Training for flights over water, but close to the coast

naremman · September 7, 2011

I happen to have the good fortune of having a copy of Cliff Tait's book: "Water Under My Wings". For those not familiar with Cliff, he successfully flew an Airtourer around the world in 1969, embarking on the jouney with around 200 hours total time. He was then subsequently employed to ferry NZ made Airtourers, CT4s and Fletcher ag aircraft to international destinations. Over half of his total time was over water, and he ended up with about 100 crossings of the Tasman Sea, all in single engine aircraft. Of the seven engine failures he experienced none ended up giving him wet feet.

In Chapter 7 of his book, sub titled Survival, he thoroughly covers how he prepared for the possible ditching of a light aircraft, and it certainly is fascinating reading. "If the surface wind is not more than 20 knots the swell would be of prime consideration and one should avoid touching down of the face of the swell. Touchdown should either be on the back of a the swell or parrallel to it......... If the wind is over 20 knots the resulting reduction in ground speed may be more desirable and an into wind landing preferable."

He ends the chapter with a quote from Shakespeare: "All things are ready if our minds be so".

I can remember having a chat with Stan Tilley, the affable Taswegian, at one of the Airtourer Association gatherings and we were discussing our respective journies to the function. I mentioned to Stan that I would not be all that comfortable having to cross Bass Straight, and he was quick to counter that he would far rather cross Bass Straight than traverse the Nullabor!! At least Stan has crosssed the Nullabor, whilst I am yet to add a Bass Straight crossing to my flying experiences.

Mazda · September 7, 2011

Cliff is a wonderful man, an unknown hero. I'm fortunate enough to have had some good chats with Cliff, he has some great stories. (Naremman it is good to have another Airtourer fan on here). I'm fortunate enough to have flown with Stan too!

Now settle down HH, i'm not on here 24 hours a day. Of course it is easily proved with physics and graphs. My suggestion is to ask an instrutor to show you, and failing that get hold of Kermode's Mechanics of Flight, it's an easier read than Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators. I can't remember if it is covered in the Noel Kruse Fly Better books but you can download them for free.

Why not try it for yourself? Fly at best glide, then slow down and watch your rate of descent on the VSI.

motzartmerv · September 7, 2011

Yes, but i think there is some confusion here. Tex said in an earlier post that if best glide wont let him reach a landable area, then minnimum descent rate will??

Best glide is best glide. Take out variables and this speed will get you the best distance. Minnimum descent will not improve glide performance, ie, it will not stretch the glide out to a new (better)ratio. Changing what the ratio is measured in (from an earlier post of 6:1 to 12:1) does not count. You cant measure glide ratio in height lost over distance covered, and then say you can get a better glide ratio by holding speed for minnimum descent speed. All this is doing is changing what the ratio is measuring, ie, now your talking about VSI over IAS or something like that.

Minimum descent speed will NOT stretch a glide (distance).We need to be very clear about this. It will infact make it worse.

In most high performance ultralights id only recommend holding minimum descent speed at altitude. For instance the J160 clean stall speed is 58 kts, and the best glide speed is 65. Minimum descent speed is going to be somewhere around 62 kts. And I would point out, in most lighties minimum descent speed is not quoted in the flight manual. Why do you think that is??

cheers

Litespeed · September 7, 2011

Back to surviving if you are able to get out of the aircraft-

If possible have a personal high end gps locator which has a light strobe. This must be attached to you, by the inflatable vest you are already wearing Naturally this is only inflated after leaving the aircraft.

Might as well add a water dye and flare to the vest- can make a huge difference in been found. It is very easy to miss a small object in the sea, esp with a big swell.

Another cheap item is a rope throw bag from boating- it has a small float connected to rope in a bag , you hold by a base rope and throw the bag to your passenger etc.

It can be used to tie your fellow passenger to you whilst you wait for rescue. Without holding on to each other, it can be very easy to be separated. It will also save heaps of vital energy, conserve energy as much as possible. Assuming you are not critically injured- physical exertion and body heat loss due to immersion are your biggest enemies. The colder the water the less time you have, any injury you have will decrease time of survivability.

If someone is unconscious- ensure their air way is not obstructed by the head been slumped forward. Irrespective of injuries, if you can't breath- your dead.

Sadly many car crash victims die this way, people who stop don't want to touch them in case they do harm- their f..kin dying- what harm can you do.

Naturally you have to get to the water first..................So fly the bloody airplane.

Litespeed · September 7, 2011