Off Airport Landings

WEll...since I got some interest in the road landings, lets take
another shot at the off airport stuff? It has been addressed before but
there are new readers and pilots who haven't been participants.
When is the last time you, YOU did the "what if..." game and bothered
to look off the road with the evaluation of a landing area?
The most recent foray with the pilot and his C-210 in Louisiana who
destroyed his airplane with ineptitude during his attempt to salvage
his already proven lack of skills and planning, has prompted a number
of posts.
Once again, I have more than 13,000 hours in the lowest reaches of the
airspace system in crop dusting, aka Ag Flying, and have made many off
airport landings.
What are some of the things to consider if you are faced with the
heartpounding reality of an engine failure and an off airport
unscheduled landing? Hmmmmm? I promise you, been there and done that
more than once.
Hey, this is educational. If you want to report me to the nearest FAA
FSDO be my guest and I'll entertain them with my tales and how legal I
was at the time.
Interested? Let's see your input......
Ol Shy & Bashful

Of course we are....at least I am. I have yet to make one so any tips you
have I will devour...

Repost from Dec. 2004 for those who missed it back then.
Forget about the airplane, concentrate on saving lives.


Slowest possible foreward speed at touch down, no matter what the surface
is. Maintain control and do not stall the aircraft! Falling out of the sky
30 feet above the ground will kill passengers faster than a controlled crash
straight ahead.


If you have a choice land into the wind and or uphill if possible.


Reduce sources of ignition. Turn off fuel and electrical as much as
possible.


Prepare your passengers for impact after touchdown. Seatbelts tight, knees
up, wrap your arms around your knees, face down into your thighs. Your
objective is to keep your passengers and yourself: 1)alive 2)conscious and
3)mobil, in that order.


Land "with" the rows, furrows, ditch, traffic etc.


Do what ever it takes to reduce your chances of rolling or tumbling the
aircraft. Keep the centerline of the aircraft pointed in the direction that
you are traveling.


Look for power poles, not lines. You're able to see poles a lot sooner
than you'll ever see the lines. Do not forget about guy wires.


Land "behind" the house rather than in front. The odds are better that the
power lines enter from the front.


If you try to land on a road and there is a house or building nearby, odds
are 50/50 that there will be power lines crossing the road.


Open a door prior to touchdown. A bent airframe, deep snow, or mud, may
prevent you from opening it after you stop moving.


Realize that freshly plowed fields not only have furrows but tend to be
soft. A gear up landing (if possible) may prevent your gear from digging in
and cartwheeling your airplane.


Think about why a potential landing spot is in the condition that it is.
Many times areas of long grass aren't mowed for a reason.... rocks? swamp?.
Avoid them unless you are familiar with the area (and if you have a choice).


Look beyond your landing spot. You may be proud of the approach and
touchdown that you make... right up to the point that you skid into a
drainage ditch.


There are some great survival books and articles available. Read a couple
then buy a survival kit to keep in the plane. Remember the name of the game
is survival, not luxury, carry things that will keep you warm and dry. Don't
forget to carry water on every flight.

Keep in mind what happens to your landing surface
through out the year and with weather changes. A field that you may
repeatedly fly over and think that would make a great emergency landing spot
may turn into an unseen swamp after even a light rain. In much of the
Midwest those perfectly flat farm fields make great options to consider, but
maybe not after periods of rain. Dark soil will retain more water than
sandy soil.


Those same fields that are soft and smooth in the summer may turn rock hard
and rough as hell if there isn't any snow cover. Watch out for farm fields
that were disked and
chisel plowed in the fall but no snow cover to make them smooth. Perfect
for
ripping your gear off no matter what direction you land. In this situation
I look for short grass without rocks because I know it hasn't changed. Here
the rocks are in the ridges and the land that happens to be farmed isn't
irrigated or farmed. Perfect landing spot this time of year would be a
field with a cover crop of rye or wheat with an irrigation system. I know
it will be smooth and rock free.


The same idea can be transferred to about lakes. The lake that you fly by
all summer long may turn into your best option once winter comes and it is
frozen over. Watch for ice fishermen... if the lake can support their cars,
chances are it will support your airplane. Avoid lakes without ice
fisherman, this can mean the ice isn't thick enough or that it is a spring
fed lake and doesn't freeze completely. Watch for snow drifts and touch
down as softly as possible, remember braking action will be nill.


Oh, and if you successfully land on a road, make the fire trucks and other
vehicles move before you try to take off.

