Practice Plane Floats

[Larry Diamond]

Now that I got the Focus sorted out, I have another question....

Practicing in 20mph winds (gusting to about 25 - 30), I made a knowingly
risky choice on a dead-stick landing. I was over the end of the runway but
way too high. I should have made the approach anyway and landed in the tall
grass with retracts up. But nope, the wind died down and I started a 360 to
shave altitude. When I completed 180 degrees a strong gust hit and took the
wind off of the wings. The plane started a beautiful spin starting at about
150ft. Made one full rotation before recovering at 20ft heading at 270
degrees relative to the field. A sigh of relief was shortly lived when I
realized the plane was soon going to dip out of sight. Took a deep breath,
held the wings level with a bit of up elevator. Again I started to feel a
bit of relief as I was able to pull the gear up and hope for the best with a
belly landing in the grass. Again, this was short lived when I heard the
plane settle in the pond for a beautiful water landing. It made the pond by
a couple of feet and settled 10 feet off of the shore. I stripped down to my
jeans ready to rescue the plane feeling good that I can get out quickly and
no apparent damage. As I approached the water, another gust of wind took the
plane to the middle of the pond. I stopped and put my close back on as it
took its tour around the pond before making it all the way across where it
finally was pulled out of the water.

I have always taught new pilots that when you are on a dead-stick approach
and too high, it's better to land long in the tall grass than to try and
make a perfect landing.

The only physical damage to the plane was the belly pan got the paint water
blasted off of it a little. The fuse is fiberglass and the wings are balsa
sheeted honeycomb foam with CF tape re-enforcing the wings. The fuse is
completely dried out already; the wings are close to dry.

Question... Is there any hope that this plane will ever fly again, or is the
water damage fatal? The sheeting on the wings does not look like it
delaminated. However, it does look like it swelled a bit as one would expect
balsa to when wet. If there is any hope, please offer thoughts for the best
solution. I will be replacing all the electronics if it ever becomes
airworthy again...

Nope, this wasn't the Focus.

Thanks,

Larry
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