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Interesting little snippet from a bigger article
The NTSB hasn't disclosed whether or not he was conscious and on his own oxygen system, or rendered unconscious by the rapid depressurization at high altitude. Presumably, he was unconscious and injured, and his parachute deployed automatically at 10,000 feet. Siebold landed on the ground, where first responders found him shortly thereafter and then flew him to the hospital. (It's worth noting Siebold is the first person to successfully bail out of a firing rocketship. Investigators and aerospace engineers will undoubtedly study the specifics of his survival in the days to come.)
http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/whats-next-virgin-galactic?src=SOC&dom=tw
Depends, if unlocking it truly means unlocking it then I'd have to say no, otherwise it could rotate freely in the airstream and cause a tumble and breakup (which maybe is what happened).
From the sound of the rest of the article, an unlocked feathering system means that the tail booms are only electronically locked rather than physically locked (hand waving guess work from the wording)
On an Airbus it is impossible to arm the thrust reversers until the weight on wheels sensors are active.
The NTSB hasn't disclosed whether or not he was conscious and on his own oxygen system, or rendered unconscious by the rapid depressurization at high altitude. Presumably, he was unconscious and injured, and his parachute deployed automatically at 10,000 feet. Siebold landed on the ground, where first responders found him shortly thereafter and then flew him to the hospital. (It's worth noting Siebold is the first person to successfully bail out of a firing rocketship. Investigators and aerospace engineers will undoubtedly study the specifics of his survival in the days to come.)
http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/whats-next-virgin-galactic?src=SOC&dom=tw
Would unlocking the feathering system that early in the flight actually be OK procedure wise, rather like arming the thrust reversers on an airliner prior to touchdown?
Depends, if unlocking it truly means unlocking it then I'd have to say no, otherwise it could rotate freely in the airstream and cause a tumble and breakup (which maybe is what happened).
From the sound of the rest of the article, an unlocked feathering system means that the tail booms are only electronically locked rather than physically locked (hand waving guess work from the wording)
On an Airbus it is impossible to arm the thrust reversers until the weight on wheels sensors are active.