Originally Posted by
Walter603
I throttled back the port engine, and pancaked on the sea, which was fortunately reasonably calm.
No sooner had we stopped our forward motion on the water, than the kite stuck down its nose, and plunged deep beneath the waves. I threw back the top of the canopy, and attempted to rise from my seat. Horror! I couldn't move. I tried again. It grew dark around me, so swift was our descent into Neptune's grave.
Amazing tale, Walter603. As I read it I was gripping my seat, dry-mouthed and heart pumping! It must be an extract from your book?!
I'm no pilot, but have seen a bit of wartime training footage where the correct procedure for ditching was being put across to pilots. As I recall, half-flap was critical, rather than the instinctive full flap, or you'd go nose-in and flip or cartwheel. Waves were seriously bad news.. if they were (linear) large swells, it was important to ditch parallel to them, along their length, not into them. You must have done an excellent job of your ditch, in that you were both conscious and uninjured. What an incredible adventure. Utterly scary and then euphoric, I guess.
