The NPRM meetings for the upcoming changes to Class B airspace were held last month with over 230 pilots attending the 4 meetings. The meetings went well and all of the comments were positive. The comment period closes February 29, 2004. For anyone interested in the details of the Class B redesign or the presentation that was given, the complete power point presentation is available at www.lawa.org/lax/htmlenv/lax_nmframe.html, select "FAA Proposed Class B Airspace Modifications Presentation."

HELEN'S CORNER
BY HELEN CRANZ

The following is a condensed version of an article from Aviation Safety, October 1999. If you would like a copy of the article, contact Helen.

AIRMANSHIP: The Myths of Ditching: 
Contrary to what you may have heard, the best emergency landing site may be the water

If you fly much over the water - even over wide bays and rivers - you've had to quell the uneasiness that arises when the engine goes into "auto rough" mode the instant you're beyond gliding range of shore. Not to worry; it's not just you. The prospect of going into the water in an airplane terrifies most pilots, chiefly because few prepare for it and, in general, instructors don't know enough about the relevant risks to make well-informed judgments about over water flying. As a result, certain myths and half-truths about ditching seem to persist, handed down from one pilot to the next. The truth is, overall, ditching is one of the most survivable emergency procedures any pilot can perform, according to a review of ditching accidents in 1985 through 1990 and 1994 and 1996. Although survival rates vary by time of year and water body type, the overall general aviation ditching survival rate is 90 percent and if you ignore blue water ferry operations, fatalities are actually quite rare. In reviewing the accident data, we ignored accidents which appeared to be "water crashes," high speed impacts, stall/spins or spirals, focusing only on intentional water landings in which the aircraft touches down under control. With this in mind, the NTSB's database revealed 179 bonafide ditchings during the eight years we examined. These records led to some interesting discoveries, which should take some of the terror out of over water flying. The 10 myths of ditchings, in no particular order:

Myth 1: Most Ditchings Aren't Survivable - If you believe this, you've been led seriously astray. Of the 179 ditchings reviewed, 22 (12 percent) involved fatalities. And in at least six of those ditchings, there were one or more survivors. By the way, we're defining "surviving" as egressing the airplane and being rescued or swimming to shore. If the occupants got out but then drowned or succumbed to exposure, that goes into the "fatal" column. Sometimes survivors escape unscathed; sometimes they get away with minor or serious injuries. In four of the ditchings that involved fatalities, all of the occupants got out of the airplane alive but some may have succumbed to drowning or exposure later. This becomes less a ditching issue than a survival equipment consideration. Where and when you ditch matters. Two-thirds of the 22 occurred during the winter in cold or temperate climates and 12 percent are what we call "blue water" ditchings in the open Atlantic or Pacific, done by ferry pilots on extraordinary missions in light singles or twins or fish spotters operating far from shore. Since ferry missions are really beyond the ken of everyday general aviation operations, throwing these operations out of the equation pushes the survival rate to an encouraging 90 percent.

Myth 2: Ditching is Safer in a Low Wing Than a High Wing Airplane - You won't convince us of that. Of the 179 ditchings, 87 involved high wing airplanes (49 percent), 73 were low wingers (41 percent) and the rest were helicopters. Yet in the subgroup that involved fatalities, high wing airplanes were noticeably underrepresented. Although they were involved in 49 percent of all the ditchings, they represent only 27 percent of the fatalities. On the other hand, low wing airplanes represent 41 percent of the total ditchings but accounted for 68 percent of the fatalities. We don't make a great deal of this finding, other than to note that it doesn't at all support the widely held notion that high wing airplanes sink to their struts and trap the occupants.

Myth 3: During Ditchings, Many Airplanes Nose Under and Sink Like a Submarine With All Hands - Pure poppycock. That's not to say this can't happen or that it hasn't. But it appears to occur only in extreme circumstances. For example, in one blue water accident, a Centurion disappeared without a trace, taking pilot and co-pilot with it. Similarly, a couple of other ferry flights vanished over the horizon far out at sea after reporting engine trouble. But these aren't the sort of conditions you'd expect to encounter on an afternoon flight to the Bahamas or Santa Catalina. In such circumstances, there's simply no evidence that the airplane will head straight for the bottom during a ditching that's pulled off reasonably well. The accident record shows that the touchdown may be violent and wet, but not likely a scene from Run Silent, Run Deep.

Myth 4: An Open Ocean Ditching is Unlikely to be Survivable - Not really. During the eight years studied, we found 22 blue water ditchings. These are long-range ferry flights over the Atlantic or Pacific or fish spotters operating far from shore. We found four fatalities in this group of 22, for a survival rate of 82 percent, not too much worse than it is for inshore ditchings. Admittedly, it's quite possible that an aircraft went missing with no reports filed. It happens. We simply don't know how often it happens. Even if we missed a dozen such accidents, the key point remains unchanged: The Coast Guard, Navy and merchant vessels routinely fish pilots from the ocean. No doubt blue water ditchings are higher risk, but they certainly don't pose a grim survival outlook, either.

Myth 5: Ditch a Retractable With the Gear Up - This one has sparked more hangar arguments than debating over pitch and power. Here's our view: It probably doesn't make much difference. Or, put another, if you think it does, show us some data. The best you can do is to examine the big picture: Irrespective of aircraft configuration, it's clear that the pilots and crew almost always get out of the airplane after impact. Conclusion: It may not matter much. From films of live ditchings and interviews with survivors, our impression is that most airplanes don't flip, but dig in one wing, turn and settle upright or settle straight ahead with a bit of nose under moment. But we simply don't have enough reliable information to judge this. Make your own assessment and configure the airplane accordingly. More critical than configuration, in our view, is touching down parallel to the swells or, if that isn't an issue in calmer water, flying upwind to yield the lowest possible touchdown speed. Worth noting is that 9 of the 22 fatal ditchings involved retractables. As with the high wing versus low wing controversy, these numbers are too small to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Myth 6: The Airplane Won't Float Long Enough for Everyone To Get Out - Another thing pilots worry about but shouldn't. While you don't want to dally around collecting your personal belongings, there's usually plenty of time to egress a sinking airplane. In some cases, there's time enough to exit and reach back in to retrieve survival gear or other items. Again, the record doesn't show how long the typical airplane floats after a ditching. Indeed, there appears to be too many variables to even hazard a guess at what "typical" is, if there is such a thing. Some airplanes float for only a minute or two, others are still adrift two days later. The important thing to remember is that crew and passengers don't hang around to observe buoyancy potential, they evacuate - and with a great deal of success. One fear that's largely unfounded is that of going down with the ship. True, as mentioned above, there are instances of this in extreme conditions, but these are rare. Overall, out of 179 ditchings, there were only seven in which the occupants didn't escape and, three of these were high wave conditions in the open sea.

Myth 7, 8, 9 Continued next month
Article by Paul Bertorelli, a CFII and ATP is editor of The Aviation Consumer.

FEBRUARY 2004 SAFETY TIPS -- BY JOHN MAHANY

Any of you who also read the Long Beach Flying Clubs newsletter might recall my article on glide speed that ran [erroneously] in two consecutive issues, November and December. Only one reader challenged me on the subject of glide speed, and disagreed with my suggestion/technique to increase your airspeed when gliding into a headwind. I welcomed the challenge! It is also nice to get some feedback! This technique of increasing speed while in a headwind is a commonly used technique in gliders, which is where I learned it, and noted aviation author and retired TWA Captain Barry Schiff discusses this in his book, Proficient Pilot, on pages 67 and 68. 

