Pilot who buzzed Santa Monica Pier - missing in China crash

[Beefitarian]

Now I'm thinking about the things you bring up DAR, good points.

I think it's going to be a really narrow window of having enough speed to hydro plane while not climbing off the water.

I don't doubt his skills at flying but I have some concern that this is really more difficult than he thought.

[CFR]

As noted Harvards have done it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgkKP_fDsKc

There are quite a few video's of bush planes landing in the water just off the beach and then completing the short roll out on land. Mind you they are on tundra tires that seem to be the size of rafts, so I suspect there is a lot of buoyancy there. I have always wondered how one goes about doing it the first time? (ATTENTION insurance carrier, I have no intention of trying, just wondering!!!). Seems to me the potential for sitting on the beach soaking wet saying "OK I think I know what I did wrong there, next time will be different". is really high.

[switchflicker]

Will anyone admit to 'water skiing' a ski equipped aircraft. I don't mean pulling a person on skis.

I've done it a couple of times before I was issued my smarts.

Sw

[TG]

I was always told that you had to have the brakes on in order to waterski. If you think about hydroplaning on a runway or wet road, it is usually with the wheels locked up. The reason being is that the tire spinning up will create more drag (like a windmilling propeller), suck the bow wave under instead of riding up onto it, as well as presenting a static vs dynamic coefficient of friction.

I'm not sure if that is the case, maybe someone who has actually done that can chime in.

The only plane I know of with brakes on the nose gear is the 727... and most were removed to get rid of maintenance headaches, and removing 200lbs from the nose allows for about a ton more payload.

Exactly my thinking..
If this was what he intended to do, water skying with a nose wheel equipped aircraft.

[Blakey]

Things can happen. Quickly.

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/t ... skiing-274

[PilotDAR]

Now that I am nearly a "responsible" pilot, I live in constant fear of having to answer the question: "was what you were doing right before that accident, a procedure described in the flight manual?"

I am so lucky to have flown all of my adult life, and fly with such freedom and economy, compared to most people on earth, so I'm sure not going to screw it up doing stupid stuff in planes!

I won't be trying to waterski the Teal, even though it probably would float after I screwed it up!

[Shiny Side Up]

I was always told that you had to have the brakes on in order to waterski. If you think about hydroplaning on a runway or wet road, it is usually with the wheels locked up. The reason being is that the tire spinning up will create more drag (like a windmilling propeller), suck the bow wave under instead of riding up onto it, as well as presenting a static vs dynamic coefficient of friction.

I guess one could also keep in mind that for upkeep to skip across the surface it needed to be imparted with some backspin.

[bizjets101]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/natio ... Click Here Update, pilots body recovered.

[JMACK]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/natio ... ound-china

[frozen solid]

www.aviationcriminal.com

Well, this is interesting.

[CFR]

http://www.aviationcriminal.com

Well, this is interesting.

Did you read the 25 comments?

Not a legacy I would want.

[xsbank]

I'm pretty sure that Hedley will tell you that in order to waterski you need to check forward to keep the pressure on the wheels as the water surface will reject the wheels and you will just bounce off. There is no way I am aware that you can do that with a tricycle geared a/c. Checking forward will stuff the nosewheel down and the result will be endless repetition of this accident. Imho, waterskiing on tricycle gear is pas possible.

[Colonel Sanders]

Imho, waterskiing on tricycle gear is pas possible

+1

I don't know how to do that, and I've never heard of
anyone else being able to do it. Taildraggers only.

Not sure I should mention it in this crowd (which seems
ready for a lynching) but none other than Kirby Chambliss,
one of the best sticks in the world (contest, airshow,
red bull) went swimming in China a few years back when
he tried to waterski his (tailwheel) Zivko edge. I thought
at the time, it was amazing he didn't drown. IIRC he
crashed again earlier this year in Costa Rica. He's built
like a tank. Any one of his crashes would have killed a
normal person.

I keep mentioning that airshows outside of North
America are extremely hazardous, and it's up to you
to use your good judgement to keep it safe, regardless
of the circumstances. It would appear that this guy
Riggs was a little weak in that department.

Stuff you will never, ever see in the "rounded corners"
world of North America:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz5AcbaJzLo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnuWuNyitzE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu8S5vn6ShI

[fleetcanuck]

A tail dragger will decrease the load on the mains when the nose is raised by the elevator. A nose dragger will increase the weight on the wheels when the nose is raised. Also, the pivot point is not the c of g when the wheels are in contact with a surface so the moment arm for it to act through would be shorter and a larger displacement of the elevator would be required for the same pitch effect.

Someone else mentioned the wheel size. What is the tire pressure, therefore the hydroplaning speed for a Lancair vs tundra tire equipped Cub?

With respect to PilotDar, who I am sure is still alive because he does his job properly, no one is paying me to be a test pilot, or worse, a test passenger.

[iflyforpie]

Not sure I should mention it in this crowd (which seems
ready for a lynching)

Don't worry, we haven't started a website about you....... yet!

[pelmet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IE6lG_b ... pp=desktop

Even a Tiger Moth can do it.

[duCapo]

Imho, waterskiing on tricycle gear is pas possible

+1

I don't know how to do that, and I've never heard of
anyone else being able to do it. Taildraggers only.

Not sure I should mention it in this crowd (which seems
ready for a lynching) but none other than Kirby Chambliss,
one of the best sticks in the world (contest, airshow,
red bull) went swimming in China a few years back when
he tried to waterski his (tailwheel) Zivko edge. I thought
at the time, it was amazing he didn't drown. IIRC he
crashed again earlier this year in Costa Rica. He's built
like a tank. Any one of his crashes would have killed a
normal person.

I keep mentioning that airshows outside of North
America are extremely hazardous, and it's up to you
to use your good judgement to keep it safe, regardless
of the circumstances. It would appear that this guy
Riggs was a little weak in that department.

Stuff you will never, ever see in the "rounded corners"
world of North America:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz5AcbaJzLo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnuWuNyitzE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu8S5vn6ShI

Jurgis Kairys and peter besenyei are aweome to watch, along with this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zYHsYcb8tY