This is a great little video showing a sideways plough-in.
I think the pilot (with very few hours) was trying to do a spin but got caught by the weight shift of their passenger who was videoing the camera craft.
The leading side goes down, and a section of the rear part of the hull contacts the water. The craft has simply rolled.
The skirts don’t collapse or roll under as is commonly promoted. They just crush but continue to due their job.
On contact, water is bulldozed forward in the direction of flight. It spurts out between the segments. I observed these water spurts hundreds of times many years ago when we were trying to understand the boundaries of planing hull design.
Fortunately the craft is trimmed nose up so only the rear of the hull contacts the water. It would have been more dramatic if the craft was trimmed level and the whole of the side contacted the water at once.
Normally, we all tend to lean into a spin and avoid creating this kind of situation. Experience pilots find it hard not to lean in – doing a spin with flat roll trim is harder than you think.
We figure that sideways contact is such a rare occurance, and is almost wholly a consequence of pilot skill, that pilot training and warning is as good a risk control strategy as complex hull configurations.
This is a great little video showing a sideways plough-in.
I think the pilot (with very few hours) was trying to do a spin but got caught by the weight shift of their passenger who was videoing the camera craft.
The leading side goes down, and a section of the rear part of the hull contacts the water. The craft has simply rolled.
The skirts don’t collapse or roll under as is commonly promoted. They just crush but continue to due their job.
On contact, water is bulldozed forward in the direction of flight. It spurts out between the segments. I observed these water spurts hundreds of times many years ago when we were trying to understand the boundaries of planing hull design.
Fortunately the craft is trimmed nose up so only the rear of the hull contacts the water. It would have been more dramatic if the craft was trimmed level and the whole of the side contacted the water at once.
Normally, we all tend to lean into a spin and avoid creating this kind of situation. Experience pilots find it hard not to lean in – doing a spin with flat roll trim is harder than you think.
We figure that sideways contact is such a rare occurance, and is almost wholly a consequence of pilot skill, that pilot training and warning is as good a risk control strategy as complex hull configurations.
Video courtesy of Owen Ellis
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Paul Moody