> Here's some points which are enough to convince me that a BRS isn't the

 answer for me:

 1. A BRS will wreck your plane if you ever have the misfortune to land
 under it. They come down very quickly. As such it will save your ass at
 the cost of the plane (a fair bargain, I guess). You will probably
 receive fairly serious injuries though. Is it better to be dead or to
 have a broken back (and no airplane)?

A BRS is to save you (and your pax's) lives only - who cares about the
airplane at that point...

 >

 2. If the wind is blowing 20kts, you'll land at 20kts, with *zero*
 control.

 3. If the wind is blowing 20kts, and your stall speed is 40kts, you'll
 land at 20kts, in control, whereever you choose. Of course, if your
 stall speed is 100kts or more and you have a poor glide ratio (as I
 imagine a Moller skycar would be), then you'd be landing at 80kts and
 not have a lot of choice of landing site.

20 kts vs. 80 kts. - the difference in energy (and survivability) is
just unbelievable...
That's why the FAA sets the 62 kt. stall speed.

 > 4. A BRS isn't deployable below 500ft (IIRC).

There's been a few successful deployments as low as 300 ft. AGL - of
course, BRS doesn't say that it will work that low - but what are the
alternatives?

 > 5. If you've had some kind of inflight structural failure, why wouldn't

 the shock of the BRS opening pull itself out of the airframe? Leaving
 you with *less* structure to try and land the plane.

The install diagram/photos I've seen all attach to primary structure
- engine mount,
main spar, etc. I did hear of one (sailplane or homebuilt?) case
where a wing failed
and the parts fouled the chute, so it failed.

 > 6. Most engine failures are caused by running out of fuel. Therefore it

 would be a lot more sensible to carry an extra fuel tank than a BRS. Or
 learn to do a proper pre-flight and flight plan.

Yes, a BRS isn't meant to replace good piloting - just to give you a
last chance.
Two people I knew died because of bad/no rollover structure - 1 in a formula
car and 1 in an airplane. Physics always wins over denial...

Take-off engine failure, night or IFR, overwater - these are some of
the reasons
a BRS is important to me. I wouldn't spend the weight (and money)
otherwise.

It is just another option - you don't have to use it - a Cirrus had a
engine failure
and the pilot landed it in a field just fine withoutdeploying the
chute. Just my  $.01.

Regards,
James

 
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