Rough Field Landings

Here I am with the big stick again. I can't recall anyone discussing
rough area landings or hostile terrain landings in a long time. For
example, forced to land (no matter the reason-you supply one) and you
are headed into a corn field, or a rice paddy, or trees, or perhaps
mountain slopes. Well lets take it to the swamps where you have both
trees and water? Hmmmm, how about on city streets?
Anyone ever paid much attention to the field surfaces as you drive
along? Or the wires that cross streets and highways? Or traffic flows
and bridge heights? These are all things that ag pilots look at almost
unconciously and deal with on a regular basis.
How about you? Sure it may never happen but statistics don't mean a
thing when you are tagged, IT!
With winter on us and snow on the ground, can you tell what is under
that white mantle? Can you tell how deep it is? Are you prepared to
stay warm until you can get out or until help arrives? What a bummer to
make a good landing on a frozen lake and then freeze to death because
you didn't have any warm gear with you. Like the two blondes who froze
to death at the drive in when they went to see "Closed For The Winter".
(sorry I couldn't help myself)
I won't bore you with the places where I have had to land, or when I
rescued people who had landed in nasty places. What I can do is share
some of the information I learned from it.
Now I'm gonna sit back and wait to see who is interested and wants to
participate in an exchange of knowledge and ideas.
Ol Shy & Bashful - The CFII with the big stirring stick

wrote in message
ups.com...
Here I am with the big stick again. I can't recall anyone discussing
rough area landings or hostile terrain landings in a long time. For
example, forced to land (no matter the reason-you supply one) and you
are headed into a corn field, or a rice paddy, or trees, or perhaps
mountain slopes.

Okay, I'll bite first.

I'm over unsettled wilderness and there is an unbroken stand of 30 foot
evergreens as far as the eye can see. I'm gonna have to put a C172 down
into that.

Tell me how to do it.

Now, my uninformed personal opinion would be to flare as if I intended to
land on the tree tops, and as I start to sink, pull up more than usual to
try to mush into the trees in almost a tail stand. Is that possible?

The nice thing about some kinds of evergreens is that they bend over to
let you down easy. Of course, when they spring back up, it makes it
harder to see the downed aircraft except from above.

Icebound wrote:
I'm over unsettled wilderness and there is an unbroken stand of 30 foot
evergreens as far as the eye can see. I'm gonna have to put a C172 down
into that.
Tell me how to do it.
Now, my uninformed personal opinion would be to flare as if I intended to
land on the tree tops, and as I start to sink, pull up more than usual to
try to mush into the trees in almost a tail stand. Is that possible?

On 14 Dec 2004 05:57:17 -0800, wrote:

Here I am with the big stick again. I can't recall anyone discussing
rough area landings or hostile terrain landings in a long time. For
example, forced to land (no matter the reason-you supply one) and you
are headed into a corn field, or a rice paddy, or trees, or perhaps
mountain slopes. Well lets take it to the swamps where you have both
trees and water? Hmmmm, how about on city streets?
Anyone ever paid much attention to the field surfaces as you drive
along? Or the wires that cross streets and highways? Or traffic flows
and bridge heights? These are all things that ag pilots look at almost
unconciously and deal with on a regular basis.
How about you? Sure it may never happen but statistics don't mean a
thing when you are tagged, IT!
With winter on us and snow on the ground, can you tell what is under
that white mantle? Can you tell how deep it is? Are you prepared to
stay warm until you can get out or until help arrives? What a bummer to
make a good landing on a frozen lake and then freeze to death because
you didn't have any warm gear with you. Like the two blondes who froze
to death at the drive in when they went to see "Closed For The Winter".
(sorry I couldn't help myself)
I won't bore you with the places where I have had to land, or when I
rescued people who had landed in nasty places. What I can do is share
some of the information I learned from it.
Now I'm gonna sit back and wait to see who is interested and wants to
participate in an exchange of knowledge and ideas.
Ol Shy & Bashful - The CFII with the big stirring stick

I haven't seen half of what you have, and this type of problem does
cross my mind. Specifically upslope/downslope landings, trees, corn,
and city streets. Normal training does not cover much of this, and
while I like to think I've thought about it alot, hearing from someone
who's done it would help my knowledge alot (I hope).

Look forward to your post.
z

Forget about the airplane, concentrate on saving lives.

Slowest possible foreward speed at touch down, no matter what the surface
is. Maintain control and do not stall the aircraft! Falling out of the sky
30 feet above the ground will kill passengers faster than a controlled crash
straight ahead.

If you have a choice land into the wind and or uphill if possible.

Reduce sources of ignition. Turn off fuel and electrical as much as
possible.

Prepare your passengers for impact after touchdown. Seatbelts tight, knees
up, wrap your arms around your knees, face down into your thighs. Your
objective is to keep your passengers and yourself: 1)alive 2)conscious and
3)mobil, in that order.

Land "with" the rows, furrows, ditch, traffic etc.

Do what ever it takes to reduce your chances of rolling or tumbling the
aircraft. Keep the centerline of the aircraft pointed in the direction that
you are traveling.

