Thread: Using the chute...

An ultralight was lost last weekend with 2 fatalities. I was at a party Saturday and got a firsthand account of the accident. The pilot, a seasoned 182 driver with only a small amount of ultralight experience, had turned to base, saw incoming traffic on long final, and then started a 360 to clear the traffic. He stalled and spun in.

His aircraft was equipped with a chute. He never pulled it. Eyewitnesses watched him struggle with the spin all the way to the ground. The lesson for us is when do we take our hand off the stick and pull the chute? I've been giving it quite a bit of thought.

Must be part of before landing check to be emotionally prepared to use a capability you can't actually practice with. Just like mental rehearsal/planning for loss of engine after takeoff.

It is a reminder that we have a great backup system for survival in our airplane, but it only works if you use it. Very sad. Also a good reminder to make sure and have your safety pin removed for flight, you want full access to the chute at anytime during flight without having to struggle to pull a pin out.

Eric

Seems this is partly the responsibility of the aircraft on "long final" that cut off the aircraft on base. The base aircraft was obviously lower, already established in the pattern. The aircraft on "long final" should have, at a minimum circled, or side stepped to an upwind when he noticed the other aircraft ahead of him in the pattern.

While it is legal to enter the pattern on any leg, you may not cut someone off no matter what leg you enter on. Just because you want to enter final, does not give you the right to cut someone off on base, or downwind. Also for most aircraft the "final" leg is not that long, about 1/2 mile at most, so when someone says there are in the pattern in a 182, on a 3 mile "final" they are not yet in the pattern, and must yield to other aircraft ahead of them, even if they are on base, or downwind.

It is dangerous to try and yield to an aircraft entering final when you are on base. As the example above proves there is no good place to go, and you risk a stall spin accident, or a collision with the aircraft cutting you off on final. If you are on base in this situation, the only safe thing to happen is for the aircraft entering final to go right, enter a left upwind, then either turn a midfield crosswind, or overfly the pattern and teardrop into downwind. Time permitting, in this situation I would first attempt to warn the final aircraft away before attempting dangerous evasive maneuvers while low and slow in the pattern.

Finally, I would never enter a final at an uncontrolled airport. It is just too dangerous. Flying the pattern gives you the opportunity to see other aircraft, the wind sock, and set up for a proper landing.

John

Your advice is excellent. I decided a few months ago to always try to enter the pattern on the 45 at pattern altitude. As to this particular incident, there are details that I omitted, partially to stay focused on the chute issue and partially because I didn't want to get them wrong. Thanks in any case.

Could it be that the pilot of the ultralight did not know he had a chute?

He bought the aircraft sometime before the crash. It seems unlikely.