I went back to my sources, and in fact sent an email to Barry, asking him to elaborate on this technique of increasing glide speed when in a headwind situation. Barry's response to me was, "I'm surprised at ____ for not knowing about the need to adjust glide speed in a given wind condition. Just ask him what he would do if he were gliding into a headwind equal to his true airspeed. If he did not increase airspeed, his glide path would be exactly vertical. He wouldn't go anywhere." Barry went on to say, "There are a wide variety of publications that prove the need to adjust glide speed in a wind. Finally," he said, "Tell you what, have ____ touch base with me, and I'll set him straight. And keep the faith. You are right, and ____ is not." Thank you, Barry, for your help in setting a friendly disagreement.
On January 27, my students and I flew the relatively new Los Angeles Mini Route, from LGB to SMO and back, in N19674 using the GPS with the Multi-Function Display. It went very smoothly! It only took 15 minutes to get to SMO. After departing LGB, we picked up the SMO ATIS, and climbed to 2,500, the altitude for flying the Mini Route. We then called HHR tower as we reached the 405/Harbor Freeway Interchange, which is shown as a reporting point on the Los Angeles Terminal Chart. HHR tower told us to proceed to TRW, which is a visual reporting point at the south end of the Mini Route. Reaching TRW, we were given a discreet transponder code, and directed to contact LAX tower, on 119.8, which is a helicopter frequency. LAX tower cleared us into Bravo airspace, via the Mini Route, northbound, and asked us our destination, which we gave as SMO. The weather needs to be at least: ceiling 3,000 and visibility 3 sm to use this route. As we continued north, right over LAX and on up towards Santa Monica, we just monitored LAX tower. They called out traffic to us, and then, handed us off to SMO tower. We called SMO tower and they had us descend for a left downwind for 21. We received a landing clearance shortly thereafter. Departing SMO, the procedure for using either the SFR, the Shoreline Route, or the Mini Route, as SMO Ground informed us, is to tell SMO ground that you wish to use one of these routes. They then coordinate with either SOCAL, or LAX tower, as appropriate. For the SFR, they simply advise SMO tower of your request since ATC is not involved with the Special Flight Rules route. For the Mini Route, SMO ground gave us a clearance to remain clear of Bravo Airspace, a frequency, and a transponder code, and told us to contact LAX tower at LMU (Loyola University), another reporting point. The letters LMU are in white on the side of a hill on the north side of the school, and are easy to spot from SMO after takeoff. After takeoff, SMO tower had us contact LAX tower, which then cleared us into Bravo Airspace, southbound on the Mini Route. After we were clear LAX southbound, LAX tower told us to call Long Beach Tower, as there was really no point in calling Hawthorne (HHR) at this point. We were at 2,500, the top of HHR airspace. Smooth handling by ATC on the Mini Route, all around! 

Editorial note: These procedures have been released in the LA Tower Letter to Airmen No. 03-03 LAX VFR "Mini Route" Transition Procedures. The graphics have been submitted to charting and are scheduled to appear in the July edition of the LA TAC chart.

NOTAMS

CONGRATULATIONS to the Jeff Muehle family on the recent birth of their daughter Madison!

CLUB REG UPDATED: FAR 61.3 has changed so our reg has changed from: Member agrees to submit copies of all licenses, ratings, logbook copy of BFR (or other FAA proficiency check), and valid U.S.medical for pilot file in office, and agrees to update copies when a new license, rating or medical is obtained." to Member agrees to submit copies of all licenses, ratings, valid driver's license or official passport, logbook copy of BFR (or other FAA proficiency check), and valid U.S. medical for pilot file in office, and agrees to update copies when a new license, rating or medical is obtained.

NOTAM: Save our powerpacks in our retractable gear aircraft! Please cycle the gear a maximum of 4 or 5 times per hour. Plan your lessons to vary pattern work with other manuevers to let the hydraulic pumps and motors cool off.

EMAIL: If you would like to receive this newsletter or the LBAA newsletter via e-mail, send your address to club@LBflying.com.

NOTAM: LONG BEACH AIRPORT ASSOCIATION NEEDS YOU -- the time is NOW to join -- LBAA applications are available at the club. We need your support -- all LBAA membership fees go to printing
costs of the quarterly newsletter and protecting General Aviation rights at Long Beach Airport. Your Long Beach Airport Association dues donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE so sign up today!!!