Years ago, saw a student land a C150 in a plowed field after engine failed to respond turning base. Instructor, I and several others went to inspect plane found no damage, fuel in tanks, and engine ran fine. (suspect student pulled mixture rather than carb heat? Will never know)
Glad they made it down safe with no injuries or damage. I was actually just reading an
article about the first Cirrus pilot in Australia to deploy the aircraft's ballistic parachute. He lost oil pressure at 5,000ft, engine seized, and at 2,000 he deployed the chute. System worked, only minor injuries, landing gear was totally wrecked (but its designed to do that to absorb the impact). But the STRANGE thing is, for a pilot who claims to have 1950 hours, he didnt he attempt to glide her down for a short field landing. If you look at the pic there is tons of flat, hard field...
(Maybe he just wanted to be the first in Oz to test the chute
)
I wouldn't fear landing my 172 in a typical Texas field, C210 might be more of a problem though, with a lot more weight on nose.
I was considering the C210 for its speed, but thinking more about the risk of landing out. Ive been thinking maybe a traildragger would be safer. Something like the
RV-7. I would have to get some kind of taildragger rating, and im not even sure if anyone hires them here. But i think its got to be a safer option?