[SpamCop-Social] Re: Planes, trains and stalling. (Ping GregR)

[GregR]

Frog Prince wrote:

> Most single engine Cessnas can be landed in a very short run of clear ground
> with out damage.

Went to a lot of safety seminars at the last AOPA convention in Palm Springs,
and one of the speakers there had done survivability studies on small-aircraft
landing accidents.  Seems you can land a single-engine plane (diagonally) in a
decent-sized mall parking lot and walk away from it.  Most GA aircraft are
stressed for 6g deceleration in that axis, and coincidentally that also makes
for the best survivability for your body as well.

Worst scenario would be to stall it in from above 50 feet or so - ouch, can you
say severe spinal compression?...  :-)

> Also most can be safely landed (if you know what you are doing -- most
> don't) in a space where they cannot take off.

You got that right, though I don't think that would even factor into my thinking
if I had an actual failure.

Fly the airplane, pitch up to best glide speed, find a spot to set it down on
and fly to it.  Now if there's time, you can try to troubleshoot the problem,
otherwise run through the emergency pre-landing checklist (Mayday message sent
(if time), xpdr to 7700 - pull mixture out, turn master off, and pop doors open
on short final).  Main thing is to get back on the ground safely and worry about
retrieving the plane later.

On that note, we had a crash out here last week where the pilot (a CFI) lost an
engine and put it into the side of a hill.  Both her and her passenger sustained
severe injuries.  Don't want to Monday morning quarterback her decisions, but
there *was* a road about 30 feet up the hill from the crash site.  Gotta wonder,
but we'll just have to wait for the NTSB report, I guess.

--
GregR - Another Beemer Biker ...o&o>

[Remove the null-routing to reply]

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Proud to be 'anmother Internet terrorist'
(e-mail from Tommy Brock at Removeyou.org 5/24/02).