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01-31-2011, 12:12 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 457
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Under Water Egress Training
The importance of underwater egress training.
Underwater egress training saved my life and the life of my wife. My wife and I were involved in a floatplane accident. The plane impacted the water during takeoff, flipped over and sank immediately. This is the aftermath of the crash.
The instructors attempt to convey all of this. They stressed the importance of having a reference point and focusing on it and here is the hard part?waiting, so that your actions can have a chance of succeeding. It does no good to push on a door or pull on a canopy until the plane is completely flooded, it won?t move.
I remembered all of this at the moment it counted. As my head went underwater, I was able to grab my reference point. This happened to be the top latch on the door (a Citabria has two door latches). As the plane rolled, I released my harness and grabbed the other door latch, never letting go of the top latch in the process. I was then able to push the door open and get out. My wife (who had not had the training) was disoriented and trying to get out the side of the airplane that has no door. I was able to grab the back of her survival vest and pull her out the plane backwards. Witnesses on shore said that this all took about 30 seconds. I have no idea how long it took. Another float plane came to our aid about 4 minutes after the crash.
I fly in Alaska, on floats and wheels. Regardless of where you fly however it is always best to be as prepared as you can for any emergency. I cannot stress strongly enough how important underwater egress training is. I absolutely believe that if one of us had not had the training, we would not have survived the event. If you haven?t taken the training, take it. If you have taken it, take it again. I have and will continue to repeat the class. My wife and friends have since taken it too.
One last thing, wear an inflatable flotation vest with critical survival gear in the pockets. You can only count on getting out of the plane with what you are wearing. Any survival gear in the baggage compartment is really just camping gear and it will sink with the plane.
As always I would like to thank the US Coast Guard and local FAA office for putting on this kind of training. I know of two lives it has saved.
__________________
Burke Wick
Flying RV 8
Anchorage, Alaska
VAF Dues Paid for 2020
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01-31-2011, 12:35 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Lake Country, B.C. Canada
Posts: 2,416
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Egress link
For west coasters at least, you can contact another survivor of a ditching accident, who went on to share survival knowledge and training with us.
Bryan comes highly recommended by those who have taken his class, and he will travel if a flying club signs up enough members, and there is a suitable pool in the area.
http://www.dunk-you.com/
I'm sure those of us who fly overwater, or over mountainous terrain, where the ONLY survivable crash site is a lake or river, would benefit from the training. Heck, it would even help if you flip your bird in a soft field!
__________________
Perry Y.
RV-9a - SOLD!....
Lake Country, BC
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01-31-2011, 01:27 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Saint Simons Island , GA
Posts: 1,523
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Marine Survival Training Center
in LaFayette, LA offers a great course. It's mostly offshore oil folks and helicopter crews but it's open to anyone.
I took it because sometimes I fly offshore with Marine Mammal survey groups. It's very worthwhile training and like the opening post said, it's all about remaining calm and oriented after the big splash.
If you fly over water you should take this training. I think it only a couple hundred bucks and a day of your time.
__________________
Jerry "Widget" Morris
RV 8, N8JL, 3,000+ hours on my 8.
VAF #818
Saint Simons Island, GA. KSSI
PIF 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
 I just wish I could afford to live the way I do
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01-31-2011, 03:55 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Garden City, Tx
Posts: 5,147
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RV8iator
in LaFayette, LA offers a great course. It's mostly offshore oil folks and helicopter crews but it's open to anyone.
I took it because sometimes I fly offshore with Marine Mammal survey groups. It's very worthwhile training and like the opening post said, it's all about remaining calm and oriented after the big splash.
If you fly over water you should take this training. I think it only a couple hundred bucks and a day of your time.
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Been there, so I could fly to the offshore rigs in my previous life. Well worth the time and effort.
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Greg Niehues - SEL, IFR, Repairman Cert.
Garden City, TX VAF 2020 dues paid 
N16GN flying 700 hrs and counting; IO360, SDS, WWRV200, Dynon HDX, 430W
Built an off-plan RV9A with too much fuel and too much HP. Should drop dead any minute now.
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01-31-2011, 05:47 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 2,053
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This is a timely thread as my wife and I just got back from a vacation to the southern Caribbean. Of course, she wanted to know if "we could fly the RV down" there. My response was "I don't think we could get out if we went into the water".
Taking an egress training course, while highly valuable, does beg the question "can you get out of a tip-up RV if you land in water"?
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Tony Phillips
N524AP, RV 9 (tail wheel)
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02-01-2011, 08:03 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Garden City, Tx
Posts: 5,147
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I would think an RV would tend to float for a bit if you have relatively low fuel levels, just from the air in the tank? 20 gallons of fuel burned out of the tanks will give you 160 pounds of bouyancy, maybe not enough to keep it floating but enough to give you time to get out?
__________________
Greg Niehues - SEL, IFR, Repairman Cert.
Garden City, TX VAF 2020 dues paid 
N16GN flying 700 hrs and counting; IO360, SDS, WWRV200, Dynon HDX, 430W
Built an off-plan RV9A with too much fuel and too much HP. Should drop dead any minute now.
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02-01-2011, 08:18 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 2,053
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airguy
I would think an RV would tend to float for a bit if you have relatively low fuel levels, just from the air in the tank? 20 gallons of fuel burned out of the tanks will give you 160 pounds of bouyancy, maybe not enough to keep it floating but enough to give you time to get out?
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I am thinking that at splashdown, it would flip upside down and then be nearly impossible to open the canopy?
__________________
Tony Phillips
N524AP, RV 9 (tail wheel)
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02-01-2011, 09:18 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Groton, Connecticut
Posts: 1
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SSUSA Underwater Egress Training
For anyone interested, Survival Systems USA is the world's leader in underwtaer egress training. We have served more than 100,00 individuals both militray and civilian. We have two commercial sites, our mian operations in Groton, CT and one in Kenai, AK.
Please check out our website for video of what we do and the services we provide. The testimonials from crash survivors posted on our site say it all.
www.survivalsystemsinc.com
Ben Rayner
SSUSA/Groton
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02-01-2011, 09:36 AM
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Senior Curmudgeon
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Dayton Airpark, NV A34
Posts: 15,420
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Dont forget -------- follow the bubbles
Jimmy Buffett did a great writeup of an underwater escape he was involved in, says that the prior egress training saved his life.
__________________
Mike Starkey
VAF 909
Rv-10, N210LM.
Flying as of 12/4/2010
Phase 1 done, 2/4/2011 
Sold after 240+ wonderful hours of flight.
"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
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02-01-2011, 09:36 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Gilbert, AZ
Posts: 118
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Opening any door
Folks its nearly impossible to open any door until the vehicle, is flooded, once flooded a tip up would open like anything else unless you were in shallow water and it came to rest on the canopy.
__________________
Chris Lucier
http://RV12SP.Blogspot.com
RV12 Empennage Arrived (Early) 
N712EC Serial number 120424
President EAA Chapter 228
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