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Bailing Out, How To Survive a Plane Crash

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Shinobi Killfist

Jul 18 2007, 05:40 AM

Post #26

Neophyte Runner

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QUOTE (Rotbart van Dainig)

QUOTE (redne @ Jul 16 2007, 03:42 PM)

The bad news is that this would be a fall of about 182 meters, which does 93 boxes of damage. :dead:

Actually, it's approx 160m... though that isn't a significant difference.
82 damage will still splatter even the toughest troll.

That's only if it hits me. With my reflexes I'm going to dodge the earth.

Vaevictis

Jul 18 2007, 10:00 AM

Post #27

Moving Target

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QUOTE (Solomon Greene)

I'm sure there will be other posts that explain this better, but fallen bodies reach a terminal velocity in free fall that pretty much caps damage - you can only fall so fast. Weight isn't really an issue at that point.

FWIW, mass is an issue.

When you hit the earth, what's really happening is you're getting hit with a big ass normal force which provides you with a large enough acceleration to reduce your velocity to zero over a very, very short distance.

And the amount of force necessary for that to happen is definitely going to be impacted by your mass.

(However, if what you were intending to say was that at terminal velocity, mass is likely to be the minority factor in the amount of damage done... then I would agree.)

TheMadDutchman

Jul 18 2007, 12:32 PM

Post #28

Moving Target

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QUOTE (Talia Invierno)

Airplanes rarely just fall out of the sky. More commonly the pilot is attempting a crash landing, trying to manage speed to at least partly glide and come in at something close to a landing angle. In those cases, it's a (relatively) moderate contact with the ground that ends up breaking up the aircraft -- but human beings are far more likely to survive the lower forces involved. In fact, large airplanes have able to glide into safe landings from quite high heights.

Airplanes "almost never" fall out of the sky. I can think of two ways that they would: 1. They are shot down (actually possible in SR) 2. The pilot does something stupid and overstresses the plane. How easy this is to do depends upon the load limits of the plane. A trip 7 I think has a load limit of around 1.5g's a cesna 1-72 has a load limit of around 3.5 g's and the extra I'm currently training in is rated to +/- 10 g's (that plane ain't falling out of the sky) You might be interested to know that pulling a bank angle in a turn of 60 degress can cause a load on the wings of 2g's (effectively doubling the total weight the wings are supporting). 45 degress is a little more than 1.4 g's. Look up a load factor chart. They're cool. This is actually why the airlines want pilots who are trained in upset recovery. It is possible to do crazy things with non-aerobatic planes; just ask Bob Hoover (there should be video of his power management skills somewhere on the internet).

Seriously unless you're shot down or you pull a maneuver that exceeds the load limits of a plane enough to rip the wings or tails off you're not falling out fo the sky.

If you're in the air and your engine fails you follow the ABC's of an emergency:
Airspeed- every plane has a best glide speed this will allow you to glide the longest before reaching the ground
Best place to land- look for a good field or an airstrip if possible-and try to land w/ a headwind.
Check your engine- you should have a flow that will allow you to attempt to restart the engine
Declare- if all else fails you set your transponder to 7700 (ememrgency) get on the emergency frequency and call out "Mayday Mayday Mayday; this is (insert tail number) declairing an emergency... try to give them your general position too. also, it's a good idea to start your ELT just before touchdown.

If you find a good place to land and you manage your glide speeds properly (this is down by adusting your pitch angle which doesn't require an engine) you should be fine.

Just so you know- everything I've said here is for real. I'm currently training to become an airline pilot and flight is a serious passion of mine. The school I'm at teaches a slightly different approach to emergencies than the abc's but that's one that most fixed base operations (f.b.o.s) use.

Crusher Bob View Member Profile	Jul 18 2007, 02:46 PM Post #29
Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,598 Joined: 15-March 03 From: Hong Kong Member No.: 4,253	You can also fall out of the sky due to certain types of stalls and spins. But, in theory, you can recover from most of them given enough altitude.

bibliophile20

Jul 18 2007, 03:00 PM

Post #30

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QUOTE (Shinobi Killfist)

That's only if it hits me. With my reflexes I'm going to dodge the earth.

"There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, that provides the difficulties."
:D

Moon-Hawk

Jul 18 2007, 04:06 PM

Post #31

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QUOTE (bibliophile20)

QUOTE (Shinobi Killfist @ Jul 18 2007, 01:40 AM)

That's only if it hits me. With my reflexes I'm going to dodge the earth.

"There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, that provides the difficulties."
:D

Oh, you beat me. I was going to post that! :D

bibliophile20

Jul 18 2007, 04:22 PM

Post #32

Running Target

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QUOTE (Moon-Hawk)

QUOTE (bibliophile20 @ Jul 18 2007, 10:00 AM)

QUOTE (Shinobi Killfist @ Jul 18 2007, 01:40 AM)

That's only if it hits me. With my reflexes I'm going to dodge the earth.

"There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, that provides the difficulties."
:D

Oh, you beat me. I was going to post that! :D

:grinbig:

Oh and BTW:

QUOTE

The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with.'

I want one of these for a NPC runner that I'm designing.

Kyoto Kid

Jul 19 2007, 04:37 AM

Post #33

Bushido Cowgirl

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QUOTE (Talia Invierno)

Airplanes rarely just fall out of the sky. More commonly the pilot is attempting a crash landing, trying to manage speed to at least partly glide and come in at something close to a landing angle. In those cases, it's a (relatively) moderate contact with the ground that ends up breaking up the aircraft -- but human beings are far more likely to survive the lower forces involved.

...a good example of an actual crash landing which, while it appeared terrible on video, had a remarkably high survival rate:

United 232

Talia Invierno

Jul 19 2007, 05:10 AM

Post #34

Shooting Target

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QUOTE (Moon-Hawk @ Jul 18 2007, 04:06 PM)

QUOTE (bibliophile20 @ Jul 18 2007, 10:00 AM)

QUOTE (Shinobi Killfist @ Jul 18 2007, 01:40 AM)

That's only if it hits me. With my reflexes I'm going to dodge the earth.

"There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, that provides the difficulties."
:D

Oh, you beat me. I was going to post that! :D

x2 :D

Edit @ Kyoto Kid:

I had to read the article through, but I remember hearing about that crash now. I didn't know the background detail before.

Kyoto Kid View Member Profile	Jul 19 2007, 08:11 PM Post #35
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490	...a pretty amazing testament to the piloting skill on the flight crew's part. By all rights that plane should have never remained airborne after it lost all hydraulics, the #2 engine, and part of the horizontal stabiliser. I read the official report in Aviation Leak after the investigation and they damn near pulled off landing that thing. ...an example of Edge/Karma Pool in RL.

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