Cowboys flying in Utah

OMG. Those aeroplanes only have one engine each. Too dangerous for me.

Great fun to watch!

Also glimpsed at least two very nice looking Lancairs in that hangar at the very beginning of the film…

PS Here’s one of the pilots in the above video with some interesting comments about his attitude to risk and safety:

Flying rather low over water too – why do folks take such dreadful risks?

Thanks for posting that Bosco!

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in the physics of water landings with pneumatic tires, there’s a 1963 NASA technical note here, and a paper which I wrote a couple of years ago here.

They manage to launch a remotely controlled plane during flight, here

Neat video. It’s what Kitfox style planes were made for, given the right pilot. The Wilga is interesting to me, they only made a few with a Lycoming and I’d love to fly one.

I notice that the wind was dead calm.

BTW, I spent a long period working in Utah and ‘everybody’ there thinks of themselves as a cowboy. The word carries a very positive connotation of politeness and self sufficiency, which are also Mormon values. Quite unlike the pejorative use of the word in European pilot forums

I really enjoy those videos. Would like to do something similar one day. I think the risks are manageable and those aircraft can fly very slow in case of an engine failure.

Beautiful scenery. Usually great weather. Not too much traffic. Lot of Class G(ood) Airspace. Very caring FAA. Cheap rental of aircraft, of much better quality than in the UK.
You can enjoy Utah without going that low. I had an FBO at Grand Junction, Colorado, who was quite happy to let me fly through the Green River canyons from Green River, Utah, on I70, to Vernal – but he went out when I was showing photos.
Unfortunately he moved to other business, and I had to be much more conventional on my last visit. I’d never go anywhere the FBO didn’t approve.

My writing on the topic of preparedness for water entry from last summer follows.

In the mean time, we are so fortunate to be able to fly, why on earth (or water) dramatically increase the risks by placing a wheel plane in contact with the water? Just fly it as the designer intended! And yes, I did on one occasion only, deliberately hydroplane each of two 185’s to get them away from a situation which otherwise would certainly been to their peril. I was young, and did not think about my own peril enough back in the day. If you gotta take your plane over water, such that a water landing/crash is a risk, prepare yourself:

“So, the flight you’re about to fly has a risk of a water landing; this may be because it actually is a floatplane operation, or maybe that a portion of the flight will be over water, or with a water landing being the only practical escape (flying the shoreline of a city). You know in your heart, that entering the water is possible during that flight, are you prepared?

Lifejackets: Yup, got ‘em. They’re in plastic bags in the seat pocket behind you. Hmmm, if you’re being inundated with a gurgling mass of dark cold water, and thinking about how to get out, will you even think about searching behind you for a lifejacket? Could you find it, and take it with you? If you got out with it, could you don and inflate it, while struggling to remain afloat in the mean time?

Wait, the person you were flying with is just over there, and looks like they are struggling in the water, can you help them too? Oh, now you realize that though you’re out of the plane, you’re a lot more injured than you realize – your shoulder is broken, and your arm is of little use, your ankles are broken, you cannot swim – it’s getting more complicated…

But, you were prepared, you were already wearing the lifejacket while you were flying, so it went out the door with you – excellent! Do you recall how to inflate it? Your cell phone, to call for help, darn, it’s in your pocket, and soaked….

Recently, to my instant horror, I found myself floating beside the plane I had just been flying in, which was now sinking. I was calling out to my fellow pilot, as I could not see him. I had not exited the plane, I had been ejected through the windshield. I was wearing my life jacket, as I always do when water flying. My cell phone was in a waterproof bag, clipped to the life jacket, so when I was ready, and floating with stability, I could call for help.

Well, exiting through the windshield had not been an element of my planning. The life jacket was torn (as was I), and the cell phone pouch ripped off. While floating (well, sinking), I had trouble finding the inflate tabs, and my injured arm refused to assist. The manual inflation tube was perfectly positioned, and my right arm worked, so I blew breaths in to inflate. I did not realize that the lifejacket was ripped, but happily, it held enough air, that I could see the yellow pillow form at my shoulder. That modest amount of buoyant air saved my life. Then I passed out. Happily, I later learned that my fellow pilot was much less injured than I, had inflated the life jacket he was wearing, and was rescued with me.

I have the most brief recollection of a person I know telling me I’ll be alright, while hearing the sound of an outboard motor. I recall a glimpse of a fellow firefighter (I’m a volunteer firefighter in the place of the accident) telling me it’ll be alright, as he helped lift me out of the boat. One more momentary memory of another of my fellow fire fighters telling me it will be alright, while riding in the ambulance. Three days later, I came to, in critical ICU, with my family all around me, telling me how close I’d come medically to not making it. I know how close I came buoyantly to not making it!
And my phone? My wife called it for nearly two days. The waterproof case held, as it rung, and took a message, until finally the battery went flat.

So, my advice is consider your risks, and skills – if you’re flying over water, are you prepared to suddenly be in it? Injured? Needing to also assist your fellow flier? Have you practiced with a life jacket in the water? Can you exit the plane in the dark, upside down? If you chose to not wear the life jacket, can you find it, and take it with you, while rushing out in a panic? When I took the dunker course, the purpose of one exercise was to grab the lifejacket on the way out. With all the mental planning I had done, and single purpose to performing that simple task, three of four times, I left the inverted, submerged cockpit without out the life jacket – fail!

Prepare for emergencies, they don’t always give you much warning! The difference between my being rescued by boat, or being searched by police divers was my wearing my lifejacket, and managing to make the best of it, even damaged.

My advice for you from my life lesson five weeks ago….."