Water has a lot of drag when something lands on it. Just watch any bird landing on water and they have to compensate for this drag. Birds deal with this by often landing real slowly or just gliding down on their wings sort of like a Helicopter does.
But, since a plane is held aloft in the air by moving forward through the air (unlike a helicopter) drag of the water is a really really serious thing to contend with by a landing plane on the water.
So, though you might land a low wing plane in the water by dropping the tail as low as you can while planing on the water with your wings, if you are going to land a high wing plane in the water (without pontoons built in) you are going to flip the plane forward (winding up tail forward) and possibly break the neck of the pilot and passengers depending upon exactly how fast you are landing and what the weather on the water is doing when you ditch your plane in the ocean. So, unless you are prepared to be upside down and get get loose from your seat belt and out of the plane likely you are going to go unconscious and or drown if you don't get out quick enough with a high wing plane ditched in the water.
No comments:
Post a Comment