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How about an old trick I heard of that one guy used in the pontoons of his Grumman a few years ago to save them if they separated in a hard landing. He filled them with ping pong balls!
I think about a water landing all the time, flying up here in WA. It would be my first choice in most of the areas here, because of the many lakes and Puget Sound and the limited choices of a land landing due to either heavy forests or urban buildup around here. Also, Lake Washington borders the north end of the Renton airfield that I am based at. I carry two inflatable lifejackets (airline type) along with two bright hunter orange watchcaps in big ziplock baggise. The watchcaps were recommended awhile back in one of the aviation mags articles that a Coast Guard helo pilot wrote. He said that it was many times almost impossible to see a swimmer the water in heavy seas without some
high visibility item like that. Also, the watchcaps help keep you from losing valuable body heat from your head, which is critical to survival. I also carry two of the cheapy orange lifejackets to be used as a cushion against the dash whether ditching on land or water. I plan on holding them up against the dash at the last minute for some kind of head protection. I went to the local boat store and bought a nice, not too big, waterproof case with a flare gun and cartridges, dye marker, and handheld flares for about 35 bucks. We throw on the uninflated jackets when we make some of the longer crossing to the San Juans Islands, just in case. Ive also given some thought to finding something watertight to place the ELT in, and also to taking along a cheapy manual b
low up vinyl raft of some sort, but havent gotten around to doing that yet.
Marty Duke N10743 KRNT
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