Just make sure you can work the pedals safely with boots on! A boot stuck b
etween pedal and fuselage side might cause an incident.=0AGraham=0A=0A=0A
=0A=0A________________________________=0AFrom: William Daniell <wdaniell@et
b.net.co>=0A=0A=0AI certainly plan to wear a chute when testing and a crash
hat ....oh=0Aand some decent boots to reduce the possibliity of ankle inju
ry.=0A=0AWill=0A=0A=0A=0AFrans Veldman wrote: =0A--> Europa-List message po
sted by: Frans Veldman <frans@paardnatuurlijk.nl>=0A>=0A>Richard Churchill-
Coleman wrote:=0A>=0A> =0A>I have to agree with him, and a helmet would be
useful too - all my comments=0A>>ignored the test flying phase of flying a
s we don't have quite the same=0A>>system in UK.=0A>>=0A>We have no mandato
ry test flying phase in the Netherlands. I will=0A>receive my papers (hopef
ully) soon, and the rest is up to me. I can=0A>start my world tour right at
the first flight if I want to. ;-)=0A>=0A>=0A>2. My guess is that having y
our plane controls welded by lightning is quite=0A>>a low probability......
albeit a bit unfortunate when it does happen....=0A>>=0A>I agree with you o
n this. There are some risks involved with flying, and=0A>this one is one t
o be taken.=0A>=0A>=0A>3. Just to be clear, I'm not saying you will definit
ely be seriously injured=0A>>landing in rough terrain .... I just think yo
u will more often be less=0A>>injured steering the airframe into trees, riv
er, rocks etc and letting it=0A>>take the impact instead of you.=0A>>=0A>I
have not so much confidence in a Europa taking much of an impact. A=0A>Cess
na is great in this respect, but a Europa, well, I guess the nose=0A>shatte
rs in pieces when it hits the first rock, and then the occupants=0A>are the
ones to take the next hit. Glass plaines don't bend or get=0A>diverted fro
m an obstacle, they just scatter into pieces and the=0A>remainder continues
its way.=0A>=0A>=0A>4. Round chute landings are compared with jumping off
a 12 foot high wall -=0A>>=0A>Wow. Hmm, I'm not sure whether I would surviv
e that even in my own level=0A>backyard, let alone on "uneven" surface. Now
I start to understand why=0A>you think that staying with the airplane woul
d probably be a better option.=0A>=0A>=0A>6. The ideal is to get some train
ing if you believe that using a parachute=0A>>is an option you would prefer
. If you can jump with a square, steerable=0A>>reserve, then a lot of thes
e risks reduce significantly.=0A>>=0A>The emergency pilot chutes I'm aware
off are of another type. Getting=0A>something bigger, heavier, is not an op
tion, even not in our hi-top Europa.=0A>=0A>=0A>Also, the risk of=0A>>not d
eploying your parachute properly is much reduced if you are trained.=0A>>
=0A>Ah. So it is not just a matter of pulling the rip cord, as suggested in
=0A>the ads? Really, if this is sounding hilarious to you, I'm a complete
=0A>novice on this subject. I thought it is just a matter of pulling the=0A
>cord and then waiting in some sort of comfort while slowly and gently=0A>d
escending.=0A>=0A>=0A>And of course, are you going to get your passenger tr
ained to skydive as=0A>>well....?=0A>>=0A>I will share playing the passenge
r role with my wife, who also has a=0A>PPL, helped to build the plane, and
logically, we both would be wearing=0A>a parachute, or not at all. ;-) The
occasions where we will be flying=0A>with other passengers will be neglecta
ble.=0A>=0A>=0A>It is a question of personal risk assessment as Mike says.
=0A>>=0A>I fully agree.=0A>We participate in a multiple of community forums
, from horseback riding=0A>to flying, but I can't deny that the Europa foru
m is the only forum=0A>where it is somewhat normal practice that once in a
while a participant=0A>loses his life while exercising his hobby. So, lots
of our efforts go=0A>into minimizing the risks associated with flying. Wear
ing parachutes=0A>could be one thing to reduce some of the risks. But of co
urse,=0A>everything has a price. If wearing a parachute doesn't give much
=0A>reduction of risk (as it looks now), then we will forget about it. At
=0A>the moment it seems like we are going to do without it. ;-)=0A>=0A>=0A>
My personal view (in a world where UK builders aren't allowed much=0A>>free
dom to change the original Europa design) is that all of the Europa=0A>>acc
idents I have heard of so far in my few years on this forum, have=0A>>occur
red on take or landing when a parachute wouldn 't help.=0A>>=0A>I think you
are right on this.=0A>=0A>Thanks,=0A>Frans=0A>=0A>=0A>=0A>=0A>=0A>.=0A>=0A
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