I just finished reading the "I Learned about Flying From That" in the latest Flying magazine about an emergency water landing down in Mexico when the engine quit. It would appear that they did everything right and walked away from the accident alive. When I read these types of articles, I always try and ask myself how I would handle the same situation in the RV.
In this particular case, I got to thinking about how I would handle the "open your door before landing" checklist item. With more traditional aircraft having doors that open outward instead of upward this is a simple task but I wonder what the best option would be in an RV? This discussion could really go down two paths: slider vs. tip-up. In my case, tip-up.
With the tip-up we have two latches, the side latch and the top latch. A simple twist on the top latch and it will be ready. The side latch can also be unlatched easily and quickly. However, what happens if the canopy is unlatched during flight?? Will it stay down? Will it be forced open and blow off? Let's assume that it stays down in flight when unlatched, would it make sense to prop it open with the upper handle as we do when taxi'ng?? Would this cause the canopy to blow off then? How would we handle the situation differently between a terra-firma landing versus a water landing?
The slider RV's out there may have an easier decision to make? Just open the canopy and slide it back. If it rips off in flight, so be it? (Risk of taking out the tail feathers?) In a water landing this would immediately allow water in.. that a good thing? (The guys in this article had hard time opening the doors.)
I certainly don't have the answers and would love to hear what other RV'rs (especially the coastal RV'rs) think about such things. Not much chance of hitting water here in the Midwest but you never know.
In this particular case, I got to thinking about how I would handle the "open your door before landing" checklist item. With more traditional aircraft having doors that open outward instead of upward this is a simple task but I wonder what the best option would be in an RV? This discussion could really go down two paths: slider vs. tip-up. In my case, tip-up.
With the tip-up we have two latches, the side latch and the top latch. A simple twist on the top latch and it will be ready. The side latch can also be unlatched easily and quickly. However, what happens if the canopy is unlatched during flight?? Will it stay down? Will it be forced open and blow off? Let's assume that it stays down in flight when unlatched, would it make sense to prop it open with the upper handle as we do when taxi'ng?? Would this cause the canopy to blow off then? How would we handle the situation differently between a terra-firma landing versus a water landing?
The slider RV's out there may have an easier decision to make? Just open the canopy and slide it back. If it rips off in flight, so be it? (Risk of taking out the tail feathers?) In a water landing this would immediately allow water in.. that a good thing? (The guys in this article had hard time opening the doors.)
I certainly don't have the answers and would love to hear what other RV'rs (especially the coastal RV'rs) think about such things. Not much chance of hitting water here in the Midwest but you never know.