There would be very few large pieces left after the plane impacted the water and there is almost certainly no way to repair the plane. When planes hit the water at several hundred MPH they make lots of little pieces.
**When planes hit the water at several hundred MPH they make lots of little pieces.**
You most likely correct. I read the word 'ditch' and slipped into another era, when piston pounders were actually carefully stalled at the point of 'landing' on the water. Speed for such were probably around 60knts IAS (landing gear up), and with a headwind the actual ground speed reduced accordingly.
I'm not familiar with the USN practice of ditching while ejecting. Do they do their best to 'clean it up'? If so, I assume they do so with wings configured to best slow speed lift, slow the AC in the same fashion as the piston pounder (although I'm sure it is traveling at least 120 knts at that point), before punching out. If they are flying a controllable AC, do they plan to give the 'salvage option' the best possible conditions?
Here's one from my neighborhood:
Ground effect (smooth surface) reduces the stall speed as well. I know a pilot that force landed a Cessna 310C gear up (the nose near would not extend) about 37 yrs ago. After conferring with the co-owner, who had been contacted by the ATC manager at Moline,IL, he chose to take it back to the homebase airstrip. Not sure of the damage a foamed runway would cause, they felt that there would still be rivet heads on the bottom side by landing on the grass beside the local oiled runway.
He was by himself and burned off the fuel to a minumum. It had two bladed props, so he shut one down, feathered the prop, and tapped the starter to place the it parrallel to the wing. Once he had the grass strip 'made' he shut down the other engine in the same fashion. Clean and with ground effect, he had to force it down through the effect, since he was running out out airstrip. He said his last glance at the AI showed just over 40 knts, when he forced it down. The bottom of a 310C is very flat, there was no damage to the AC!
The pilot was my dad. Which reminds me, I need to get the news clipping and photo from him and make a copy or two.
The co-owner's business was selling and installing grain handling systems. He brought his boom truck and straps, and they picked up the plane, lowered the gear (securing the nose gear lock), and taxied it to the hanger. The co-owner called a few months later, about 10 pm, to ask dad to come over to the strip and help pick it up again. That time the props 'got it'. Yep, he forgot to lower the gear! :0