[Richard Pierce]

After my forced tree landing, I installed the BRS chute I had sitting in my garage for the previous 10 years – That said, I can’t see ever using it, and I have lost my engine 4 times in flight – Once you pull that chute, you have given up all your choices – Personally, I would prefer having control and choosing where I go – The only reason I can see for ever using it, would be a structural failure where I can no longer fly the aircraft – I forget who said it, but whoever it was said, “never stop flying the aircraft, fly it right into the crash” – Words to live(survive) by – The BRS was more of a comfort for my wife

[Richard Pierce]

Hey Tom – I have found myself in 45mph winds, been hit by all kinds of blasts, generally speaking, if I can do it safely, I just ride it out and do not fight it – More often than not I am side by side flying with Spencer, and whatever happens to me, happens to him, so regardless of how close we are, and we are typically pretty close, we both ride it out and we do not collide, not a concern – All that said, most of our flying is from 6 inches off the water to treetop level – Getting a blast there is another matter altogether, lots of things to collide with – I have had to “wrestle the gorilla” on occasion, fighting tooth and nail – At times, when I have a passenger, they can get unnerved on a turbulent approach to landing – The comforting thought is that no matter how turbulent it is on approach, the wind cannot go thru the water or land, so once you get to a flare, that is the end of it – My two cents