So how long will a RV float?
What if you filled the empty volume with ping-pong balls?
Beach first, deep water second, breakers last resort.
Being trapped upside down in 2 feet of water would be about the worst way to die, I think
So how long will a RV float?
What if you filled the empty volume with ping-pong balls?
Beach first, deep water second, breakers last resort.
Being trapped upside down in 2 feet of water would be about the worst way to die, I think
That's exactly what happened in the video of the RV-7 going into the water.I am thinking with a slider that it could be opened once the plane is slowed down just before hitting the water. Although it might slam close when the plane hits.
How about this for a possible water landing strategy - just above contact, stall with one wing low to dig into the water, hopefully causing the aircraft into (ground) loop motion with the opposite wing helping to prevent a roll over.
I choose option C: Point the airplane to open water and Parachute to safety. Just make sure its a Softie
Especially the guys in the Red Pitts...geezz, you know they must have had parachutes on. And a Cub with that big (already) open door... "come on"..
Too many guys dying in airplane crashes and not enough bailing out to safety, that's what I think. We need to change the mindset which will then change the statistical outcome.
Great Video Btw. That was extremely well done!
A decision made a lot easier by the fact that it wasn't *your* airplane. Making the leap to "the insurance company owns it now" or even "If I don't get out I will die" is a lot harder when it's your money and/or your multi-year build project going into the drink.In my younger days, I had to get out of a friend's Pitts that had an airframe failure.. It was surprisingly easy to decide to get out..
Any idea why so many people are bailing out? I have only heard of 2 or 3 cases where someone needed to bail out of an RV due to engine fire or structural failure or collision. I don't recall any that have been successful....I have several other customers that have bailed out too. There were 6 guys that bailed out in 2018 alone. It's doable.
Funny thing is...most of the resistance I hear comes from the RV crowd. "No one has ever bailed out of one of these", "You couldn't get the canopy open anyway", "The canopy would tear the tail off", "You wouldn't have time". All the usual stuff but always more prevalent with the RV crowd, for some reason.
...
3 crashes, Pilot and PAX bailed out in each instance.
Engine failure over very inhospitable terrain.
Spin testing that wouldn't recover (test pilots)
Rudder control failure in flight.
Bottom line: 6 guys went home and hugged the kids and kissed the wife.