Water Landings
rlovinggood
Roake, there's this word on water landings:
"Walter Schneider and Wolf Lemke of LS fame carried out water landing
test and ditched an LS1 prior to the World Championships in Finland.
They were worried about the lack of land out options and the
proliferation of lakes. They assumed that landing wheel up would be
the preferred option, but discovered that the glider 'bounced' off the
surface and dropped a wing as the fuselage entered the water because
of its shape. They tried it again with the wheel down, deliberately
put the tail down first and discovered that the wheel acted as a
gentle brake and controlled the whole process much better."
So, there has been at least one LS1 that has been tested for water
landings.
Questions:
1. Who do you find as a test pilot for these things?
2. What would you, the test pilot, say when Herr Schneider or Herr
Lemke says, "Go land in the lake." Maybe one of them did it and they
didn't have to ask a test pilot to do it?
3. Which version and serial number of the LS1 made this landing, I
mean, landings (plural)?
4. I have an LS1-c/d (Built as a 'c', changed to a 'd') and it was
flown by Helmut Reichmann in the 1970 World Gliding Championship. Was
it this glider they tested? Serial number 27.
5. My 'c' model does not have any type of box around the landing
gear. Seems like the fuselage could quickly fill and drag it to the
bottom. I wonder if they did their tests with the 'f' model, which
does have a sealed landing gear box?
Well, I know if I ever am faced with the challenge, the things to do,
not including panic radio calls...
1. Extend the landing gear.
2. Close the air vents.
3. Close spoilers.
4. Land tail first (as always).
5. Hopefully land towards the mainland and not an island, wind and
topography permitting.
6. Hope the insurance is paid up.
Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
brianDG303
> Well, I know if I ever am faced with the challenge, the things to do,
> not including panic radio calls...
> 1. Extend the landing gear.
> 2. Close the air vents.
> 3. Close spoilers.
> 4. Land tail first (as always).
> 5. Hopefully land towards the mainland and not an island, wind and
> topography permitting.
> 6. Hope the insurance is paid up.
>
> Ray Lovinggood
> Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
I fly in the mountains a lot and never with water, and I have wondered
about blowing air into the water bags, not a lot but just enough to
make sure they have some air in them. Water wings.
uncl...@ix.netcom.com
You can't judge the landing well enough to land safely toward shore.
Parallel at distance you judge to be deep enough to not hit the
bottom- at least 8 ft.
Low energy with everything retracted except gear will reduce
likelihood of damage.
Vents will pop open due to pressure pulse when nose goes in.
Some handbooks suggest canopy unlatched(front hinged type) to help
egress if it goes on it's back.
Best to try to avoid, but MUCH better than trees.
Admiral Nixon
cernauta
<rlovi...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>1. Extend the landing gear.
>2. Close the air vents.
>3. Close spoilers.
>4. Land tail first (as always).
>5.
>6. Hope the insurance is paid up.
5. land parallel to the shore
7. turn off all electric power
Aldo Cernezzi
Jim White
>Best to try to avoid, but MUCH better than trees.
>Admiral Nixon
Are you sure? The upper branches of trees seem to provide quite a soft
'landing'. Afraid to report my club has nested at least two gliders with
all occupants walking away (after being 'rescued' by the fire service).
jim
Andy
> On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:38:35 -0700 (PDT), rlovinggood
>
> >1. Extend the landing gear.
> >2. Close the air vents.
> >3. Close spoilers.
> >4. Land tail first (as always).
> >5.
> >6. Hope the insurance is paid up.
>
> 5. land parallel to the shore
> 7. turn off all electric power
>
> Aldo Cernezzi
I've made enough water landings to earn a single engine sea rating.
One thing that was not obvious to me before I started the training was
that landings on moving water should be made with the current not
against it if wind permits. The idea is to minimize the water speed
on touchdown so it's a trade between wind and current.
uncl...@ix.netcom.com
You must have special trees.
I know of many where glider fall all the way to the ground with
sometimes
hard impact and commonly lots of damage to the glider.
Yep- I'm sure.
UH
in...@drwhitehead.com
landing flaps?Thanks.Douglas
Bill Daniels
<in...@drwhitehead.com> wrote in message
news:2742c123-2738-4060...@w1g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
Wasn't there a pilot who nearly drowned after landing in the treetops?
IIRC, the camopy jammed shut and the ballast water drained into the cockpit.
Sometimes you just can't win.
Shaun McLaughlin
the list of things to do before you ditch.
Even with my 400m swimming badge, I'm not sure I'd fancy a swim with a
parachute still on my back.
