South St. Paul, MN- BRS Aerospace, a manufacturer of whole-airplane parachutes, is presenting two pilots, who each deployed a BRS parachute after engine failures, at a forum at AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI. [An Alabama physician] Dick McGlaughlin and John Farese will tell the complete stories of the dramatic events which led up to their life-saving experiences. A question and answer session will follow. This unique BRS presentation is scheduled for Friday, July 27th beginning at 11:30am in Forum Pavilion 06.
"I am alive today because of my BRS parachute," John Farese said after he lost the engine in his Cessna 182 at an altitude of only 400'.
Dick McGlaughlin was flying over the ocean with his daughter on the way to Haiti when the engine in his Cirrus quit. "The emergency was over as soon as we pulled the handle on our BRS parachute," he said. "We landed gently in the water and were rescued."
In addition to the forum presentation, BRS will offer a hands-on, true-to-life experience of a whole-airframe parachute deployment. The rear fuselage from a Cessna Skyhawk will be stationed in the BRS booth B-2017 and equipped with an actual activation handle to give visitors a realistic experience of pulling the parachute. Additionally, the BRS booth will feature a Red Bird Flight Simulations full motion simulator which has been programmed to demonstrate the entire deployment sequence.
Based in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, BRS Aerospace consists of two divisions: BRS Aviation, which designs, manufactures and distributes whole-aircraft emergency parachute systems for general aviation and recreational aircraft; and BRS Defense, which designs and manufactures a variety of parachute systems for the US Department of Defense and foreign military customers. Since 1981, BRS Aerospace has delivered more than 27,500 parachute systems to aircraft owners worldwide, including more than 5500 systems on FAA-certified aircraft such as the Cirrus SR-20/22 and Cessna 172/182. To date BRS Aerospace parachute recovery systems have been credited with saving the lives of 276 pilots and passengers. - FMI: BRS