I have heard that story also! Of course Super Cubs have big tires! I
sure like to see some footage of that kind of taxiing. I think it is
very important to have the brakes locked! With the wheel turning it
would not make as good a skid, because all the water all over it. I
would have the brake on, even if it meant to have the spoilers all
open. One would have to carry more speed! 30 mph with a cub 40 mph
with a sailplane should do it. Not many pilots know how to "wheel" a
plane on, since most glider landings are stall landings. However
Pilots flying off busy airports more likely make wheel landings in
order to have the energy to roll off the runway before stopping. So,
possibly wheel landings should be practiced with gliders and
taildragers!

I wonder whether a Bonanza would hydroplane with, say, 70 mph? Guess
it depends on the water surface. Come to think of it, Geese have
their "Gear" down when they water land, they also carry some extra
speed?





Wallace Berry wrote in message ...
Wheel down is the safe way to land on water. I believe that "wheeling it
on", in other words, not a minimum energy landing is the way to go.
Locking the wheel brake (for gliders which have wheel brakes actuated by
other than the dive brake handle) might be a good idea. Bush pilots land
wheeled airplanes on water frequently. They lock the wheel brakes and
hydroplane on the surface right up to sandbars. What one bush pilot told
me was that in a Super Cub, as long as you were at 30 mph or above, the
plane would just ride along on the surface as if you were on pavement.
Even to the point that a hard touchdown would result in a bounce. I
wouldn't have believed him but he showed me videos of him and his
buddies landing on lakes. He also said that it was important to pick a
sandbar that was long enough to get back to 30 mph before you hit the
water. So, for water landings, it would be wheel down, brakes locked if
possible, land just like wheeling a 2-33 on at the local field.

Hope I don't ever have to try it out.