William Chops Westfield wrote:

> (I've always wondered whether if you're in a crashing plane, you'd
> have a better chance of survival if you jumped out.  I mean, cliff
> divers and parachutists in free fall reach similar terminal velocities,
> and most of the cliff divers survive...  It ALMOST seems like with
> suitable training you ought to be able to leap from a plane and
> AIM for something soft...)

Went to an FAA Safety Seminar titled "How to Crash an Airplane and 
Survive" that discussed doing exactly what you recommend... with the 
whole aircraft.

Got a choice of a nice soft stand of aspen trees or a forest of large 
pines, and a mountain flying emergency "landing" coming up?  If you 
don't panic and actually CHOOSE what you're going to hit, you stand a 
much larger chance of surviving it.

Thus the well-worn adage: Fly it until all the parts stop moving!

Nate


-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist