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Splash and Dash Searey Seaplane Delights

Apr 27 8:49

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Posted By: Hal Brown

Date Posted: Oct 11, 2008

Description: The Glenwood Canyon portion of I-70 was one of the last pieces of the interstate highway system to be completed (in 1992). A railroad was built in the canyon in the 1880’s and the interstate portion was started in the 1960’s. Environmental litigation delayed the construction of the road for almost 30 years. Not counting attorney fees, the 12 mile Glenwood Canyon portion of the road cost $490 million to build (in 1990 $s) making it one of the more expensive federal highways.

Though it has won 30 engineering roads, I didn’t see any SeaRey landing lanes. How did they miss that?

Date Taken: Oct 11, 2008

Place Taken: Near Glenwood, CO

Owner: Dan Nickens

File Name: 26_Double_Decker_Ride.jpg - Photo HTML

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Category: 329, Taking Peli Home

Favorite option: If you want this item to be marked as a favorite, click on the black heart. 26 Double Decker Ride

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Read what others had to say:

Frank A. Carr - Oct 11,2008 Viewers | Reply


	Looking down, are you sure, really sure Dan, that you would not have felt a little more comfortable if Peli had a BRS? (I'm still trying to justify mine even tho I doubt I'll ever get out of Florida and over terrain like this.)

Dan Nickens - Oct 11,2008 Viewers | Reply


	Absolutely, positively not, Frank (at least not in a SeaRey). The possibilities of a whole plane parachute are intriguing, though. Can you feel a terrifying tale here?<br /><br />Of course when the engine quit over the canyon with no landing spot in sight, the parachute was within easy reach of the adrenaline charged pilot. It was an automatic decision. He let go of the controls, grabbed the emergency handle with both hands and pulled as hard as he could.<br /><br />There was a loud bang as the rocket ignited and shot out of its housing. The SeaRey continued its rapidly increasing downward descent until it suddenly seemed to be jerked backwards. The jerk threw the pilot forward against the stick. That was the first painful indication that this would be no joy ride.<br /><br />The airplane swung wildly under the billowing canopy. In a few seconds, however, it came to some less radical equilibrium in a steep tail down attitude. The pilot stared mesmerized by the white cloud-like canopy as the airplane swung and twirled around the chute.<br /><br />From the corner of his eye the pilot first caught sight of the massive gray cliff he was approaching. He looked down at the deep canyon below. The rapidity with which he was descending caused him to stop breathing. He had expected a slow, gentle ride to a smooth landing. Instead, it looked and felt like the Tower of Terror at Disney.<br /><br />He need not have worried about the rate of descent. The swinging of the parachute slammed the airplane’s tail into the tall cliff with enough force to stun the pilot.<br /><br />Just as he began to regain his senses, the pilot watched in horror as the chute folded against the hard, vertical face of the cliff. The airplane’s nose now fell forward and downward towards the concrete ribbon below.<br /><br />The pilot screamed as the airplane accelerated downward out of control. The boulders in the talus below the cliff grew to house size proportions as the airplane plummeted downward. <br /><br /> Just as it seemed he was destined to careen headlong into a rock the size of his airplane, something grabbed him. The parachute had partially redeployed in the descent, slowing him and jerking the aircraft’s nose back upward.<br /><br />The reprieve was just long enough to save the airplane from sure destruction. It still hit the steep talus with enough force to slam the pilot against the canopy.<br /><br />Though slowed now, the downward descent continued unabated. For a few seconds the pilot’s hopes were buoyed. Then the chute folded against the rocks a second time.<br /><br />The airplane fell forward with a hard jolt. It slid rapidly down the talus bumping over the rocks at an accelerating rate.<br /><br />It took only a few seconds for the right wing to crush against the concrete roadway. The wing absorbed enough of the impact that the dazed pilot survived to see his crumpled craft spin crazily out onto the road.<br /><br />It was just as well that he did not see the tractor trailer that rammed into the broken fuselage. The impact was enough to render the pilot immediately unconscious as to what happened next.<br /><br />The tractor’s driver managed to swerve a millisecond before hitting the airplane. It was just enough to lift the crumpled SeaRey onto his hood before he slammed into the guard rail.<br /><br />The truck was stopped dead by the railing. The SeaRey was not. It was flung over the side in a flaming ball into the raging white water of the Eagle River.<br /><br />Of course, there is an alternate happier ending: the SeaRey’s parachute deployed and the pilot serenely sailed down to a three point landing on top of an ice cream truck. The only bad part of this fairy tale is that the truck was full of vanilla ice cream. The pilot preferred strawberry.<br />

