Has anyone worked out a checklist for the unfortunate case one has to ditch?
I'm preparing one, but don't want to re-invent the wheel.
After reading some about this subject, my thinking is that one should
not use more than 10 degrees of flaps, to avoid the nose becoming too
low, and to avoid a wing digging in if the extended flap gets torn off
during the initial contact with water.
Another thing that crossed my mind is that it might be beneficial to
open the doors before touchdown. It is my understanding that they will
depart the airplane, which is probably a good thing in that situation,
anticipating the possibility that the airplane might flip over and one
has to evacuate the inverted airplane.
Has anyone done the math whether the wings and foam area's of an Europa
are sufficient to keep it floating?
Other Europa specific things to think about?
As far as I know no Europa has ever been ditched. Is that right?
I came accross these liferafts:
http://www.switlik.com/aviation-catalog-isplr-liferaft.html
The interesting thing about these personal liferafts is that they are so
small that you can wear them as a belt during flight. And with 5.7 lbs
they are very light. Two of these is not more expensive that one regular
multi-person raft, and appears to be more suitable for our small Europa's.
Any comments on these?
Frans
P.S. I appreciate that some folks choose not to fly over water. Mind you
though that in the Netherlands this would severely restrict ones
travels, so avoiding water is not an option.
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