Well that’s just the way the Bo is built. It’s possible though to push out the rear windows and exit through them. If the wings aren’t full with fuel, which I assume they wouldn’t be, the low wing Bo may stay afloat for a (short) while. If it doesn’t immediately nose dive.
I guess that IF one assumes a ditching might be somehow within the range of possibility, an immersion training is the only answer. IF one weighs the odds and the conclusion is, to heck with it (with all the arguments written here, like “the engine doesn’t know” or “its only a short time”, and so on and so forth, then of course I’ll just wear live jackets and go flying. Tempting, with such a short distance.
That’s the reason I posted this. To find out what the prevailing attitude is here…..
“That’s the reason I posted this. To find out what the prevailing attitude is here…..”
Speaking for me only, I think in general, people who fly light aircraft, especially single engine over water, at night, in IMC, over hostile terrain), do need to have a more realistic sense of risk than people who would say: “there is only one engine. It can fail. If it fails I will go down. I am only out of gliding rage for 5-10 minutes, but it is possible, even if statistically highly unlikely to happen in that window, If I go down over water I will need a raft, life jackets, immersion suit, two doors, a chase helicopter, etc…”. Which is not to say the risk (or any of the risks of flying) is not assessed, it is just put into realistic statistical terms. And reasonable sensible precautions taken…like wearing a life jacket when crossing the channel… and using Skydemon glide range circle…and noting possible recue vessels…
As a separate note, I have done regular (helicopter) underwater escape training (HUET) for decades and would thoroughly recommend such an experience….you need to experience being suddenly inverted under water to realize how easy it would be to panic and drown.
I wouldn’t be too worried. The 22NM is between the “navigation points”, if you look at distance between land you can do it in about 17 to 18 NM from Cap Gris Nez to just west of Dover. At 6000ft, the figures the you gave, should allow for gliding from the halfway point. (In still wind)… In other words the engine would have to completely quit at the exact halfway point for you to not make landfall.
I would take care on the day to fully brief myself on the wind conditions and have a critical point. Anything happens before that point turn around immediately and make French landfall… After that point glide to UK landfall.
Unless the wind is doing something odd, I am pretty sure you could make land, in which case I would take just life jackets. In fact that is all I take, when I have crossed the channel, because if I did land in the water I am pretty sure it would be close to shore a few minutes swim, which you can survive even in winter.
Plus you could aim towards the docks, there would be lots of boats to pick you up.
I would wear life vests and that’s about it.
You’re right that there is a chance that the engine quits the exact moment when flying above the channel.
But it’s highly unlikely.
Make sure there is enough fuel on board, as a lot of ditchings are caused by fuel starvation.
Also, be prepared for instrument flight when over the channel because you might not see a horizon if its hazy.
EuroFlyer wrote:
Or is it not a big deal anyway ?
I agree with most of what others have written. Frankly, it is not a big deal. I wouldn’t think twice about the short overwater crossing you’ll be doing. Statistically, the risk is negligible compared to everything else that could go wrong. The risks with an engine failure over land should not be discounted either!
Unless we are talking about frequent overwater flights or serious business like crossing the North Sea, the “risk” is mainly psychological.
When I did that crossing I made sure that there were life vests on board for everybody and then I flew. Stupid or not but it did work. I am a lot more scared of engine failure after takeoff at small airports, but can’t do much about it…
There are plenty of references to this US Navy water survival chart on the web:
Looks very optimistic to me, and heavily dependent on clothing/age/fitness/injury etc.?
I recall reading that the amount and type of clothing has a big effect (factor of 2x to 4x) on the survival time.
Mind you, a 2x improvement on " < 15 min " is not a lot 
Today the temperature in the English Channel is 12C (from a Google search).
So that gives the survival time as, as little as 60 minutes.
I’ve been to a few presentations by Search & Rescue. One thing that surprised me was their comment that their target is to be in the air within 15 minutes of receiving “the call”. They said that their mainly were successful in meeting that target. I was surprised by that. I would expecting it to be much quicker. That didn’t take account of the time for you to put out a mayday call, ATC to take your details, ask you for additional info (confirmation of how many on board etc). Presumably pass the details to an assistant who then has to notify S&R.
They still have travel time to get to you.
Then the really hard part starts. I’m told that even with a good location, it can be extremely hard to find the survivors. One of the great advantages of a life raft is that it creates a big visible object. A head sticking out of the water (hopefully with a life jacket) is actually quite hard to see. They do use things like FLIR to help, but if could take some time to find you.
It’s not hard to see an hour passing, so I don’t see those figures as being very optimistic.
A few years ago and aircraft went down going from the UK to the Channel Islands. The passenger made it out and inflated the life raft and managed to get it. The pilot was a bit delayed exiting, but got out, and had a few meters to swim to get into the raft. But they went under the water in that few meters and never came up again. That was just a few second in the water without a life jacket. Averages are all very good, but you really want to stack them in your favour!
With reference to the UK it would be interesting to get the latest information from Bristow, who took over SAR in the UK from February this year, about their locations. The service looks much depleted from the previous military service.
As far as I can see, to cover the English Channel, there is a base in Lee on Solent (but this refers to April 2017), and a temporary base in Lydd (visited yesterday), so it might be an idea to keep those in mind for our Channel crossings.
Of course, if they are busy on another mission, there are going to be (considerable?) delays.
I’ll do some research, but it doesn’t look encouraging.
