair amount of Pitts time, but few hours in the
Decathlon. The demonstration was specifically geared toward seeing how
Beggs works from an inverted spin. The unfortunate part of all of this
was that, as they sat in the airplane with their hands off the stick
and full opposite rudder applied and held, the airplane just kept
spinning. All someone had to do was to grab the stick and give it a
tug back to neutral elevator and the spin would have stopped. At the
last, the front seater got out of the airplane, the instructor in the
back did not. The bailout was close enough to the ground that the
front seater landed about 50 feet from the airplane wreckage.
Miraculously, he survived.

Rich
http://www.richstowell.com


rich@richstowell.com (Rich Stowell) wrote in message news:<77e002cf.0203091902.2253ca00@posting.google.com>...
> >
> > Just out of curiousity, when was the last time an instructor/student
> > bailed out of an aerobatic trainer during basic training? (I ask because I
> > haven't heard of any such cases. I have heard of WWII era training
> > bailouts, usually after a midair.) I'm not talking about solo flying,
> > but dual instruction in basic aeros.
>
> For an article I did for last year's (2001) May Safety Issue of Sport
> Aerobatics, I found (21) accidents in the NTSB database wherein all on
> board were wearing parachutes BUT no bailout was made -- in all cases,
> NONE of these people survived -- all fatal as they rode the airplane
> into the ground while still strapped into their parachutes.
>
> On the other hand, another (50) accidents were found wherein those on
> board were wearing parachutes AND bailouts were attempted. Here, 83
> percent of those who bailed out survived (compared to ZERO survivors
> who elected not to bailout in the above-mentioned 21 accidents).
>
> Within these groups of accidents were a total of (4) cases where two
> people were on board, with both wearing parachutes. In two of these
> particular accidents, one on board managed to bail while the other did
> not -- the ones who bailed out survived, the ones who stayed in the
> airplanes were fatal. In the other two cases, both on board managed to
> bail out -- in both cases, both sets survived.
>
> Legalities aside, the decision to wear a parachute AND use it if the
> need be versus wearing a parachute and not using it when the need
> arises is clear -- don't use it when you should -- you die. Use it
> when the need arises, 83 percent chance of survival.
>
> Deciding not to wear a parachute in the first place is the same as
> wearing one and not using it if the need arises -- the final outcome
> will be the same in an accident.
>
> Be smart out there ... the parachute gives you a viable, survivable,
> often preferable option in an aerobatic emergency.
>
> Rich
> http://www.richstowell.com

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