View Full Version : Ditch or dirt ???
O.k...so your flying in a light single engine aircraft which may or may not have retractable undercarriage and you have an engine failure. Out of possible options which landing area would you choose? Also specify whether gear up or down landing!
I'll go first, in order of priority.
Open road - gear down
Narrow dirt road - gear down.
Open grassland/level bare clay/salt pan - gear down
Sand/wet beach/mudflat/- gear up
Ditch in any water body near land - gear up obviously
Rough ground covered in trees, whether dense or sparse-gear up
2 Does anyone have any stories or statistics on ditching?
U2
18-Wheeler
14th Sep 2002, 11:22
One of my students had to ditch once, and he did a bloody great job of it.
I'm not quite sure what he did, but the plane ended up sitting on the water the right way up, with the main wheels pulled off. His passenger and himself got out and used the tyres to keep themselves afloat.
I've talked to an aeroplane wrecker (his profession, not reputation!) and he swears blind that the best way to put a plane down on the ground wheels up, if you have the choice between grass, dirt, and bitumen, is to use the bitumen every time as the plane won't dig a furrow and flip over.
BIK, that web site is very good reading. Also the website
www.equipped.com which is linked to the one you listed has good material in it.
After reading that material I am more inclined to go for the ditching scenario. I would feel more confident hitting water than hitting a tree. If I had an engine failure at night I would go for a river because you would be able judge the surface conditions and height above it if there was moon light available.
U2
OzExpat
15th Sep 2002, 09:30
If it's a natural surface, whether hard-packed or not - you might want to consider keeping the wheels retracted if it's a bit on the short side. And, remember too, you might actually need a longer patch than normal, in case the anxiety of the moment induces errors in your judgement - a scenario that's not impossible.
Thus, even if the patch has a reasonable length, you might end up flaring a bit high and floating further than anticipated, leaving less room to bring the aircraft to a stop with the wheels down. If the wheels are left up, you'll stop pretty quick.
The other point about a "natural surface" is that you probably won't be sure that's it's hard-packed until you land on it. By then it could be waaay too late. Thus, unless you're absolutely sure that the surface won't buckle under you, far better to leave the wheels up - and leave Hollywood antics to the actors.