Originally Posted by
Pace
I am puzzled by this question
Any forced landing requires certain priorities
The first and most important is to always keep the aircraft flying. Many fixate on one landing area and stall stretching the glide and that is the killer
The second most important is not to hit something hard at high speed like a building, tree, rock face etc in the landing or rollout. its acceptable to even hit a fence or soft hedge at the end
The third is the surface you land on. I have only had one forced landing which was 30 years ago and that was into a wheat field.
The most important thing is that you walk away from the aircraft intact and unharmed whether the aircraft gear is in such a state will depend on whats on your chosen landing site.
Even a bowling green type surface may contain a ditch or large Rabbit hole enough to remove the nose wheel so nothing is guaranteed regarding the surface and priority is to make sure you walk away uninjured
Ideally you will have a long bowling green field with no obstructions right into wind but lifes not like that and you need to be adaptable decisive and not fixated
How many forced landings have come to grief because the pilot fixated on one into wind field and stalled trying to stretch the glide to get there when there was an acceptable landing site left or right with a crosswind ? Remember too on landing you still have directional control don't just sit there in a straight line if you need to go right or left to avoid something or even spin the aircraft
The surface is a lesser priority as is the wind direction as fixating onto landing into wind while ideal might mean you miss other better options if your chosen site is not working out
In flying always have an out. Never one option and be prepared to jump from plan A to B if need be.Have plan B or even C clear in your head. That will determine whether you survive or don't not the nose wheel thats not part of your decision making
Finally don't take full flap till you are assured of landing
Pace
I think this is the best reply in this thread. Flying schools spend IMO far too much time on elaborate and arcane field selection criteria in a futile bid to pick the "best" field after an engine failure.
When the engine fails the insurance company just bought the airplane. The
only consideration you should have is the survival of yourself and the passengers. Whether or not the airplane will be damaged in the forced landing is an irrelevant consideration. If you touch down nose high with the wings level under control on any surface that will allow a bit of a ground roll or slide
you and your passengers will survive. If you stall and spin trying to make the better field or under/overshoot the field and hit an obstacle at flying speed and still in the air,
you will probably die.
Worried about engine failures ? Don't spend very much time trying to learn about every possible field type, instead do these 2 simple things
1) When ever traffic and conditions allow, practice closing the throttle at various points of the circuit and gliding to a
pre determined touchdown point on the runway.
2) Approximately 80 % of all engine failures are caused by the actions or in- actions of the pilot with fuel contamination/mis selection/exhaustion and carb ice accounting for over half of all sudden silences. So sweat the details and make a point of being disciplined in your pre flight planning, pre flight checks and in flight monitoring of fuel and engine indications.