Jim

If you're faced with a last-second decision to go over or go under the
wires - go under. Better to slide her in fast than stall and crash
nose-down.

Carry clothing appropriate to the terrain/geography you'll be flying
over, not just the departure point and destination.

wrote

Hey, this is educational. If you want to report me to the nearest FAA
FSDO be my guest and I'll entertain them with my tales and how legal I
was at the time.
Interested? Let's see your input......

Sure, I am. I would expect you would be tired of typing, before I would get
tired of reading g

For one, I enjoy a good adventure, but most of all, it is always interesting
to hear how a person handles a situation, and wonder if you (me) would have
done anything differently. It might help to make a situation, yet unfaced,
come out a little better.
--
Jim in NC

In article .com,
"Rob" wrote:

If you're faced with a last-second decision to go over or go under the
wires - go under. Better to slide her in fast than stall and crash
nose-down.

Be aware of the grounding wire above the power lines strung between
high-voltage towers. It is thinner and hard to see.

wrote:
If you want to report me to the nearest FAA
FSDO be my guest and I'll entertain them with my tales and how legal I
was at the time.

Report you for WHAT? Best I can tell, there is no requirement to even
LAND on a runway.

Dave

IIRC the problem with the Louisiana C-210 incident.. was the subsequent
departure from said narrow roadway... not the landing

BT

"Jim Burns" wrote in message
...
Repost from Dec. 2004 for those who missed it back then.
Forget about the airplane, concentrate on saving lives.


Slowest possible foreward speed at touch down, no matter what the surface
is. Maintain control and do not stall the aircraft! Falling out of the
sky
30 feet above the ground will kill passengers faster than a controlled
crash
straight ahead.


If you have a choice land into the wind and or uphill if possible.


Reduce sources of ignition. Turn off fuel and electrical as much as
possible.


Prepare your passengers for impact after touchdown. Seatbelts tight,
knees
up, wrap your arms around your knees, face down into your thighs. Your
objective is to keep your passengers and yourself: 1)alive 2)conscious and
3)mobil, in that order.


Land "with" the rows, furrows, ditch, traffic etc.


Do what ever it takes to reduce your chances of rolling or tumbling the
aircraft. Keep the centerline of the aircraft pointed in the direction
that
you are traveling.


Look for power poles, not lines. You're able to see poles a lot sooner
than you'll ever see the lines. Do not forget about guy wires.


Land "behind" the house rather than in front. The odds are better that
the
power lines enter from the front.


If you try to land on a road and there is a house or building nearby, odds
are 50/50 that there will be power lines crossing the road.


Open a door prior to touchdown. A bent airframe, deep snow, or mud, may
prevent you from opening it after you stop moving.


Realize that freshly plowed fields not only have furrows but tend to be
soft. A gear up landing (if possible) may prevent your gear from digging
in
and cartwheeling your airplane.


Think about why a potential landing spot is in the condition that it is.
Many times areas of long grass aren't mowed for a reason.... rocks?
swamp?.
Avoid them unless you are familiar with the area (and if you have a
choice).


Look beyond your landing spot. You may be proud of the approach and
touchdown that you make... right up to the point that you skid into a
drainage ditch.


There are some great survival books and articles available. Read a couple
then buy a survival kit to keep in the plane. Remember the name of the
game
is survival, not luxury, carry things that will keep you warm and dry.
Don't
forget to carry water on every flight.

Keep in mind what happens to your landing surface
through out the year and with weather changes. A field that you may
repeatedly fly over and think that would make a great emergency landing
spot
may turn into an unseen swamp after even a light rain. In much of the
Midwest those perfectly flat farm fields make great options to consider,
but
maybe not after periods of rain. Dark soil will retain more water than
sandy soil.


Those same fields that are soft and smooth in the summer may turn rock
hard
and rough as hell if there isn't any snow cover. Watch out for farm
fields
that were disked and
chisel plowed in the fall but no snow cover to make them smooth. Perfect
for
ripping your gear off no matter what direction you land. In this
situation
I look for short grass without rocks because I know it hasn't changed.
Here
the rocks are in the ridges and the land that happens to be farmed isn't
irrigated or farmed. Perfect landing spot this time of year would be a
field with a cover crop of rye or wheat with an irrigation system. I know
it will be smooth and rock free.


