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06-26-2011 10:20 PM

OLD PRAIRIE RED NECK

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

I have & will continue to use a canoe for retrieval. Having some experience in a canoe I will add this:

#1 People without canoe experience should not be on rescue duty without an experienced partner!

#2 If the aircraft to be rescued is large & heavy, it is better to throw a rope around it & tow it back to shallow water.

#3 Any attempt at bringing an aircraft or person on board a canoe HAS to be done directly over the bow or stern! NEVER over the side! A canoe is balanced on the water by the occupants much like a bicycle so for & aft weight shifts are the only was to go! One person maintains balance & the other reaches directly ahead or back.

#4 Amen on the life jackets, watched someone drown once, no fun!!

Hope this is some help!

06-24-2011 04:13 PM

Pitts Samson

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

On Simcoe one day while bait fishing for perch, a fellow, standing, took a spill off the transom of his 14' aluminum with tiller OB. After several seconds his date starter running back and forth looking in the water 12 feet of water from which he never came back up. The OPP divers couldn't find him. The wife was catatonic. The police said that in 2 days the unfortunate younger man would wash up, I forget where. It happens often enough that they know where. It was said he must have gasped as he just went under. It's that simple. A life preserver may have helped. I had one save my life and I won't get into a small boat with anyone who I care about who can't swim. Jacket or not.

09-21-2010 08:25 PM

moo

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

There are other dangers at float flys, I'm told.

09-07-2010 02:29 PM

canadianf1pilot

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

When we had our Pilot meeting at our float fly, and I made a point of talking about boat safety, we hade life jackets and recomended that they be used, and made sure that the people who needed the rescue boat were eather qualified to run it or let them know who was and we had a boat pilot ready at all times.

The weather was great for our float fly, and there were planes flying almost all the time, and we only had a few trips for the rescue boat.

Bill

09-07-2010 08:27 AM

4stripes

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

I saw the incident and felt helpless watching the pilot try to get back into the boat some distance from shore. A life jacket would have made the event a joke instead of a near death experience...
If a boat is brought to one of these float flyins the lifejackets should be brought as well (I don't remember seeing any).
Thank goodness it ended as well as it did.
Eric

09-07-2010 07:51 AM

kip51035

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

I am from the west coast and spent a lot of my life there and on the water. More people fall out of 12' aluminum boats than all others combined. Because they are so light when you move around they tip very easily. No quick movements and the second person in the boat has to compensate for the movements of the other person. A nice heavy wooden boat is a lot safer.

09-07-2010 01:14 AM

Heliboy

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadianf1pilot

A dedicated retreval crew is a great idea, on shore, with a power boat, but a Kayak?! if he's floating in the lake he's a target, and I would like to see what a man in a kayak would be able to do with a 12ft beaver 1/2 full of water after a splashdown, or a 1/3 scale supercub, of many of the large machines we are flying here.

we are planning our float fly in a few weeks, (Aug 7-

here in Dryden and I will be sure to bring up boat safety with the guys because it is all to often overlooked!

Bill

I agree F1Pilot...... one of the inherent problems with retrieval duty is that it eventually becomes neccesary to ask for volunteers to give the boat guys a break and then we get (albeit well intentioned) folk like the dad who volunteered for retrieval duty along with his teenage son who tried lifting a fiteen pound aircraft aboard and immediately drove his fingers through the planes built up structure.... then theres the fellow who lifts your plane thats just nosed over and has a cockpit full of water and instead of keeping the nose pointing down he raises the plane nose high and immediately fills and unwittingly soaks everything else in the rest of the fuselage down to the tail section. Then theres the helper who lifts your plane by the still hot muffler and burns his hand....yes, boat helper selection is a tough call especially when they have no experience but are just trying to help out.

In a club situation safe rescue boat procedures can be easily covered at a meeting before your clubs float fly, Lastly and most importantly organizers must insist lifejackets be WORN

07-14-2010 09:36 AM

canadianf1pilot

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

Quote:

Originally Posted by moo

I would have no problem with a dedicated safety/recovery person in a kayak, a very fast in stable boat in the hands of an experienced person.

At the sailing club, we always had a safety officer and an officer of the day, since we were recovering 14 to 20 foot sailboats; we also had a Zodiac inflatable, great for hauling people out of the water.

here in Dryden and I will be sure to bring up boat safety with the guys because it is all to often overlooked!

Bill

06-30-2010 07:07 AM

Thunder Chicken

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

Its very easy to be complacent about wearing life vests/jackets around boats, canoe's etc.
Sorry if this is off topic, but I recently purchased a Mustang inflatable life vest. They come in all shapes, sizes and price points. Some automatically inflate, some have manual systems.
I'm not in a boat near as much as I used to be (or like to be!!) but i do fly full size off the water for a living so I purchased this unit and I wear it every flight and will wear it whenever in a boat.
I paid $200 for mine, but they can be had at crappy tire for under $100.
You don't even know you are wearing it.

Be safe!

06-29-2010 10:23 PM

John M.

Re: Potential disaster at a Float Fly

Glad you made it Deadstick and thank you for sharing.

I just got off the water tonight and I can add - if you are starting your plane beside the boat and releasing it afloat rather than from shore WATCH YOUR FINGERS.

Water flying is inherently more variable and unpredictable than ROG - don't ask me how I know.

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