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Old 15th Jun 2023, 06:58
  #8 (permalink)  
pilotmike
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 575
Received 75 Likes on 22 Posts
Yes, a successful ditching parallel to the shoreline in shallow water. Any landing you walk away from is a good landing! Well done that pilot!

Possibly the only improvement to one's chances of survival would be to minimise speed at splashdown, so a very positive aft stick at the last moment, effectively to stall the aircraft a metre or so above the water, aiming for a belly-flop onto the surface rather than a more conventional type landing where the wheels dig in and cause the cartwheel.

And before anyone accuses me of 'not being there, in that situation'…. I have been. I also have had to force land a Renegade Spirit after a total engine failure - successfully - so I fully understand the predicament this pilot was in. Mercifully for my passenger and me, there was a single cut field surrounded by others full of standing crop, and it was possible to land between sets of cables in the only available stubble field.

I can tell you, after the noise of the open cockpit and rather thrashy Rotax 2 stroke engine / prop combination working hard at full climb power, the sudden silence is shocking, and focuses the mind really quickly. All I had time for after selecting and planning the descent into the one and only field was to tell the front seat passenger to tighten their harness as much as possible, which, surprisingly, they wanted to have a discussion about - I gave the firm instruction a second time, and told them to brace against the cockpit coaming. Their only further comment was to tell me that the propellor had stopped. Always useful to have a second pair of eyes to point out anything the pilot may not have noticed!

Both of us walked away, not a scratch to the aircraft, which could be flown again after engine replacement, unlike the subject Renegade which is a total loss from the sea.
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