Dan Nickens - Oct 11,2008 Viewers | Reply


	In fairness, the ice cream loving para-plane pilot was much more experienced. He first set up the airplane for maximum glide and selected a landing point. While heading to the landing area, he attempted a restart and deployed the landing gear.<br /><br />With the engine still silent, the good and lucky pilot determined that a happy conventional landing was unlikely. He then applied an estimated correction factor for wind and a 1500 fpm descent rate to time his arrival coincident with the truck. It was only by minor miscalculation that he missed the strawberry truck.<br /><br />When he realized he was committed to the vanilla truck, he unbuckled and stood up in the seat. Just before impact he jumped up into the air to cushion his impact. (Errr...NOT!)

Matt Tucciarone - Oct 12,2008 Viewers | Reply


	Since I am barred from making a comment on the tech site (massive frustration), here is my opinion.<br /><br />When I bought my Aventura II it had a parachute on it. I have mixed feelings about it because I don't fully trust it. <br /><br />They say that you are supposed to have already made the decision on when you would pull it.<br /><br />Loss of control is a no-brainer but what about engine failure?<br /><br />My personal decision is not to deploy if a field or other suitable landing place is available.<br /><br />If over trees or terrain like I see in this picture, I would fly the plane to where I think it might land with the parachute deployed. Then I would pull the chute at about 1500 agl.<br /><br />But lets just say for the record that if I was to build a AVII or a Searey, I would not put a chute on it.

Frank A. Carr - Oct 12,2008 Viewers | Reply


	The same thing put a different way Matt is that the BRS is an option when you're out of options.

Don Maxwell - Oct 12,2008 Viewers | Reply


	Exceptions don't necessarily make rules, but they sure do break them: One of Cessna's SkyCatcher LSA prototypes had a BRS chute. It didn't deploy when the test pilot couldn't recover from a flat spin, so he bailed out and the airplane was destroyed. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2090333/posts">http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2090333/posts</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2008/080918skycatcher.html">http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2008/080918skycatcher.<br>html</a><br />

Matt Tucciarone - Oct 13,2008 Viewers | Reply


	The funny thing is that when I talked to the BRS rep at sun and fun, he said that you should always pull chute unless you have an airport below you or in our case water.

Kenneth Leonard - Oct 13,2008 Viewers | Reply


	And if the test pilot hadn't had a BRS, the results would have been the same. Ejection seats aren't guaranteed to work in every situation either but ask the fighter pilots if they want it removed...

Dave Lima - Oct 13,2008 Viewers | Reply


	In a flat spin I could see a BRS not deploying, you're not descending fast enough. He could have probably waited until it was 10' above the ground and jumped to safety.

Jeff Arnold - Oct 13,2008 Viewers | Reply


	I remember reading years ago about a velocity doing stall testing. They had the CG aft of the aft limit and they had installed gap seals on the canard to increase pitch authority. The pilot got it into a 'deep stall' where the airplane was going straight down in a level attitude and not spinning. He was at 9500 feet over the ocean just off St Augustine (as I recall). The decent rate was less than 500 fpm and when he opened the door, there was just a gentle breeze coming up.<br /><br />He could not recover to normal flight with any control or power input. He had a parachute. He even tried climbing out on the nose to try to recover to no avail. Being as he had around 20 minutes decent time, he had plenty of time to notify the authorities and consider options. He considered bailing out, but realized the decent rate of the parachute was more than twice the decent rate of the airplane, so he made the decision to strap himself in and ride it out. Impact was a 'non event' and when the Coast Guard got there, he was sitting on the floating airplane.<br /><br />Most of the damage was done beaching the airplane in the surf. Repairs were made and the airplane was flying again in a couple of days.<br /><br />If only you could flip a 'deep stall' switch. Who would need a BRS?

Kenneth Leonard - Oct 14,2008 Viewers | Reply


	That takes guts. Wouldn't want to wait for the impact to find my VSI was lying to me. <br /><br />Found it: <a href="http://www.velocityxl.com/Downloads/Carl_Pascarell/Best%20Pilot.htm">http://www.velocityxl.com/Downloads/Carl_Pascarell/Best%20Pi<br>lot.htm</a>

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