Microlighters

Being an avid biker I like to minise risk of premature death. The Hurt Report is a statistical analysis of thousands of accidents done in the 80's. Its invaluable for assertaining where to focus your safety efforts. Does something like this exist for our machines of the air?

Good question Wamatt Iv'e never heard of any such report for Microlighters but it would be a good thing to have a document pointing out the dangers we face and how to avoid them.

Some examples may be:

1 Whip Stalls. How to avoid them and if you do get into a situation is it possible to for example to side slip out of it.(Assuming you still have some control)
2 Water landings. As I have only read about them what would be the best proceedure to follow. Read about a Trike pilot overseas who had an engine out and had to land in the sea almost drowned as he was still strapped in. He suggested loosen safety belt just before impact and hang legs over side of Trike jump out and get clear.
A suggested proceedure was to get the nose up and go into the water backwards.

2 Water landings. As I have only read about them what would be the best proceedure to follow. Read about a Trike pilot overseas who had an engine out and had to land in the sea almost drowned as he was still strapped in. He suggested loosen safety belt just before impact and hang legs over side of Trike jump out and get clear.

Should a trike ever be flown over a body of water when its altitude is insufficient to glide to a dry landing area, How far offshore are we allowed to fly (if at all), perhaps our costal pilots can provide some advice here, (although i have seen some trikes cruising over lakes and dams here in JHB at a couple of feet off the water).

HUET (helicopter underwater escape training) is probably the closest idea that we can get for prepare for a ditched water landing: basically the principles are:


1) strap in as absolutely tight as possible, at point of impact anything that is loose IS going to be flung around at high speed.

2) just prior to impact, one has to "brace for impact". In the case of a helicopter one is seated, doubled over foward, one hand is on the seat belt release and one hand firmly placed on a the "exit" eg a window to act act a point of orientation and exit after the action has settled

3) after impact, there will be a lot of tumbling and movement, do not release the seat belts as you are going to get disorietatated and hurt, wait until ALL movement and noise has stopped.

4) then release the belt with one hand, and pull yourself forward with the orientation hand ie towards the exit.


yes: i know this is for helicopters , but its a start...... the fact of the matter is that anything loose is going 2 get flung around like a ragdoll eg pilot, passenger, radios, gps etc etc. Limbs that are loose are most likely going to be twisted and yanked......

just my 2 cents worth: if it were me heading down for the wet stuff, just prior to impact, (making sure that the seat belts of myself and pax were tight), i would bring my legs up into foetal position,........ not too sure about the bar as its going to be forced backward with the full weight of the trike PLUS the inertia of the plane if we go nose over..... the bar is probably your biggest cause of concern, its positioned just right for head, chest, facial and arm injuries........ perhaps a stall a few feet above the water so that you "plop" down as opposed to having significant foward airspeed is a good option??

ICEMAN wrote: HUET (helicopter underwater escape training) is probably the closest idea that we can get for prepare for a ditched water landing: basically the principles are:

In hanggliding we were told to unstrap from the hangstrap, climb into the A-Frame and exit the glider about 3m about the water.

I'm not sure I'd want to be anywhere near the trike when it goes down due to the likely entanglement and downward suction when it sinks.

ICEMAN wrote:perhaps a stall a few feet above the water so that you "plop" down as opposed to having significant foward airspeed is a good option??

In my inexperience I would think this is the way to go in any situation where you do not have a smooth landing strip, whether it is water or rocky terrain. Fly the plain as far as you can and keep it about a meter about ground if you can until it drops out of the sky or if you need to, you can put it into a stall.

I was told by my instructor at Ballito if I need to fly over water that I must always be high enough to be able to glide safely back to land. In other words the further away you fly from the shore the higher you must fly.

vincent wrote:I was told by my instructor at Ballito if I need to fly over water that I must always be high enough to be able to glide safely back to land. In other words the further away you fly from the shore the higher you must fly.

Does the wind always blow towards land? would hate to have headwind!

DieselFan wrote:

Does the wind always blow towards land? would hate to have headwind!

Would this not be part of your "Threat Management" as a pilot?

Land breeze - gliding angle against wind very steep - cannot fly over sea.

Sea Breeze - gliding angle much better - can fly a bit over sea.

Want to fly far over the sea, get the right equipment, BRS, live jacket, get the proper training, and support from the ground.

Regards,
Arnulf

To me it's all very simple - if you want to increase the risk to your safety by flying over water then ensure you have enough height to be able to glide back to a adequate landing site. That should also take the prevailing wind direction into account.