- Joined
- Oct 20, 2012
- Messages
- 123
- Reaction score
- 35
Recently I came across a video of the late Freddy Cabanas. (RIP, a long time ago he gave me an unforgettable high energy aerobatic ride in a Waco over the reefs of Key West - he really wrung it out!) In the vid, Freddy briefed a non-pilot passenger that if for some reason they had to bail, he would roll inverted, they would undo their belts and fall out. Obviously, he had to be talking about a situation where he would still have the control to roll inverted.
So, heeding the advice that you should practice for bail out, I sometimes practice my bail out sequence after engine shut down (I fly an RV-4, am hoping to get a bipe one of these days). It might seem like there would be nothing to it, but I immediately noticed that I can easily mess up the order of things, particularly unlatching my belts before unlatching and jettisoning the canopy. And that's without the stress of a real emergency. Then after unlatching the belts (having taken off my headset before), I lift/push myself out of the cockpit, which isn’t easy considering I’m 6’2”, and I imagine will be even harder coming out of a Pitts gopher hole, then go over the left side, plan for shielding my head to hopefully avoid getting hit by the tail feathers, and finally look at the D ring and practice pulling straight out with both hands. So, as I’m sure all of you know, what seems like it might be easy and natural, actually involves a sequence of steps, to be remembered under stress and done in order.
So here is my question. Even though I’m in shape, getting out of the cockpit takes considerable effort, and if the plane were bucking around would be worse. So I get the logic behind rolling inverted and hopefully just falling out. Still, I haven’t done it and never will unless/until a real emergency arises, which makes me wonder if it might be more disorienting than worth it, and possibly make me mess something up.
So what do you guys plan on doing in an emergency where you feel you need to bail but still have control over the airplane? Will you roll inverted to bail? Will you climb out while upright and go over the side? Do you think you have less chance of getting clocked by the tail if you fall out inverted or go out upright? What did Tucker do when he had to bail from his Oracle? Is there any consensus on a best thing to do if you have a choice?
Thanks for any thoughts or opinions.
So, heeding the advice that you should practice for bail out, I sometimes practice my bail out sequence after engine shut down (I fly an RV-4, am hoping to get a bipe one of these days). It might seem like there would be nothing to it, but I immediately noticed that I can easily mess up the order of things, particularly unlatching my belts before unlatching and jettisoning the canopy. And that's without the stress of a real emergency. Then after unlatching the belts (having taken off my headset before), I lift/push myself out of the cockpit, which isn’t easy considering I’m 6’2”, and I imagine will be even harder coming out of a Pitts gopher hole, then go over the left side, plan for shielding my head to hopefully avoid getting hit by the tail feathers, and finally look at the D ring and practice pulling straight out with both hands. So, as I’m sure all of you know, what seems like it might be easy and natural, actually involves a sequence of steps, to be remembered under stress and done in order.
So here is my question. Even though I’m in shape, getting out of the cockpit takes considerable effort, and if the plane were bucking around would be worse. So I get the logic behind rolling inverted and hopefully just falling out. Still, I haven’t done it and never will unless/until a real emergency arises, which makes me wonder if it might be more disorienting than worth it, and possibly make me mess something up.
So what do you guys plan on doing in an emergency where you feel you need to bail but still have control over the airplane? Will you roll inverted to bail? Will you climb out while upright and go over the side? Do you think you have less chance of getting clocked by the tail if you fall out inverted or go out upright? What did Tucker do when he had to bail from his Oracle? Is there any consensus on a best thing to do if you have a choice?
Thanks for any thoughts or opinions.
Last edited:
