FLYING is FUN (Dedicated to ALL having passion for Aviation) :)

**gnishan** · 22nd Jan 2019, 06:17

Hello Gearheads! Just wanted to share my experience renting and flying a Cessna 172 in which Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) was installed. In layman terms, it is a parachute for the aircraft which can be activated in case of emergency. When activated, it is propelled by a rocket and parachute is deployed for the whole aircraft. It became quite famous when Cirrus Aircrafts started providing their customers with this as an option. I have seen a few light-sport aircrafts or microlight aircrafts (as called in India) having a BRS, especially the ones running with high-screaming 2-stroke notorious engines such Rotax 582

I was quite a bit surprised to see this in a Cessna 172. This particular model is a 1978 Cessna 172N which I rented recently at a local flight school for about $135 wet (with fuel) per hour. It is exceptionally well-kept with high-quality soft touch leather, no rips/cracks, Garmin 530 WAAS GPS etc. perfect for just an evening local pleasure flight or a 100 dollar hamburger run or even 2 or 3 hour cross country trips.

The only down side I see in this plane is the useful load. Since BRS is pretty heavy, the useful load on this Cessna 172 is just 740lbs and that includes weight of fuel. That means 2 average adults and full fuel will reach the max useful load. Typically other Cessna 172s without BRS or A/C will have useful load anywhere between 860lbs and 950lbs which makes it a true 4 seater with 65-70% of fuel load.

When inquired, the average cost to install a BRS in a Cessna 172 is about $18,000 including installation and certification costs. The parachute requires overhauling/re-pack once every 10 years which would cost approx $6000. You will compromise on useful load but will get an extra edge when it comes to safety.

I also felt, this Cessna 172 N2055E is more tilt-angled towards its tail, may be due to the BRS system located in the rear baggage compartment. Of course, the weight and balance and CG are calculated/set correctly. Also, during touch and goes, when the take-off power is set, it leans more forward since the tail sits lower than the regular Cessna 172s while on the ground and idle power.

Below are some pics of that Cessna 172 N2055E showing the BRS location, activation console etc...
Followed by an edited video that includes 3 touch and go’s from my recent evening leisure flight in this interesting Cessna 172 N2055E

**gnishan** · 22nd Jan 2019, 06:29

Here is the edited video of touch and Go's in N2055E....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6vh...ature=youtu.be

**gnishan** · 8th Feb 2019, 10:37

Hello! Here is another video of last week's (Jan 2019) flying the Diamond Star DA-40 with my friend (his first time in a small plane) and my wife in the back seat

Have included cockpit audio too with quite interesting control tower instructions recorded in this video while returning back to home base airport due to busy air traffic at that time.

I have posted another video of the same aircraft a while ago in this thread when we took it for a spin for a weekend lunch at a country side airport. The aircraft in this edited video is exactly the same plane N526DS and i took my friend for some fun local flying for an hour or so.

For those not aware of this Diamond Star DA-40, its a 4 seater modern aircraft. This particular model N526DS is a 2006 built, has G1000 avionics (Glass cockpit), full-auto pilot options, Lycoming 180hp engine and is capable of easy 140 knots cruise speed burning 10 gallons of 100LL fuel an hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D68E7IftJaI