While others may say you don't need separate shelter, please consider that if you go down in the mountains, your airplane may reach the ground but your parachute will probably be hung up in trees 30 or 40 feet over your head. And don't expect the aircraft to provide shelter. It will most likely be leaking fuel and pitched at an unuseable angle once it hits the ground. And, aluminum is not a great shelter even in the best of times. It gets very cold, very quickly.

SR-22 is composite, not aluminum. But most of your points are valid.

I stand corrected

What if we go down in the desert? Would the Siltarp still be the way to go?

Thanks for all the good advice.

What do people think about firearms as survival equipment? I received a Springfield Armory M6 Scout, dual shot 410 shotgun and .22 Hornet rifle, as a gift a few years ago. That is one of the items I have been thinking about including for trips west of Wisconsin.

--Galvin

The M6 is a fine survival rifle/shotgun combo. It's very capable of taking game to fill the pot and light defensive roles. My .22LR/410 M6 rides in my truck full time. If I had a plane, another would be there...

M

I guess I didn't put my question right.

It was answered here:



I would think it would become a hindrance while in flight. Someone else may be able to answer this (for my own knowledge <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />), but would the suit make it harder to get out of the plane?

I am sorry for not saying this earlier, and for what it?s worth, it sounds like a good idea!

FWIW, this is the first time I have heard of someone having the plane with the whole airframe parachute. I have only seen pictures from when it was introduced.

Though I've never flown the Atlantic via Greenland, I know it's common for ferry pilots to wear a survival suit on the flight over water. There's just no way you'd be able to don a survival suit in the cramped quarters of an airplane cockpit. They usually wear them half on, with their legs in the lower portion, but not their arms in the upper part. I think wearing a fully donned survival suit in flight would be way too hot for comfort.

OK, just to set the record straight, here's a quick "Exposure Suit 101:"

There are primarily two types of exposure/immersion suits commonly used in General Aviation. The least expensive old-fashioned kind are SOLAS approved marine types made of inherently buoyant closed-cell neoprene foam designed for emergency use in the Commercial Maritime environment. They are very loose fitting to be able to be quickly donned over clothing For an example see: https://www.stearnsinc.com/NC_ProductsList.aspx?selection=3&CategoryID=4504549 These are bulky and very hot to wear out of the water and, thus as noted, are typically worn with the top down around the waist and you finish donning them when needed in a ditching emergency (easier said than done, but it works, most of the time). The closed-cell foam also serves as the insulation. Being so bulky and inherently buoyant, they can present egress problems, as well as problems getting into a life raft, but they have saved many lives. I don't recommend these, but they do work.

The other style of exposure suit is a modern Gore-Tex exposure suit modeled on a traditional flight suit. Originally designed for the military, this is what fighter pilots wear flying over colder waters, what the USCG helo crews wear, etc. They are designed to be worn just like a flight suit and being Gore-Tex do breath and are reasonably comfortable. They do require you to wear additional insulation, which can be tailored to the temperature of water being flown over, all they do is keep you dry. They also require a life vest as they are not inherently buoyant. See: http://www.multifabs-survival.co.uk/products.cfm or http://www.switlik.com/pdf/u_zip_it_brochure.pdf . This is the type suit I recommend.

Class dismissed...