The same idea can be transferred to about lakes. The lake that you fly by
all summer long may turn into your best option once winter comes and it is
frozen over. Watch for ice fishermen... if the lake can support their
cars,
chances are it will support your airplane. Avoid lakes without ice
fisherman, this can mean the ice isn't thick enough or that it is a spring
fed lake and doesn't freeze completely. Watch for snow drifts and touch
down as softly as possible, remember braking action will be nill.


Oh, and if you successfully land on a road, make the fire trucks and other
vehicles move before you try to take off.

Jim

In article .com,
"Rob" wrote:


Carry clothing appropriate to the terrain/geography you'll be flying
over, not just the departure point and destination.


Perhaps that should be WEAR clothing appropriate for the conditions.
What you have on is survival gear, what you carry in the plane is
camping gear.

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

Yep. See the end of my post.
Oh, and if you successfully land on a road, make the fire trucks and
other
vehicles move before you try to take off.
Jim


"BTIZ" wrote in message
news:c1X9f.311$zu6.186@fed1read04...
IIRC the problem with the Louisiana C-210 incident.. was the subsequent
departure from said narrow roadway... not the landing

BT

"Jim Burns" wrote in message
...
Repost from Dec. 2004 for those who missed it back then.
Forget about the airplane, concentrate on saving lives.


Slowest possible foreward speed at touch down, no matter what the
surface
is. Maintain control and do not stall the aircraft! Falling out of the
sky
30 feet above the ground will kill passengers faster than a controlled
crash
straight ahead.


If you have a choice land into the wind and or uphill if possible.


Reduce sources of ignition. Turn off fuel and electrical as much as
possible.


Prepare your passengers for impact after touchdown. Seatbelts tight,
knees
up, wrap your arms around your knees, face down into your thighs. Your
objective is to keep your passengers and yourself: 1)alive 2)conscious
and
3)mobil, in that order.


Land "with" the rows, furrows, ditch, traffic etc.


Do what ever it takes to reduce your chances of rolling or tumbling the
aircraft. Keep the centerline of the aircraft pointed in the direction
that
you are traveling.


Look for power poles, not lines. You're able to see poles a lot sooner
than you'll ever see the lines. Do not forget about guy wires.


Land "behind" the house rather than in front. The odds are better that
the
power lines enter from the front.


If you try to land on a road and there is a house or building nearby,
odds
are 50/50 that there will be power lines crossing the road.


Open a door prior to touchdown. A bent airframe, deep snow, or mud, may
prevent you from opening it after you stop moving.


Realize that freshly plowed fields not only have furrows but tend to be
soft. A gear up landing (if possible) may prevent your gear from
digging
in
and cartwheeling your airplane.


Think about why a potential landing spot is in the condition that it is.
Many times areas of long grass aren't mowed for a reason.... rocks?
swamp?.
Avoid them unless you are familiar with the area (and if you have a
choice).


Look beyond your landing spot. You may be proud of the approach and
touchdown that you make... right up to the point that you skid into a
drainage ditch.


There are some great survival books and articles available. Read a
couple
then buy a survival kit to keep in the plane. Remember the name of the
game
is survival, not luxury, carry things that will keep you warm and dry.
Don't
forget to carry water on every flight.

Keep in mind what happens to your landing surface
through out the year and with weather changes. A field that you may
repeatedly fly over and think that would make a great emergency landing
spot
may turn into an unseen swamp after even a light rain. In much of the
Midwest those perfectly flat farm fields make great options to consider,
but
maybe not after periods of rain. Dark soil will retain more water than
sandy soil.


Those same fields that are soft and smooth in the summer may turn rock
hard
and rough as hell if there isn't any snow cover. Watch out for farm
fields
that were disked and
chisel plowed in the fall but no snow cover to make them smooth.
Perfect
for
ripping your gear off no matter what direction you land. In this
situation
I look for short grass without rocks because I know it hasn't changed.
Here
the rocks are in the ridges and the land that happens to be farmed isn't
irrigated or farmed. Perfect landing spot this time of year would be a
field with a cover crop of rye or wheat with an irrigation system. I
know
it will be smooth and rock free.


The same idea can be transferred to about lakes. The lake that you fly
by
all summer long may turn into your best option once winter comes and it
is
frozen over. Watch for ice fishermen... if the lake can support their
cars,
chances are it will support your airplane. Avoid lakes without ice
fisherman, this can mean the ice isn't thick enough or that it is a
spring
fed lake and doesn't freeze completely. Watch for snow drifts and touch
down as softly as possible, remember braking action will be nill.


Oh, and if you successfully land on a road, make the fire trucks and
other
vehicles move before you try to take off.

Jim