Forced landing on beach

I agree however I dont believe you can control the U/C not digging in too easily. It has a lot to do with vertical speed Skim but dont stall it in as you would on a hard surface runway.

What I know is to do a precautionary ditching while power is still available. Probability wise, a successful ditching depends on low Ground speed, as little verticle velocity as possible, calm but not still waters so you can judge flair height with a slightly tail low configuration. Into the wind unless the seas are mountainous if so then parallel with the swells.

Also if you have a high wing, a gumpy suite is useless. Actually a constant wear dry suite should be mandatory for any flights in a single engine over cold water beyond gliding distance of shore.

I guess the wheel-brakes issue has to do with drag force through the water, just as the wheels are skimming/entering the water.

If the wheels are free to rotate they will absorb energy as they spin up and this can only come from extra drag force exerted on them by the water.

If they are braked their leading edge presents a positive angle of attack to the water surface which may be helpful for a little while.

But that probably doesn’t work well with spats, and it seems hard to believe that light aircraft wheels could have enough moment of inertia for the spin up to matter, (though I haven’t done the calculation).

I think it depends on the aircraft. The SAAB Safir is supposed to (based on experience I guess?), to land with gear up on water and any other unknown surface. I don’t know, but my gut feeling is wheel out, to absorb as much energy as possible and get the speed down as fast as possible. Skidding along the water possibly getting a wing in a wave cartwheeling cannot be any better.

I think the issue may be its easy to contemplate advanced mechanics but probably the practical implementation for most of us is a different matter – judging a wheel skimming operation at the best of times is not going to be easy, with the stress of an engine failure and half reasonable approach and flair might be the most we can hope for.

One big factor is that the main wheels on a taildrager are much more forward than the main wheels on a trike aircraft, so a taildragger should be more likely to flip in a water landing – just as that video suggests. The video does not make it 100% clear the wheels dug into the sand – ir is there some other evidence that happened?

One can flip a taildragger forward (smash the prop, etc) just by heavy use of the brakes.

Lesving “my gut feeling is wheel out, to absorb as much energy as possible and get the speed down as fast as possible.”

Flipping it and driving the nose in will bring the speed down very well indeed. If sticking the gear out to absorb energy with ditching is the way to go why didnt the Hudson ditching do that? They had plenty of time to drop the gear.

Peter I believe after the first bounce it came down hard and it probably dug in then. Unless he added power to arrest the decent on the second touch down which it looks like he didnt do. Just my opinion

Flipping it and driving the nose in will bring the speed down very well indeed. If sticking the gear out to absorb energy with ditching is the way to go why didnt the Hudson ditching do that? They had plenty of time to drop the gear.

Yes, but there are other examples of airliners disintegrating when ditching, even with wheels up. Besides, we are talking GA here.

Turning upside down at slow speed is not a problem. Skidding along water at high speed is. This is how I see it. Better let the gear absorb the energy than my body.

One big factor is that the main wheels on a taildrager are much more forward than the main wheels on a trike aircraft

But then, the nosewheel on a trike is even further forward again.

For the silliest idea of the day, if you really worried about it, you could put a little hydroplane on the tailwheel to suck it down and reduce the chances of it flipping.