Description
This article is from the Aviation
Aerobatics FAQ, by Dr. Guenther Eichhorn with numerous
contributions by others.
12 How safe is aerobatics?
Many (most?) people contemplating getting involved in aerobatics feel a bit
apprehensive at first. By it's very nature, aerobatics involves risks that
are not involved in non-aerobatic flight. But as with most anything else in
aviation, it is only as safe or dangerous as the pilot makes it. Discipline,
planning, common sense, and knowledge are basic prerequisites to safety.
Aerobatics can be quite safe if certain safety rules are followed religiously.
Examples include:
* Get proper training, especially in all types of spins and botched
maneuvers.
* Fly at a safe and conservative altitude.
* Know your equipment and yourself, and keep both well maintained.
* Don't overstress the airplane (and never fly aerobatics in non-
aerobatic aircraft).
* Always perform a proper, thorough aerobatic preflight.
* Set and observe strict personal limits (altitude, g-limits, flight
duration, health, etc).
* Stay current and take recurrency check rides.
* Don't run out of fuel! (should be obvious, but it happens a lot)
* Stay clear of conflicting traffic, either with regular clearing turns or
an observer on the ground.
* Know how to handle emergency situations.
* Always leave yourself a way out.
* Always wear a parachute. Know how to bail out and use it.
* Learn by others' mistakes, not your own.
An example of how safe aerobatics can be is that there has never been a
fatality in IAC-sanctioned competition, where strict safety rules are always
followed.
The penalty for ignoring safety procedures can be quite high. A review of
NTSB accident data for the 8KCAB Decathlon (probably the most common aerobatic
trainer) from 1983 through 1993 shows 14 accidents related to aerobatics.
Eight of them involved attempting aerobatics at low altitudes. One was caused
by lack of training, one by lots of unsecured loose baggage (ie- lawn chairs
and more) floating around the cockpit, and one by structural failure. Causes
of the remaining three are less clear from the reports, but two appear to have
been due to low level aerobatics, and the third by failure to recover from a
spin. So, of the 14 accidents in ten years, all but one (structural failure)
could have been prevented by following the few simple rules listed above. The
structural failure was in a known problem area and *might* have been avoidable
if the pilot was more familiar with his equipment.
With higher performance aircraft and more advanced aerobatics, there are
additional risks. The airplanes are less forgiving, the forces on plane and
pilot are higher, some of the equipment is newer and less proven, and much of
the flying is done at lower altitudes. Also as skills and experience build,
complacency and bad habits can begin to creep into the picture. By the time
you get to this level, you won't need this FAQ to learn how to manage these
risks.
One thing is for certain. Once you have learned to fly aerobatics, your
increased knowledge will make all the rest of your flying safer.
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sport, aviation, aerobatics, IAC, parachute
