First Flying Lesson - Low and Slow Over Water !!!.
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First Flying Lesson - Low and Slow Over Water !!!.
Just found this "youtube" video of some bloke on his first flying lesson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WStXZv4oABA&NR
Around the 02:40 mark, they seem to be very low and very slow doing very tight out of balance turns over water.
Dangerous ?.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WStXZv4oABA&NR
Around the 02:40 mark, they seem to be very low and very slow doing very tight out of balance turns over water.
Dangerous ?.
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that does seem some crazy flying, i hope it wasnt done by the student....
anyway, when he was doing those turns, it looked like that the IAS was around 90Kt, although out of balance this would have been within limits as he wasnt banking that much anyway, around 15 AOB i think.
that is some hell of a lesson though, 50ft above water at one point i think!!
anyway, when he was doing those turns, it looked like that the IAS was around 90Kt, although out of balance this would have been within limits as he wasnt banking that much anyway, around 15 AOB i think.
that is some hell of a lesson though, 50ft above water at one point i think!!
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Seemed to be fast enough that there was no obvious danger of stall/spin.
Of course one would have to follow the local low-flying rules, not too close to boats or whatever. (In BC there's a rule against landing within half a mile of a whale, but as soon as you land the whales, being friendly, will swim over to have a look, so there's no rule against taxiing and taking off within half a mile of whales.)
Which just leaves engine failure ... which, assuming the guy was wearing floats (and there's nothing in that video to suggest he wasn't), is no big deal - if the fan stops you just land.
(Not that anyone has ever let me take the controls of a chartered Beaver at 100' above the Pacific, oh no, I'm sure that didn't happen
.)
Of course one would have to follow the local low-flying rules, not too close to boats or whatever. (In BC there's a rule against landing within half a mile of a whale, but as soon as you land the whales, being friendly, will swim over to have a look, so there's no rule against taxiing and taking off within half a mile of whales.)
Which just leaves engine failure ... which, assuming the guy was wearing floats (and there's nothing in that video to suggest he wasn't), is no big deal - if the fan stops you just land.
(Not that anyone has ever let me take the controls of a chartered Beaver at 100' above the Pacific, oh no, I'm sure that didn't happen
.)
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Used to do this a lot in my younger and sillier days. Flying round 1500ft headlands at 100ft just for the thrill. One day the engine must have swallowed a fly and it coughed - scared the life out of me as I knew there was no option but a watery ending. Ain't done it since..
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anyway, when he was doing those turns, it looked like that the IAS was around 90Kt, although out of balance this would have been within limits as he wasnt banking that much anyway, around 15 AOB i think
Sure it might be fun, but if that engine let go, they were in the drink as they were too far from the shore and the cliffs were pretty high.
I've been that low before over water myself in a C172 (video is on youtube somewhere, and in the flying videos thread) but we had 120kts indicated and were only over the shoreline and had a nice beach below incase anything went wrong, and also had plenty of airspeed to convert into height to give us a little more time. Wouldn't feel comfortable doing what they were doing myself, no life jackets on either.
Guess I must be getting sensible in my old age !!
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I used to own a swallow glider with a turn and slip and .... bit-o-wool in the slip stream. The bit-o-wool was a VERY accurate indicator of slip and I remember noticing how in aggressive tight turns and reversals how it would be pegged but the T&S would be all over the place! Try rolling around a point and watching your T&S (or turn co-ordinator) ... is the slip ball always in the centre? or does it wander even though everything feels in balance? Instruments are good, but not always quick ... perhaps we should also be less quick to judge?
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Low? That's not low, is it?
Last time I did something similar, instructor bod next to me said "take it down to ten feet above the water and hold it there". VP, being dumb, took it down to ten feet, as requested, and sat there, having a ball. Quiet voice from instructor piped up "I meant ten feet from the BOTTOM of the floats, not the windshield..................."
My personal view, irresponsible as it may be, is that flying very low over water has to be one of the very best things in life, better even than s*x (at least at my age). Mind you, I might think differently if the cab didn't have nice floaty things attached to it.
VP
Last time I did something similar, instructor bod next to me said "take it down to ten feet above the water and hold it there". VP, being dumb, took it down to ten feet, as requested, and sat there, having a ball. Quiet voice from instructor piped up "I meant ten feet from the BOTTOM of the floats, not the windshield..................."
My personal view, irresponsible as it may be, is that flying very low over water has to be one of the very best things in life, better even than s*x (at least at my age). Mind you, I might think differently if the cab didn't have nice floaty things attached to it.
VP
