Aircraft down

[Coldwood]

Watched a rerun of The Unit last night, my favorite show. This is the one where Sgt. Brown is going through his survival training, the story alternates with him going down in a chopper in Russia with a Russian woman who suffers a broken hip and he has to care for her. Incredibly he has no survival kit, just a folder. We watch him whittle up a fuzz stick, make a bow and drill, and whip up a fire in under 30 seconds TV time (Side story: My wife is watching this and says "I want a flint and steel when my airplane goes down." After the show, I show her my Doan and Swedish fire steels, and in a skillet in the kitchen demonstrate the marvels of cotton balls. I gave her my Doan and some cottonballs which she now has stashed in her purse. Starting her PSK . Back to the program, Brown does a couple of clever things with scraps from the wreckage.

Here's the question: Your small aircraft goes down, you drag your bleeding battered body from the wreckage before it blows up (or not), you have no PSK other than a knife. What can you salvage from the mess and how would you use it?

I'll start: Wiring for cordage, sheet metal if I can get it loose for cooking and signalling, fabric for hats, bandages, etc. What else?

 

[GibsonFan]

First of all, does the radio still work? "breaker breaker, please help me!!"

Isn't there a compass in there somewhere? (might be hard to dig out of the console or whatever).

Foam padding from the seats for insulation if it's cold out. Ugly, but can make a helpful hat or boot-covers. Who cares how dorky you look if you're alone and lost? Frostbite hurts a lot worse than wounded vanity.

Fuel, oil and battery! Lots of fire-makings there.

Burn the tires for a signal.

The plane itself might serve as at least a structure to build a lean-to against, not to mention I think a busted plane would be pretty noticeable from the air so it would be a signal in itself.

You probably noticed I got most of these ideas from the "Survivorman" episode where they plopped him in the middle of Canada with a wrecked plane fuselage.

I would stick close to the wreckage if possible, seems that would strongly improve my chances of being found quickly. I'm not quite sure why the survival shows focus so much on covering ground quickly; in most cases I think staying put and putting together a shelter would serve you better. Especially if you were in a plane with a filed flight plan, they have at least SOME idea where you might be.

My woman's dad is a licensed private pilot (my step-daughter has WAY more time in the air than I do, spoiled lil princess !), I'll ask him what he thinks next time I see him. He's a geologist and a camper and a handy sort of guy, so I bet this has crossed his mind.

P.S. about your wife... be careful what you show her, or you'll end up buying two of lots of things once she sees how cool they work, and wants her own. I kid around about this a lot, but really it's a blessing that my gal enjoys this stuff with me.

 

[FoxholeAtheist]

Check out some of the stories on www.equipped.org. Doug Ritter is a pilot, and a lot of the stuff on that site discusses airplane-specific scenarios.

I'll second the warning about the wife, btw. We just bought a Maxpedition Jumbo Fatboy for mine, and one of the two Muddy Meaner Streets I snagged from Busse is going to be hers. She also has her eye on a GB Mini Hatchet...

 

[Coldwood]

The plane itself might serve as at least a structure to build a lean-to against, not to mention I think a busted plane would be pretty noticeable from the air so it would be a signal in itself.

We've had a few small planes go down in the Adirondacks over the years, it's amazing how they can get swallowed up under the tree canopy and disappear. But yeah, stick with the aircraft, I would think, a possible source of shelter and usable stuff.

P.S. about your wife... be careful what you show her, or you'll end up buying two of lots of things once she sees how cool they work, and wants her own. I kid around about this a lot, but really it's a blessing that my gal enjoys this stuff with me.

LOL Mine generally thinks I'm crazy, I'm pleasantly surprised to see her take an interest in this. Two of everything is okay (after I got a Schrade Sharpfinger last year and she admired it, I got one for her) more toys to play with.

 

[Coldwood]

FA, great website, thanks. Interesting article about ditchings and forced landings. I'm not a pilot but I love small aircraft and never miss a chance to take a ride in one, which is infrequent.