Peter wrote:
That is seriously not true. One of the key factors is to not throw a raft into the sea and try to swin after it.The problem with rafts with ladders is that they tend to be huge and only a gorilla will be able to reach over to the back seat and retrieve it. IMHO the ~10kg ones represent what most people can deploy in a hurry.
May I suggest you post a video here of you trying to get into a raft without a ladder. I think we all need a good laugh from time to time. 
My point is the opposite. You need to get in while you are holding the rope attached to it. Not throw it into the water. My passenger briefing (done 2x) makes this point.
From here
I’m new here , hello everyone.
My choice with a two seat aircraft is two single person rafts which are more manageable inside the aircraft & have an easier boarding technique
My strategy when feeling risk averse is to try to fly more & tell myself that it’s how you live that counts, not how you die!
Cheers.
What is the feasibility of opening the life raft on the wing. ie some sort of fastener holding the raft tight against the cockpit wall which is clipped in place as soon as the decision is made to ditch and then as soon as you touch down to near stop, pull the chord and step out of the cockpit directly into the raft. Cut the fastener and float away as the aircraft sinks. The raft might even help keep the aircraft afloat for a minute or 2 more? This would probably only work for low wing. That’s also assuming the life raft works in roughly the same way as life jackets which I believe racing yacht rafts do.
gallois wrote:
What is the feasibility of opening the life raft on the wing. ie some sort of fastener holding the raft tight against the cockpit wall which is clipped in place as soon as the decision is made to ditch and then as soon as you touch down to near stop, pull the chord and step out of the cockpit directly into the raft.
That is pretty much how the slides on airliners which double up as rafts work. One could of course invent something along these lines for GA which could be i.e. attached to the outside of the plane next to the doors in a aerodynamically shaped package which can be removed when not going over water.
I would say this is a no-go because if that attachment stays attached, the whole lot will go down with the plane.
Airliners are a different thing because
It’s interesting to see that guy get into the one-person raft (in the video). It does seem very easy.
Has the RNLI video of my friend and his student getting pulled from their raft off Jersey after their Cherokee 6 ditching last year – you can see how much water was already affecting the raft even though they were super prepared and rescue was relatively quick.
The U.K. costal waters are pretty unforgiving for most of the year!
Personally I don’t do SE over water. My flying is almost exclusively instructing/examining and I enjoy the social interaction aspect so the ability to land away overseas isn’t really a priority. But I do instruct SE at night and spend a lot of time doing spin/Aeros so it’s probably not entirely rational..!
Risk = likelihood x severity
Lots of people concentrate on the likelihood but do little to mitigate against the severity with things like flying clothing, making sure belts are well maintained, considering helmet for Aeros etc…
The video above shows the 1-person raft full of water although it was quite easy to get into it.
Indeed and that was in a calm swimming pool. Obviously it would be a lot worse in the sea.
Also the reason it’s easily reversible is because the floor isn’t inflated. I understand that that will get very cold very quickly.
RNLI video of my friend and his student getting pulled from their raft off Jersey after their Cherokee 6 ditching last year – you can see how much water was already affecting the raft even though they were super prepared and rescue was relatively quick.
Impressive, and a dolphin jump to boot.
