Ditching Gear Down

How do you put 'her' down?

Get out of your parachute. Get canopy open and/or door unlatched. Tighten
belts. If sitting on life preserver, cushion or whateve, try to remember how
to get the miserable thing out and useful. Keep screaming on the radio.
Promise yourself that if you survive, you'll never forget to put the goddam
filler cap back on properly, and at first opportunity, reconsider future form
of employment, if any.

Quent

I forgot. When (not if) you snap inverted up[on hitting the waater, try to
remember that safety is DOWN. Swim that way. Yes yes I know it goes against
the grain, but clawing holes in the cabin's carpet trying to get UP is
generally a waste of time and fingernails. And of course, if you get around to
it, apologize to your passengers with sincerity and feeling.

Quent

And I forget again. You may have trouble deciding, amid the confusion, which
way actually is "down." Sort of a true/false question with significant
consequences. Look around you. Fishes generally swim upright. Take a clue
from them. Even 20 foot long sharks rarely roll inverted before nibbling at
their dinner.

Quent

If you've got a parachute, what are you ditching for, anyway? Jumping out
is a lit less risky than ditching a fixed-gear airplane which will almost
surely flip over once it touches down...


"QDurham" wrote in message
...
How do you put 'her' down?

Get out of your parachute. Get canopy open and/or door unlatched. Tighten
belts. If sitting on life preserver, cushion or whateve, try to remember
how
to get the miserable thing out and useful. Keep screaming on the radio.
Promise yourself that if you survive, you'll never forget to put the
goddam
filler cap back on properly, and at first opportunity, reconsider future
form
of employment, if any.

Quent

In article ,
"R Haskin" wrote:

If you've got a parachute, what are you ditching for, anyway? Jumping out
is a lit less risky than ditching a fixed-gear airplane which will almost
surely flip over once it touches down...

I'm assuming you've never made a parachute jump into water. I have, you
can die quite easily unless you know what you're doing. And, most
people who would be wearing a parachute (not including the military
here) would have a rig that has NO quick disconnects for the risers or
harness which is going to make things even harder.

I don't believe the stats are going to support your statement that the
airplane will "almost surely flip over".

If you fly over water you should attend a survival course that teaches
ditching evacuation using a "dilbert dunker" type device. Very
enlightening, after doing so I quit flying over water. G

--
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

"QDurham" wrote in message
...
How do you put 'her' down?

Get out of your parachute. Get canopy open and/or door unlatched. Tighten
belts. If sitting on life preserver, cushion or whateve, try to remember
how
to get the miserable thing out and useful. Keep screaming on the radio.
Promise yourself that if you survive, you'll never forget to put the
goddam
filler cap back on properly, and at first opportunity, reconsider future
form
of employment, if any.

Quent

It seems to have happened to 3 ex FAA aircrew yesterday
when they had to ditch their Cessna 172 after its engine
failed over the Western Channel

All 3 were picked up by a fishing boat and one reported having
to make an underwater escape from the sinking aircraft

Given that the youngest of them was 79 they did rather well

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/3163840.stm

Keith

"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message
news:blosl3$jie$1

"QDurham" wrote in message
...
How do you put 'her' down?

It seems to have happened to 3 ex FAA aircrew yesterday
when they had to ditch their Cessna 172 after its engine
failed over the Western Channel

All 3 were picked up by a fishing boat and one reported having
to make an underwater escape from the sinking aircraft

Given that the youngest of them was 79 they did rather well

I alos seem too have seen some footage of several cessna 172 type a/c
ditching, The one that stands out the gentelman made a beautiful ditching
the a/c pitched forward but reamained upright for several minutes

On Sun, 05 Oct 2003 17:18:21 GMT, "william cogswell"
wrote:


"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message
news:blosl3$jie$1

"QDurham" wrote in message
...
How do you put 'her' down?

It seems to have happened to 3 ex FAA aircrew yesterday
when they had to ditch their Cessna 172 after its engine
failed over the Western Channel

All 3 were picked up by a fishing boat and one reported having
to make an underwater escape from the sinking aircraft

Given that the youngest of them was 79 they did rather well

I alos seem too have seen some footage of several cessna 172 type a/c
ditching, The one that stands out the gentelman made a beautiful ditching
the a/c pitched forward but reamained upright for several minutes

Of course now you can buy a chute for your AIRPLANE! I don't know if
any of you have seen them, but they mount on top of the wing, and are
controlled from the cockpit. They were originally designed for Cessna
drivers going over the Sierra, where the "margin for error" is about
zero. If used by someone flying over water they would allow for a zero
airspeed ditching.

Al Minyard

Alan Minyard wrote:

Of course now you can buy a chute for your AIRPLANE! I don't know if
any of you have seen them, but they mount on top of the wing, and are
controlled from the cockpit. They were originally designed for Cessna
drivers going over the Sierra, where the "margin for error" is about
zero. If used by someone flying over water they would allow for a zero
airspeed ditching.

We've been flying with Ballistic Recovery Systems (BR$) on light
sport aircraft for many years. The Cessna 172, -152, Cirrus, etc. BR$
chutes for GA aircraft are relatively new:

http://www.airplaneparachutes.com/BRS29.htm

Lots of pros/cons to the BR$ issue. The priceless value of human life
aside, any chute large enough to lower a Cessna 172 plus
humans/baggage, etc. to earth is probably worth more $$$ than the 172
itself (unless it's a brand new '03 $kyhawk Millenium). Backpack
parachutes are essentially worthless in my line of business (due to
the low altitudes and inability free yourself the debris of the
aircraft crumpling around you) however, I'm comfortable flying with
or without a ballistic chute on my bird. I've owned two of them and to
me they're 1) pricy 2) heavy and, 3) dangerous (folks have survived
the crash only to die screaming in the treetops while being burned by
the pyrotechnics). An ACES, Martin Baker even a Weber or Yankee
extraction system would sure be nice to have, tho.

In article ,
Mike Marron wrote:

(folks have survived
the crash only to die screaming in the treetops while being burned by
the pyrotechnics)

What pryotechnics? The charge that deployed the chute? That is
expended when the chute is fired. Sounds like urban legend.

--
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