BON Ditching in water / Parachuting in water - Time to change - Some tests

[IckyATLAS]

With BON on the horizon it would be time that there is a solution to the ditching in water of planes or pilots parachuting in the sea or lake.

Today they get immediately killed as soon as they touch water like if it was a bath of sulfuric acid.

The pilots flying over the channel had life vests and so it is time to consider a change to this situation.

Thank you devs.

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by IckyATLAS

[[CPT]Crunch]

I've tested it out and find its extremely realistic, they got it perfect. 

 

 

 

 

I never did learn how to swim.

[IckyATLAS]

I always considered that running in trouble on the Black Sea and if you cannot make to land, was fatal as if you jump and parachute down in water you are instantly killed.

And I thought it was the same with ditching and the one or two times I tried I got killed so why bother.

But now that we had on the forum very interesting discussions about crash landings and sim or plane behaviors I made a few tries in the QMB with two fighters. A P51B, P51D and P47D22.

One is a failure and I got killed, the other two are a success. I did  not get killed or wounded, and when I finished the mission I had a "force landing" success.

So I have here to say that I was wrong for ditching with planes. It works. Well done devs. Please just make this poor pilot that survived the crash, float either with a mae-west life jacket or in a small inflatable dinghy.

 

I have put here the track records: 

Black Sea Ditching.zip

 

I find Track Records more interesting than videos. The reason is that with the Track Record you can replay it and change cameras, viewpoint and better see how is the plane attitude and going from pilot seat to exterior during the landing you can better see how it looks from pilot perspective, what the instruments show, and how is the plane attitude seen from outside. A comment here, I always fly with the planes cockpit dials and instruments, and avoid as much as possible the HUD cockpit. So I always arrange the cockpit field of view during an emergency landing so that at least the speed indicator (extremely important) is visible.

 

The lesson and difference between the two P51 water landings is that you have to keep a nose high altitude because of the belly air scoop. In fact if you look well into the successful belly landing you will see that the P51D has a nose high attitude just to have the scoop and the rear part of the fuselage parallel to the water surface.

I open the bubble canopy here to avoid being trapped inside as I must leave the plane quick not to go down with it.

 

With the P47 it is really easy as its belly is perfect for skidding, so in this case you can be flat maybe very slightly nose up.

 

A last comment, the plane seem always to cartwheel in the water which for a perfectly horizontal and flat attitude should not be always the case and the plane should not be always belly up. But at least you survive ? 

 

 

[IckyATLAS]

 

Let's check with the bombers now.

 

Ditching the A20. No problem in calm sea. But see what happens in big waves with 10 m/sec winds. You get killed because the rear of the plane hits the wave and you brutally pitch down and a front loop. No escape.

 

With the Pe2 ditching in water "calm sea" is much much more forgiving than on the ground if you have your attitude and speeds right.

 

Planes do a front loop in the end. It must be scripted. There is the lateral cartwheel for fighters and front loop for twin bombers. I would love them ploughing in the water but staying upright on water. Devs let's have at least one scripts with one where the plane is upright on the water.

 

And now the glider of the sim the JU52. Very easy but unfortunately I have not succeeded in getting the landing flaps down. I would have been able to glide even more and slow down more. It is a complex mechanical linkage system but it does not seem to work. As it has a fixed landing carriage most probably it will make a front loop but I have no idea how it was in reality.

 

Anyway here the Track Records of all of them below:

 

Bombers BlackSea Ditching.zip

 

 

 

[migmadmarine]

I have been able to ditch the A-20 without summersaulting at very low speeds, full flaps, if anything more reliably than anything else. But I certianly do hope that life vests/rafts will come with the Normandy career release, as it would be a real shame to loose one's pilot every time they couldn't make it back to shore. 

[IckyATLAS]

18 minutes ago, migmadmarine said:

I have been able to ditch the A-20 without summersaulting at very low speeds

You have become a master in ditching the A20. Not been able yet to achieve that. 

I have to train train train