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Interesting sequence of pictures of a successful RV6 water ditching

aviatoreb

By aviatoreb
in Miscellaneous Aviation Talk

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aviatoreb Grand Master

aviatoreb

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22 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

If he was the builder it must have been really ugly to have to see the baby you spend thousands of hours building land in salt water. 

I agree.

But I tell you what I have had my airplane for 12 years and done something special to it every year since I had it and it gets just nicer and nicer and I am quite attached to it.  Knock on wood.

But on the other hand, he walked away, no injury and so good for him!  And that is how I would also feel.  Knock on wood!

I posted it mostly because I think he did a superb example of showing how to ditch in water, or any rough ground - nose high at touch down and he didn't flip even though he had fixed gear.  And even more so for us with our gear retracted if doing a water touch down, or landing in corn, or very rough grass etc,  nose high at touch down.

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Bartman Mentor

Bartman

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An instructor once told me that if I had to do an off airport landing to aim for the softest and least expensive thing and touchdown with the least energy possible. I only hope I could do as well as this pilot did and looks like he was trying for a full stall.  Definitely made the best of a very bad situation ditching close to the land. 
 

I can’t tell you how many people have asked me if I could land on water. My answer has always been I can land anywhere....once. 

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Vance Harral Mentor

Vance Harral

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The idea that fixed-gear and retract-with-gear-down airplanes nearly always flip on water ditchings doesn't jive with actual evidence.  And even if the aircraft flips, it doesn't seem to affect survivability in a statistically significant way.  https://www.aviationsafetymagazine.com/features/the-myths-of-ditching/ is a good read on this, see particularly Myth #5.

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ArtVandelay Grand Master

ArtVandelay

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photos show a textbook "perfect ditching"...close enough to shore for an easy swim,full stall let down at slowest speed,no muss no fuss..this is why if suffering an engine failure over mountanous terrain,im headed for the nearest lake...

Or even at night, larger bodies of water are charted, just be sure to avoid bridges:
9632b56d9a2bcf2b35277b8a1f5203f6.jpg
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steingar Grand Master

steingar

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7 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

Did better on water than many do on land with an (A) model, some of them the nose gear collapses, the aircraft goes over on its back and someone dies, often from a broken back.

‘It’s an Amphib on floats that leaving the gear down is disastrous 

 

The pilot's son drowned in that crash.

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thinwing Grand Master

thinwing

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all 3 amphib aircraft I have owned ,have had gear warning systems (both light and verbal warnings)Above crash sequence is the go to warning about the dangers of landing gear down.Fortunately our Mooneys have the option to retract the gear presenting a smooth belly to land on.Conventional float equiped amphibs suffer from being top heavy so that a sudden deceleration practically insures a flip.Hull types such as lake amphibs,sea rays,etc dont necessarily flip ..but end up severly damaged,windshield stoved in nose torn away etc.Having been in one high speed water /aircraft collision that ejected me out the aircraft still attached to my seat...Im here to tell you a water crash is quite survivalable.

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thinwing Grand Master

thinwing

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20 hours ago, steingar said:

The pilot's son drowned in that crash.

I hadnt heard that this crash resulted in fatalities....at the end of the video .a guy is shown calmly sitting on a spreader bar and another in the water...if there was a third passenger who was drowning...why wasnt that guy frantically attempting to help?

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aviatoreb Grand Master

aviatoreb

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19 minutes ago, thinwing said:

I hadnt heard that this crash resulted in fatalities....at the end of the video .a guy is shown calmly sitting on a spreader bar and another in the water...if there was a third passenger who was drowning...why wasnt that guy frantically attempting to help?

I don't know.  Trying to think of a crazy reason, could he have been dramatically injured and dazed?

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steingar Grand Master

steingar

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3 hours ago, thinwing said:

I hadnt heard that this crash resulted in fatalities....at the end of the video .a guy is shown calmly sitting on a spreader bar and another in the water...if there was a third passenger who was drowning...why wasnt that guy frantically attempting to help?

I'm pretty certain it was this crash, the guy's son couldn't get out.

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RLCarter Grand Master

RLCarter

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42 minutes ago, steingar said:

Sorry.  I thought it was that crash.  The one I'm thinking of the pilot wound up on a video talking about it.  Very moving.  Same deal, left the gear down on an amphibious floatplane.

I thought it was the same crash as well, saw the video the dad did afterwards, he’s a lot tougher than me

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EricJ Grand Master

EricJ

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3 hours ago, steingar said:

Sorry.  I thought it was that crash.  The one I'm thinking of the pilot wound up on a video talking about it.  Very moving.  Same deal, left the gear down on an amphibious floatplane.

I saw that vid as well.   Probably one of the more somber and moving aviation videos I've seen.   Very sad.   Made you really feel for the guy for the personal consequences of a relatively simple mistake.

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steingar Grand Master

steingar

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19 hours ago, EricJ said:

I saw that vid as well.   Probably one of the more somber and moving aviation videos I've seen.   Very sad.   Made you really feel for the guy for the personal consequences of a relatively simple mistake.

Yeah, not flipping a switch lost him his son.  Very, very sobering. 

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A64Pilot Grand Master

A64Pilot

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On 9/3/2021 at 9:28 AM, steingar said:

Yeah, not flipping a switch lost him his son.  Very, very sobering. 

While I’m seaplane rated. I don’t have much amphib time, But the Maule’s I’ve flown on amphibs, there just isn’t much of a way to ensure those gear aren’t down. sure there is a switch, but I like some kind of mechanical tell tale, and I don’t remember there being one.

I considered Amphibs on my M6, but as I had no real need and in Georgia there are only two places you can land a seaplane, I didn’t.

If you really need a Seaplane, straight floats are so much better, but of course then your only a Seaplane.

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