Thanks for the kind words Greg.
This is one set of pictures I would like to take the time to speak about if that is all right with you...
I believe your wonderful shots will make my point...
Have posted many Links on Power Settings, Winds and a little about operating off water however I do not think that I have touched on two important points.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awarenessThe first we like to call Situation Awareness, know the area you are going into. That is why Military Briefings are so important.
There should be a crew briefing before every flight followed by an equally important debriefing.
The debriefing will pick out the points to avoid or assist with the next flight into the same location.
It is not much use flying into a field or cache location and not having enough runway to takeoff from. Leaving behind fuel is okay if you have an environmentally friendly location to store it.
To dump fuel on the ground or into the water, well that is just not acceptable anymore.
If the winds increase as they sometimes do, there might not be enough fuel to make it too a safe landing area.
Situation Awareness during a Flight Briefing will give all the crew an idea of what they will see and can expect.
No surprises, if it is a winter operation with a Douglas DC3 flying off wheel/skis and you think or know there is going to be a confined landing and takeoff in a remote area using the skis or partial skis, then the entire crew needs to know.
A well informed crew can ensure a safer landing, no load shift if a go around is required.
I will guarantee you several go arounds if the landing is to be made on a body of frozen water.
The first approach will be to check the landing area for the size of the snow drifts, if it is ice or snow, obstructions, wind, direction of exit... etc. and usually the second approach will be a touch down with power and then lift off, the third to see if the tracks you made are dark or the colour of the snow. If dark, you probably have water, that should tell you the ice is not safe enough...go home and get the Canso/Catalina/PBY5A...
Okay now you have set up your cache, hopefully on land so it will be still there when the ice goes out. I don't know how many caches I have heard of being set up on an island for different organisations and universities to find when they flew in during the summer months by float or seaplane the island was not there.
Very embarrassing...
Now you and your trusty crew are ready for takeoff.
Gosh darn....the trees have grown, the hills got higher and the lake got smaller while you were unloading.
This is the second point...your Gut Feeling.
If you are not comfortable as the pilot, don't think your crew are either.
Gut Feeling:
A gut feeling, or gut reaction, is a visceral emotional reaction to something, and often one of uneasiness. Gut feelings are generally regarded as not modulated by conscious thought, and as a reflection of intuition rather than rationality.
The phrase "gut feeling" may also be used as a short-hand term for an individual's "common sense" perception of what is considered "the right thing to do"; such as: helping an injured passerby, avoiding dark alleys and generally acting in accordance with instinctive feelings about a given situation. It can also refer to simple common knowledge phrases which are true no matter when said, such as "Water is wet", "Fire is hot", or to ideas that an individual intuitively regards as true, without proof.
Gut feelings, like all reflexive unconscious comparisons, can be re-programmed by practice or experience.
Do not second guess yourself...it does not work.
If you know you can't get out with what fuel you have and crew, then don't try it.
Get on the radio, keep the engines warm, use the cache if you have to, set up a winter camp, it will be a lot cheaper then trying to drag a bent aircraft and injured crew members out of the bush.
Your third picture Greg shows my point I hope.
A good captain will never put his gut feeling ahead of common sense, gut feeling and common sense go hand in hand with Situation Awareness which is part of a good Preflight Briefing and Debriefing.
There are a couple of other things which come into play, and your pictures depict that perfectly for all to see.
1st...experience and training
no captain would attempt such a confined area takeoff
without those two attributes
2nd...crew coordination
continued education and training that is the goal
to all safe flights
Well there is my two cents worth again Greg....I know, I am al little long winded....
Reminds me of the young Cessna 185 Float Plane Pilot who went in to pick up two moose hunters.
They both had a moose and neither of them wanted to leave their moose behind for the second trip.
The young aviator said he did not think the three of them, their kit and the two moose could get off the lake safely.
The two moose hunters convinced him they had last year.
Everything was loaded and of course the Cessna ended up in the trees on the far shore.
When the final branches finished falling the pilot heard the one moose hunter ask the other moose hunter.
....How far did we get??
The second moose hunter said.
...About ten feet farther than we did last year on the first aircraft...
Not sure if there is a moral there or not folks...
Pages: 1
