Originally Posted by
rotornut
He didn't flare so I agree that he probably misjudged his altitude over the water. I understand from float plane pilots that it's very difficult to accurately judge your height when landing on water, more so when it's dark.
Hi Rotornut, re float planes - very true - we call it "glassy water". It's like a white out - we actually fly it on instruments (you just don't know when you're going to touch) - for example, fly along side a line of trees (known height) set up a 100/150 feet per minute rate of descent at minimum approach speed until you touch the water - it's a highly demanding heads in piece of flying .... and don't, don't anticipate or the touch down - uses a lot of distance.
A RAD ALT is extremely useful in these situations - say, set the alert at 10 feet or so - just so that you don't fly straight into the water without a flare.
Must be incredibly difficult in an autorotation