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Small planes have had parachutes for quite some time [1] now and have saved many lives. Why on earth would this company put people up into the air unmanned with

Small planes have had parachutes for quite some time [1] now and have saved many lives. Why on earth would this company put people up into the air unmanned without one? [Personally, if a parachute was onboard I wouldn't mind jumping into one.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQyrPVIIQdE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQyrPVIIQdE

lallysingh 9y ago
AFAIK it's basically just Cirrus that has a parachute system (CAPS in their case). Others don't, and there are plenty of other plane manufacturers with many, many planes in the air.
- dingaling 9y ago
  Cirrus were a pioneer in factory-fitting but other types, even microlights, are also fitted with recovery systems. Magnum is a common brand in Europe. BRS who make the CAPS for Cirrus also provide retrofit kits for Cessna 172 and 182.
willglynn 9y ago
> [Personally, if a parachute was onboard I wouldn't mind jumping into one.] The cabin opens in a clamshell fashion and that appears to be the only way in or out. Opening the canopy mid-flight would probably result in shearing it off once it catches even a small amount of air. From there, you're left with exit point that's ahead of the wing, ahead of the main propeller, and ahead of the rather wide tail section. Maybe you'd be clear if you hugged the bottom of the door and kind of… rolled underneath at exit? As a skydiver who's exited all sorts of planes in all sorts of ways, I would rather take my chances landing with that plane. -- Edit: on further review, I believe you mean "if the aircraft were equipped with CAPS, I wouldn't mind flying in one" as opposed to "if the aircraft came with a bail-out rig, I wouldn't mind strapping it on". Nevermind :-)
- danielvf 9y ago
  The Cirrus has a whole aircraft parachute - you can see it used here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J94sGh8fQN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J94sGh8fQN8
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - willglynn 9y ago
    Oops, I mis-read the comment. Edited to clarify.
- ransom1538 9y ago
  Yeah. Check out the video I linked. No one is taking about jumping out of planes.
- JoeDaDude 9y ago
  As a skydiver, and expecting to see this thing in the small airports where I jumped, I wonder if the autopilot has been trained to avoid open parachutes.
- jandrese 9y ago
  Maybe if you had the thing switch to hover mode and then jumped off of the front? I agree that jumping out while it is moving is suicidal. The CAPS system makes the most sense, especially given the intended market of "person with cell phone and lots of cash to burn". They would be seriously limiting their clients if they required everyone to be jump certified.
rorosaurus 9y ago
That's still very much a premium feature and not at all commonplace, based on my friends with PPL and the trade shows I've been to.
jessriedel 9y ago
As mentioned in another HN thread, the Cirrus system is certainly spectacular, but it is heavy, requires a $15k repack every 10 years, and doesn't prevent a large fraction of accident types (e.g., an uncontrolled spin). They are most necessary for private (human) pilots who are the most dangerous kind. It's plausible that the increased safety from an autonomous system will make parachute systems unnecessary, but you'd have to dig into the statistics.

lallysingh 9y ago

AFAIK it's basically just Cirrus that has a parachute system (CAPS in their case). Others don't, and there are plenty of other plane manufacturers with many, many planes in the air.

dingaling 9y ago
Cirrus were a pioneer in factory-fitting but other types, even microlights, are also fitted with recovery systems. Magnum is a common brand in Europe. BRS who make the CAPS for Cirrus also provide retrofit kits for Cessna 172 and 182.

willglynn 9y ago

> [Personally, if a parachute was onboard I wouldn't mind jumping into one.] The cabin opens in a clamshell fashion and that appears to be the only way in or out. Opening the canopy mid-flight would probably result in shearing it off once it catches even a small amount of air. From there, you're left with exit point that's ahead of the wing, ahead of the main propeller, and ahead of the rather wide tail section. Maybe you'd be clear if you hugged the bottom of the door and kind of… rolled underneath at exit? As a skydiver who's exited all sorts of planes in all sorts of ways, I would rather take my chances landing with that plane. -- Edit: on further review, I believe you mean "if the aircraft were equipped with CAPS, I wouldn't mind flying in one" as opposed to "if the aircraft came with a bail-out rig, I wouldn't mind strapping it on". Nevermind :-)

danielvf 9y ago
The Cirrus has a whole aircraft parachute - you can see it used here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J94sGh8fQN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J94sGh8fQN8
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- willglynn 9y ago
  Oops, I mis-read the comment. Edited to clarify.
ransom1538 9y ago
Yeah. Check out the video I linked. No one is taking about jumping out of planes.
JoeDaDude 9y ago
As a skydiver, and expecting to see this thing in the small airports where I jumped, I wonder if the autopilot has been trained to avoid open parachutes.
jandrese 9y ago
Maybe if you had the thing switch to hover mode and then jumped off of the front? I agree that jumping out while it is moving is suicidal. The CAPS system makes the most sense, especially given the intended market of "person with cell phone and lots of cash to burn". They would be seriously limiting their clients if they required everyone to be jump certified.

rorosaurus 9y ago

That's still very much a premium feature and not at all commonplace, based on my friends with PPL and the trade shows I've been to.

jessriedel 9y ago

As mentioned in another HN thread, the Cirrus system is certainly spectacular, but it is heavy, requires a $15k repack every 10 years, and doesn't prevent a large fraction of accident types (e.g., an uncontrolled spin). They are most necessary for private (human) pilots who are the most dangerous kind. It's plausible that the increased safety from an autonomous system will make parachute systems unnecessary, but you'd have to dig into the statistics.