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Heres the deal: its good for some, not for others. The individual must make
the choice if its right for him/her. I like them and here is why: I started flying my used MX in May of 2000. I went through it top to bottom to make sure it was more than airworthy, it had to be Jorge worthy! Being safety minded, I opted for a chute. I think, including lessons, Ive flown maybe 50 hours so far (and that is probably exagerrated). During this time, I have had an engine out that resulted in a landing in three foot tall green milo (no damage), a fuel pump failure on takeoff that did not allow me to establish a climb angle (it only worked straight and level) so, I gingerly made some very wide left banks back to the field (avoiding a barn, a house and a tree) at about 40 feet AGL, and a mufller weld that broke loose just above my head on take off that almost scared the crap right out of me!!! Ive worked on planes for twenty years and could not have predicted these failures (except the engine out which was due to me being a dumb ass and thinking there was enough fuel for a few go arounds). Now, I credit my flight instructor and my pilot friends for teaching me to fly the plane no matter what happens. All three landings were uneventful. As I will never exceed the manufacturers recommendations on stress loads, I doubt that I will ever attempt a manuver that could induce a structural failure on purpose. It is still a comfort to know however, that the chute is there if I ever really need it (structural failure). Jorge |
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