Simviation Forums

A while back now, I went for a ride over Vancouver Island from Courtenay Airpark and I posted a few images of it. Some of the longer standing members will recall.....well today the unthinkable happened.......
First, Hal the pilot, and a friend of mine, is OK. I 'm so happy with this part of a sad situation.....with that out of the way, now on to the story.....
All I have is one short E-mail so far, but the three images of the RV-6 inverted and immersed in the river bring shivers to me.....so far, I know it was a long approach ( the kind Hal detests) and for some reason unknown to me, he went dead-stick......what can you say.....fixed gear and a water landing usually means a flip once the wheels trip the A/C and you wind up on your back.....get the canopy open or hinge pins pulled before contact and have some chance to exit the plane or you wont get the chance if it settles on the bottom.....
I will be down by the river at first light to see what can be done about a recovery ...will have some images of my own tomorrow........

Bummer, but they were lucky- I'd hate to have to ditch a fixed-gear airplane. From the photos, I'd imagine the only other option was into the (large and sturdy) trees...

Glad they're ok...

A sad sight indeed but the aircraft is only a machine. Just as long as nobody got hurt.

The main thing is that Hal is in one piece, bit of a bummer about his plane though. I'll be interested to hear what happened (once Hal has sobered up from medicating himself).

Mark

Just got my internet connection back up, so HERE is the balance of the story ........without any finger pointing........