In the event of a forced landing, wood or water?
 

We were having a discussion the other day regarding "what ifs" in the event of a forced landing. We fly in a rather remote area a lot of the time up here and our options would be land in the trees or land in the water. My personal thoughts are that I'm choosing the trees because they might soften the impact and I don't think I'd like to be upside down in a lake trying to get out of the plane. I hope I never have to make the decision, but it would be nice to have a bit of a pre-plan in case.

A bad scenario either way, but I'd like to hear your opinions on this.

I would go with the wood too
 

Wood too for me. In case it turn out bad in the water and you can't breath you would not live long. I am not sure landing on water with fixe gear would turn out well.

Too bad there is not much agricultural field in our area. The one in the prairies don' have to search for the answer. There is landing strip everywhere!!

Well having survived one forced landing in trees with nary a scratch I'd probably go for that. But they were nice skinny Carolina Pines that had a lot of give to them. Choice between a lake and some very tall hardwoods on mountainous terrain might skew the calculus.

Depending on the situation you might not have a lot of time to figure that out.

In either case its nice to know that these things stall at such a low airspeed - the key is to not have them stall before you contact the surface - whatever it is.

Biggest problem you face after landing in the trees is how to get down out of them.

We used to discuss the idea that getting it slowed down to just above stall over the water and then dipping in one wing might be a good strategy. The idea was to get it to come around and dissipate that energy in a circle and end up upright.

Maybe it wouldn't work. None of us had the stones to flight test it ;)

For those thinking agricultural fields are a good choice, I would pick the type of crop carefully - most tilled soil and low crops will grab your landing gear, very much like water.

Minimal airspeed / minimal energy is an important criteria. Proximity to rescue and assistance is another.

So this brings up another consideration. What gear type is most likely to minimize the chance of a flip over, tail or trike?

My dad gave me an old P-51 manual he had.. I was reading it and found it interesting that the water ditching procedure in the manual called for a full rudder deflection at the point of impact in the water.. I guess to try and spin the plane around to deflect some energy or something..hope to never try that. Those old WWII era manuals are funny.. they have cartoon charicatures and funny stuff in there - things like "try not to bail out over an area you just bombed, it might not turn out well" or something to that effect..

"If a crash is inevitable, hit the softest, cheapest thing available, as slowly as you can."

I do not think you can make a blanket statement about trees vs. water-------it will depend on the trees you are looking at, and the water also.

But, this mental exercise is good to help you determine what situations will dictate what actions you take should the big fan up front stop making wind.

Same things I was contemplating
 

I am in Houston area and most of my flying allows many options if forced to land. I flew West after Osh Kosh to Custer SD, Yellowstone, Johnson Creek, Park City, Denver, back to Houston. Lots of hours over back country. I'm not sure the best thing to do but figured I would stall into the trees down in a valley close to some roads if I could see one. I'm curious of other opinions.

In the water... Retracts of course!

I don't think which end the wiggly wheel is mounted will matter much in the water. Here's a good story that gives you a fair idea of what to expect: http://www.vansairforce.net/articles/Ditching.htm

I think I'd pick woods over water myself.