>the letter of the FAR says each occupant must wear a personal parachute, >and a reserve chute, etc.... >Ballistic chute is viewed like a fire extinguisher, additional safety >equipment.
Sounds like a case where the FARs haven't caught up with technology and are due for reconsideration. Since it's fairly well agreed that it is quite a task to get out of a tight cockpit under extreme duress, it would seem to be easier and safer to yank a BRS deployment handle and ride a broken airplane to the ground than it would be to try to get out of one that's quickly headed down. Only exception might be if the plane were on fire... Oscar Zuniga San Antonio, TX mailto: taildr...@hotmail.com website at http://www.flysquirrel.net
