>Duncan McFadyean wrote:
>>
>> Would be interested to here of any speculation (unless someones already
>> attempted it!) of how a Europa would perform in a wheelup ditching.
>>
>> Probaly quite well; would it nose over? would it sink?
>
Our Grob motor glider floated ok, and it has only a thin layer of foam in
the composite skin. It floated a bit nose-down in a light swell, but the
crew remained on board for the 20 minutes it took for the helicopter to
arrive. A lifeboat towed it ashore soon afterwards. They discovered that if
they towed it forwards, then it submarined down and disappeared, and when
they stopped it came back up, so they towed it backwards and neatly removed
all the control surfaces. A spell at the manufacturers where all the metal
components were replaced restored it to full health, and there have been no
problem at all since - and it is over eleven years ago now.
I guess the foam in the Europa would become water logged, so recovery would
be more problematic. Anyone care to guess how long it would take, and how
the buoyancy would be affected ? Obviously the Grob was free to fill with
water instantly, but the foam was protected.
-- Colin
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