I suppose one has to find a halfway point in reality, because it's going to be awfully difficult to find a nice gurl willing to out for a lunch (or more?) at Le Touquet if she has to wear a "rubber suit" 
Rubber is just too much of a 1960s kind of thing 
I know a TB20 pilot who ditched in the Med with exactly the same raft as I have (the Survival Products ~ £1000 ~10kg one) and just got his feet wet. He was glad to have the raft because there were sharks circling all around him.
TBs should be good for ditching, so long as you don't flip.
Many years ago, a club member ditched one in the Stockholm archipelago. He sat in the plane till water started to fill up, then decided to swim to a nearby island. This was in the spring, IIRC, and so rather cold. He was picked up by lifeguards after a few hours, cold but alive. The aircraft was salvaged (!) and some chaps set about making an experimental V8 version of it. Never saw the light again afaik. He didn't bring a raft, which would have saved him from getting wet and cold, and could probably have put more fuel in to start with and saved the day entirely...
Anyway, I've done the upside down maneuver in the pool a number of times, climbed into rafts with survival suits and all that. I don't know if I would be capable at sea, it is rather difficult.
One thing learned from ditching of helicopters up here in the North, is that the equipment you bring with you to the surface will be whatever is on your body. Unless the liferaft is part of your suit it'll be going down with the rest of the aircraft. The same can be said for ditching of other aircraft (from experience) very little loose equipment follows the pilots/passengers as they disembark.
So, Peter, I presume then that your raft is in your lap, strapped around your belly. It should be if you're planning on making any use of it.
I have a friend that flys the Atlantic as and when a friend asks him to ferry an aircraft (he flew my cousin’s 172 via the Azores to Israel). He has a two layers (maybe more) immersion suit that can be inflated and be used as a dingy while the air in between acts as an insulation, it comes with an hood and the lot.
I have a friend that flys the Atlantic as and when a friend asks him to ferry an aircraft (he flew my cousin’s 172 via the Azores to Israel). He has a two layers (maybe more) immersion suit that can be inflated and be used as a dingy while the air in between acts as an insulation, it comes with an hood and the lot.
Well, yes, if I was flying the Atlantic I would have 2 x PT6 But definitely an immersion suit if flying light GA.
But that's because the distances are vast and the chances of a rescue are pretty slim.
So, Peter, I presume then that your raft is in your lap, strapped around your belly. It should be if you're planning on making any use of it.
It is within easy reach.
One does bank on ditching the right way up, etc and in that situation one has 1-2 mins to get out.
I think if one messes up the ditching and ends up underwater then all bets are off, because an aircraft (or anything else heavier than water) will sink rapidly once fully submerged.
Life Rafts a not sinking!
Try to fly with a immsuite!
or this one:
it is all not a solution.
[ why post videos and then trash the posts by making them private? ]
my cousin’s 172 via the Azores to Israel
A 172 across the Atlantic via the Azores! Better him than me!
Within easy reach may well be out of reach once the sh*t hits the fan so to speak. If all goes to plan then it may actually work.
A friend of mine ditched in a 337, you may have heard of this, and sat with the raft in his lap. He wasn't the one flying, so his only task was to hang on to the raft. They ditched nicely, and being high wing the fuselage sank, but the plane remained floating on the wings for a while.
Once they stood on the patch of ice surrounding them they realized they had nothing with them except what they were wearing. This was a successful ditching by many standards, and they survived after 24 hours on the ice, but still, it just goes to show that nothing is normal in an emergency.
For peace of mind over water one should have 2 jet engines, life vests donned and preferably a hull fuselage. But that may be overdoing it slightly... :)
All this being said - and it was easy to foresee this thread would quickly degrade to one more raft vs. vest discussion, with ELT's and low temperatures to add spice - is there any news about the accident? I tried to find it on ASN but to no avail.
Seems a bit of a mystery. A quick search on Nice Matin (the local rag in Nice) turns up three articles. The most interesting comments come from the SAR helo crew who were surprised not to find anything - no debris, no fuel, no nothing, nada. The only thing known by now is the name of the owner (a certain Roland Prado), however the paper stresses that it isn't clear he was the pilot. I find the latter a bit strange, as he surely would have filed a flight plan and as we all know that includes the name of the pilot. It also appears tat the ELT wasn't activated. Strange, indeed.....