Shaun
At 00:21 26 June 2008, Bill Daniels wrote:
>
> wrote in message
>news:2742c123-2738-4060...@w1g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
>On Jun 25, 5:44 pm, unclh...@ix.netcom.com wrote:> On Jun 25, 1:13 pm,
>Jim White wrote:> > > >Best to try to avoid, but
RL
Given the record of tree landings vs. water landings the Admiral is no
doubt correct. Tree landings have a history of injuries, fatalities,
and serious damage to the glider. I’ve never heard of an injury in a
water landing, and in most cases there has been no damage to the
glider (except wet electronics). Given the choice between trees and
water, getting wet appears to be far safer for both man and machine.
Bob
Tony Verhulst
> You must have special trees.
> I know of many where glider fall all the way to the ground with
> sometimes
> hard impact and commonly lots of damage to the glider.
> Yep- I'm sure.
> UH
http://home.comcast.net/~tony.verhulst/PICS/N1241S/images/image010.jpg
The solo student pilot walked away. And, yes, the glider was totalled.
Tony
Robert Danewid
Turn off the electronics
Land parallell to the shore.
Wheel down.
After you have landed, get out of the glider and sit on the wing and
calm down (you are propably quite upset). Think: "what a mess I have put
myself into". It is no use getting drowned so try to stay on the glider
as long as possible and try to use it a craft to paddle ashore.
Most waterlandings turns out quite OK and the glider is usually airborne
again within a day or two.
The LS water landings prior to the 1976 WGC was filmed and the film was
showed quite often at club meetings etc in the late 70ies.
Robert
ASW 28-18E
RD
brianDG303 skrev:
Vaughn Simon
<uncl...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:99d9532d-ab91-4926...@59g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
>You must have special trees.
>I know of many where glider fall all the way to the ground with
>sometimes hard impact and commonly lots of damage to the glider.
>Yep- I'm sure.
The only tree landing I have ever seen totalled the glider (when it fell out
of the tree) and put the pilot out of circulation for several month with spine
injurys.
Vaughn
Sergio
wrote:
> <unclh...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
A friend, Air France 747 captain/ instructor, was on his Taurus over
the Med at 2000 ft (controller held altitude) 1.5 miles from shore
when the engine stopped. Had to ditch, smooth, and the glider
floated...
Agay
Un motoplaneur s'abîme en mer : le pilote indemne
Paru aujourd'hui, vendredi 27 juin 2008
Pilote chevronné, Pierre Sibilia (à l'arrière-plan, avec une chemise
jaune), a réussi à effectuer un amerrissage forcé après que le moteur
du motoplaneur s'est éteint. L'appareil a été remorqué jusqu'au port
d'Agay.
La balade d'un adepte d'ULM motoplaneur a failli tourner au drame,
hier matin.
Il est 9 heures environ quand un résident de Tourrettes, Pierre
Sibilia, 58 ans, décolle de l'aérodrome de Fayence aux commandes de
son appareil personnel, un ULM motoplaneur. Ce pilote chevronné - il
est, dans le civil, commandant de bord à Air France -, met le cap sur
Saint-Raphaël. Les conditions météo sont idéales, et tout se présente
bien.
Mais vers 9 h 30, alors qu'il se trouve au-dessus de la mer, à un
mille et demi environ de la côte, près de l'Île des Vieilles, le petit
moteur de son aéronef stoppe brusquement. Impossible de le relancer.
L'appareil se met à perdre de la hauteur, et Pierre Sibilia choisit la
seule solution possible : l'amerrissage. Expérience et mer d'huile
aidant, il arrive à effectuer la manoeuvre en douceur.
Grâce au signal radio qu'il a eu la présence d'esprit de lancer -
sapeurs-pompiers du corps intercommunal Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël,
gendarmes maritimes et police municipale - se rendent rapidement sur
place avec plusieurs bateaux, véhicules et un imposant matériel.
Une fois sur place, ils trouvent l'infortuné pilote, accroché à son
appareil refusant de couler.
« Pas le temps d'avoir peur »
Indemne, il en avait été seulement quitte pour un bain forcé. Quant au
motoplaneur, il a été remorqué jusqu'au port d'Agay, où le cortège a
créé une certaine animation.
« Le moteur s'est arrêté d'un coup et je n'ai pas pu le remettre en
route, raconte Pierre Sibilia. Je n'ai rien compris sur les causes de
cette panne. Et puis, je n'ai même pas eu le temps d'avoir peur. C'est
la première fois qu'il m'arrive un accident pareil. Et ça fait
pourtant 43 ans que je suis dans le métier. En tout cas, merci aux
secours, ils ont été d'une remarquable efficacité. »
VAR MATIN http://www.varmatin.com/ra/var/132382/agay-un-motoplaneur-s-abime-en-mer-le-pilote-indemne
c'est pas très gentil de refuser de couler , tu aurai eut deux lignes
de plus.