Look for power poles, not lines. You're able to see poles a lot sooner
than you'll ever see the lines. Do not forget about guy wires.

Land "behind" the house rather than in front. The odds are better that the
power lines enter from the front.

If you try to land on a road and there is a house or building nearby, odds
are 50/50 that there will be power lines crossing the road.

Open a door prior to touchdown. A bent airframe, deep snow, or mud, may
prevent you from opening it after you stop moving.

Realize that freshly plowed fields not only have furrows but tend to be
soft. A gear up landing (if possible) may prevent your gear from digging in
and cartwheeling your airplane.

Think about why a potential landing spot is in the condition that it is.
Many times areas of long grass aren't mowed for a reason.... rocks? swamp?.
Avoid them unless you are familiar with the area (and if you have a choice).

Look beyond your landing spot. You may be proud of the approach and
touchdown that you make... right up to the point that you skid into a
drainage ditch.

There are some great survival books and articles available. Read a couple
then buy a survival kit to keep in the plane. Remember the name of the game
is survival, not luxury, carry things that will keep you warm and dry. Don't
forget to carry water on every flight.

Jim




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Glider pilots pay a lot of attention to landings in rough and unusual
places. Especially racers and record chasers. Off field landings are not
necessarily 'emergencies' and in fact qualify as normal operations in many
cases. But they are always risky and often are just a half step away from
real emergencies if gets carried away with trying to stay up or make a goal.

Farmers fields are the main venue - agriculture makes cross country soaring
possible. You can learn so much about farming like, "why did the farmer
choose to make this field a pasture rather than plow it?" Or the classic,
"why is there only one cow?"

Roads are always tempting but are full of obstructions let alone traffic,
especially with 50' wings. "What is the key document needed to avoid making
a normal landing a 7 o'clock news emergency?"

Tree tops can be soft but the trip down is the challenge - whether the a/c
goes all the way down on impact or you need to climb down, or worse lowered
down with a rope around your waist (I have pics). "What causes the most
damage in a tree top landing?"

Anyway, sounds like Ag pilots and glider guider share a fascination with
figuring out, "what would I do if I had to put down here?" Fun stuff!

Seriously, one does have to make a very important decision during one of
these events... how hard do you want to work to save the aircraft?
Surviveability is almost always doable but airworthiness afterwards takes
some effort and often some risk.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Here I am with the big stick again. I can't recall anyone discussing
rough area landings or hostile terrain landings in a long time. For
example, forced to land (no matter the reason-you supply one) and you
are headed into a corn field, or a rice paddy, or trees, or perhaps
mountain slopes. Well lets take it to the swamps where you have both
trees and water? Hmmmm, how about on city streets?
Anyone ever paid much attention to the field surfaces as you drive
along? Or the wires that cross streets and highways? Or traffic flows
and bridge heights? These are all things that ag pilots look at almost
unconciously and deal with on a regular basis.
How about you? Sure it may never happen but statistics don't mean a
thing when you are tagged, IT!
With winter on us and snow on the ground, can you tell what is under
that white mantle? Can you tell how deep it is? Are you prepared to
stay warm until you can get out or until help arrives? What a bummer to
make a good landing on a frozen lake and then freeze to death because
you didn't have any warm gear with you. Like the two blondes who froze
to death at the drive in when they went to see "Closed For The Winter".
(sorry I couldn't help myself)
I won't bore you with the places where I have had to land, or when I
rescued people who had landed in nasty places. What I can do is share
some of the information I learned from it.
Now I'm gonna sit back and wait to see who is interested and wants to
participate in an exchange of knowledge and ideas.
Ol Shy & Bashful - The CFII with the big stirring stick

In addition to those great comments, there are a couple of more items
you rarely see mentioned.

Before landing, have everyone take off their headphones! People
who've been in wrecks have mentioned how much it hurt when the
earphones flew off during an abrupt stop.

I once read some study the USAF did. IIRC, it said that 45 seconds of
engine-off gliding was enough to cool down the typical single-engine
motor and exhaust to the point that fire was much less likely. I have
no idea what to do with that info, however g.

Kev

I would be concerned about spinning it into ground in this scenerio. I
think it would be better to maintain you minimum approach speed and
try to fly it between two trees so that the wings absorb most of the
energy.

Brian

You'd have to weigh the risk of falling out of the trees against the risk of
fire created by the fuel spilling out of the wings. I guess the worst would
be to be stuck in the trees, wings partially ripped off, and on fire. What
ever your choice, minimum approach speed is the key.
Jim

"Brian" wrote in message
oups.com...
I would be concerned about spinning it into ground in this scenerio. I
think it would be better to maintain you minimum approach speed and
try to fly it between two trees so that the wings absorb most of the
energy.

Brian



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To reply to the original question.
You are -never- going to get a 100% cover of trees.
There will be land slips on the hills, ridges that have no or very few
trees on them.
In forestry bush you will have fire breaks and access roads.
Rivers and streams are always there as open areas.

There is the old adage about the most useless things in aviation.
Runway behind you, altitude above you and fuel in the bowser.

When you do a crosscountry -always- look for suitable sites for
emergency landings. it may well save your life one day...