Butler Parachutes

Anybody flying with a Butler Parachute? I talked to the rep at OSH and was sold on the quality and legacy of Butler chutes, but for an RV-8 they want to build a seat pack rather than a back pack. They had a demo seat pack setup in the booth, but it looked a bit clunky and not as cozy as sitting on an Oregon Aero cushion, although I did not try it out.

Any thoughts or recommendations on Butler or other chutes? Are most people wearing Softie back packs or something similar?

(In totally unrelated news, here's a recently-released picture of Scaled test pilot Pete Siebold after departing SS2. That looks like a Butler chute.)

Watching this thread with interest.
I have flown other aircraft that had Butler seat packs and they were pretty comfortable but being tall I am concerned regarding headroom with a seat pack in an RV. Of course, I am also worried about knee room with a back pack. I didn't get a chance to talk to Butler last year at OSH, did they say how thick the seat pack would be?

Sam, as I recall there were several different custom foam spacers that made up the "seat" of the Butler system I saw in the booth at OSH. There was a wedge-shaped spacer that fit under the seat pack, then one or two more that fit between the seat pack and the pilot's posterior, all of which were customizable in terms of foam type and covering material. I asked specifically if those spacer cushions "went with you" if you had to leave the plane, and the answer was "yes."

I am a tall guy as well, so we discussed the height issue, and we talked about sitting on phone books, etc., to get an idea of what the height of your (compressed) cushions should be -- every chute is a custom job. The system for the RV-8 looked complicated enough that you'd want to leave it in the plane rather than walk around with it, with the caveat of course that it can't be left in direct sunlight for very long.

I don't know, I like the simplicity of just grabbing a back pack and replacing the back cushion with it for aerobatics. It would also be nice to use the same chute in other aircraft -- a Decathlon, for example. The seat system and spacer cushions just looked too complicated, hence the request for a few PIREPS.

Wedge

I have a Para-Phernalia Wedge Softie. Haven't had to use it yet. Great customer service.

Anybody flying with a Butler Parachute?


I have a Butler parachute that was custom made to work for my above average body weight.....(which I have since reduced to a more normal weight).....It is a seat pack designed to fit in the RV-8 front seat pan. The seat height with the parachute is about the same, maybe a very little bit higher than the standard seat cushions used when I don't wear the chute. I use it quite a bit, but, I've never sat on it for more than hour at a time. I don't think it would be comfortable on long cross country. Also the Butler folks were very helpful and easy to work with during the purchase process of the custom parachute.