Should you ditch in water or go for land?

[il2crashesnfails]

I was in a position to either ditch in water or go for land. My question is which one is better then the other?

In this case was there anything I could have done to get a better outcome?

 

 

[Aap]

Your plane flipped over, so would have been a high probability of drowning in real life, too.

Other than that, as far as I have understood, landing or bailing out over water means sure death in this game currently, even if you do it just one meter from coastline.

[il2crashesnfails]

3 minutes ago, II./JG77_Kemp said:

Your plane flipped over, so would have been a high probability of drowning in real life, too.

Other than that, as far as I have understood, landing or bailing out over water means sure death in this game currently, even if you do it just one meter from coastline.

 

should I have jettison the canopy like i did?

[Aap]

6 minutes ago, il2crashesnfails said:

should I have jettison the canopy like i did?

 

From game's point of view it does not matter, but from real life operating instructions, yes, you should jettison canopy, so if you end up flipped over, you are not stuck in your plane. 

What I usually do when I have to ditch, is go a lot slower than you did in this video and deploy flaps, so when I touch ground I will stop in short distance and there is less chance of flipping over or dying otherwise. It depends on what kind of damage you have taken, though, as there is also risk of stalling at higher speeds than normally, so need to evaluate that.

[il2crashesnfails]

59 minutes ago, II./JG77_Kemp said:

 

From game's point of view it does not matter, but from real life operating instructions, yes, you should jettison canopy, so if you end up flipped over, you are not stuck in your plane. 

What I usually do when I have to ditch, is go a lot slower than you did in this video and deploy flaps, so when I touch ground I will stop in short distance and there is less chance of flipping over or dying otherwise. It depends on what kind of damage you have taken, though, as there is also risk of stalling at higher speeds than normally, so need to evaluate that.

I did deploy flaps at some stage. When do you suggest just like normal landing?

I wanted to slow down but it felt like the engine was not producing power and a stall was going to happen.

 

would you have gone for the land ?

[Aap]

41 minutes ago, il2crashesnfails said:

I did deploy flaps at some stage.

 

Looking at your video, it does not seem like you deployed flaps. Bf109 does not have pre-set flap positions, so just pressing the flaps down -button once does not deploy flaps. You would need to hold down the button (turn the wheel) to deploy your flaps to a desired position.

 

41 minutes ago, il2crashesnfails said:

would you have gone for the land ?

 

I would have probably switched engine to manual control and set it at around 1 ata and 1800 rpm and see how far it would take me. Climb a bit, so once the engine stops, could choose where to put my plane down, and try to make it back home or at least to friendly territory. Then, if the engine quits, ditch somewhere on land. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by II./JG77_Kemp

[Finkeren]

Thing is, water is a strange medium to travel through. Because of its combination of properties (being fluid and at the same time having almost zero compressability) the velocity and angle at which you hit the water is absolutely critical Hit it too fast or too steep, you might as well have landed on solid rock for the initial impact, then your nose will dig in and flip the plane on its back, come in at minimum speed and a very shallow angle, it will slow you down to a quick but gentle stop. If you actually want or have to land on water, you should make sure, that you are going as slow as possible at minimum rate of descent, ideally you should hit the water in a three point landing attitude, with your nose raised high, so the tail hits the water first. that way you avoid the nose digging in. 

 

In game I would never advise landing on water, both because of the game mechanics where water is a death sentence (surely to be rectified, if we are going to the Pacific at some point) but also because the planes sink far, far too fast. In reality the density of an aircraft is very low (lower than many boats), and they will float beautifully for quite a while, before they take in enough water. Large aircraft have remained buoyant for hours, even days, after landing on water.

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Finkeren

[Retnek]

4 hours ago, il2crashesnfails said:

I was in a position to either ditch in water or go for land. My question is which one is better then the other?

 

From the gamers point of view I always try to reach dry land. Ditching on water or hitting the silk over water is a chance > 50% to die. Imho it doesn't matter if you are coming down slowly with open canopy and full flaps or much harder. Same for rivers and estuaries - I avoid them. Being low and (somehow) touching Mother Earth in a shallow angle gives you a MUCH better chance to survive. Above 500 m just jump, nearly no risk except locked canopy and landing in water.

[il2crashesnfails]

2 hours ago, 216th_Retnek said:

From the gamers point of view I always try to reach dry land. Ditching on water or hitting the silk over water is a chance > 50% to die. Imho it doesn't matter if you are coming down slowly with open canopy and full flaps or much harder. Same for rivers and estuaries - I avoid them. Being low and (somehow) touching Mother Earth in a shallow angle gives you a MUCH better chance to survive. Above 500 m just jump, nearly no risk except locked canopy and landing in water.

 

Yeah, I think you are spot on. However,  what if it is heavily populated with trees would you still prefer land?

[Retnek]

1 hour ago, il2crashesnfails said:

... what if it is heavily populated with trees would you still prefer land?

I would. Sometimes the trees crowns even save your plane from a hard crash into the ground. If there's a chance slow down, full flaps and try to get a tree with the outer-wing just before you stall. Dropping slowly into a forest is nearly as good as ditching on grassland. The plane suffers much more, but your pilot mostly will make it.

[il2crashesnfails]

9 hours ago, 216th_Retnek said:

I would. Sometimes the trees crowns even save your plane from a hard crash into the ground. If there's a chance slow down, full flaps and try to get a tree with the outer-wing just before you stall. Dropping slowly into a forest is nearly as good as ditching on grassland. The plane suffers much more, but your pilot mostly will make it.

 

thanks good to know for next time!

[peregrine7]

To avoid flipping (irrelevant for us gamers) on contact with water: Come in shallow and slow (but not below landing speed, you want some control), then touch down on one wingtip first. The plane may spin around on the spot but if done right it will not flip.

 

If given the choice between water and land (even forested) I'll take the land.

[grant1983]

On 11/29/2018 at 7:11 AM, peregrine7 said:

To avoid flipping (irrelevant for us gamers) on contact with water: Come in shallow and slow (but not below landing speed, you want some control), then touch down on one wingtip first. The plane may spin around on the spot but if done right it will not flip.

 

If given the choice between water and land (even forested) I'll take the land.

 

yup, you were going way too fast!

Maybe should have just pitched up and bailed out.