Flying over water in the N.E. in late September

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JOhnH

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We are planing a 2.5week trip up to New England mid September. Among other places we will be going to Block Island (KBID), Nantucket (KACK) and Martha's Vineyard (KMVY).

Thus, we will be over water for various stretches of around 20nm. Should we be planning to pack (and maybe wear) life vests, or is that being silly. My objection was that if we hit the water we are probably going to die from cold before we can don or inflate vests. But then, I"m a Florida boy and when the water gets under 70 it makes me nervous.
 
Do you know the glide ratio of your plane? At 9:1, being 10 miles from shore implies a cruising altitude over water of at least 6000’ will let you glide to shore. I’d just make sure you cross open water with sufficient altitude to make a beach landing. In some ways summer is worse… the beaches are packed & I can’t see risking someone else’s life by landing there. During summer I think about nearshore ditching rather than a beach landing. Paul Bertorelli had a good AVWeb video about ditching a couple of years ago.
 
JOhnH said:
We are planing a 2.5week trip up to New England mid September. Among other places we will be going to Block Island (KBID), Nantucket (KACK) and Martha's Vineyard (KMVY).

Thus, we will be over water for various stretches of around 20nm. Should we be planning to pack (and maybe wear) life vests, or is that being silly. My objection was that if we hit the water we are probably going to die from cold before we can don or inflate vests. But then, I"m a Florida boy and when the water gets under 70 it makes me nervous.
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I wear life jackets when I’m on a boat. A plane over water isn’t much different. Other than you should have time to put it in prior to the sinking because it should be farther away and with more warning.
 
The water will be rather warm in late September. I've sailed that area and LI sound into October. I saw that people would skinny dip at Woods Hole in October, but never in May (Martha's Vineyard is the island across from Woods Hole). That said, there's some good advice in the posts above, although there won't be a lot of people at the beaches so late in the season.
 
Haven't heard of anyone dying of hypothermia from boat or plane accidents in the NE, in the daytime. Lots of people around all of those areas to help you out if you go in.

If you're going hiking while you're up here, dress warm, stay warm. Hypothermia does happen to hikers, especially if they get wet. Cotton is great for flying, not good for hiking in cool/cold months.
 
Anytime before Columbus Day you can walk to any of those destinations on top of the pleasure craft.
OK, that's a slight exaggeration. But only slight.
If you landed in the water you have a better chance of being run over by a boat than dying of hypothermia.
After Columbus day, you are fish food.
 
Thanks for the advice. Most of our flights in that area are probably going to be pretty short hops, so there won't be time to gain much altitude. But at least it's not like we're flying over Lake Erie or something.
 
I have flown the Cub to Block Island.
WST to BID is only 15 miles.
UUU to MVY is only 32 miles.
I don't even have to worry about fuel until I return from either of them.
Then it's a minimum of one more stop for fuel to get back to GBR, which makes the fuel stops the most dangerous part of the flight.
Except for the boaters.
 
JOhnH said:
Thanks for the advice. Most of our flights in that area are probably going to be pretty short hops, so there won't be time to gain much altitude. But at least it's not like we're flying over Lake Erie or something.
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There is always time to gain altitude. Keep in mind that you don’t have to hit your planned altitude until the midpoint over water to stay in gliding range. One circle on departure might be all you need.
 
When the weather is nice and winds are calm (even in winter), many will make the trip over to Block Island, with the vast majority coming from the north (but some coming from the west via Long Island). I fly back and forth often in our 182, usually at 3,000 or 3,500, which still allows a reasonable chance to enter the pattern by crossing over midfield for Runway 28. Some people will cross at a higher altitude and make a teardrop entry to the pattern to lose altitude. (When Runway 10 is in use (which is less frequent), most coming from the north will make a left base entry for Runway 10). Martha's Vineyard doesn't require crossing quite as much open water as Block. For Nantucket, it's finding enough altitude to safely cross (in my case, usually crossing from Martha's Vineyard over to Nantucket). There are preferred noise abatement pattern routes for Nantucket (with landmarks) that might be worth checking on the airport's website in case tower directs you to follow one of those. I do not wear a life vest during these crossings, but have 4 of them on board along with a ditch bag.
 
ldhilljr13 said:
When the weather is nice and winds are calm (even in winter), many will make the trip over to Block Island, with the vast majority coming from the north (but some coming from the west via Long Island). I fly back and forth often in our 182, usually at 3,000 or 3,500, which still allows a reasonable chance to enter the pattern by crossing over midfield for Runway 28. Some people will cross at a higher altitude and make a teardrop entry to the pattern to lose altitude. (When Runway 10 is in use (which is less frequent), most coming from the north will make a left base entry for Runway 10). Martha's Vineyard doesn't require crossing quite as much open water as Block. For Nantucket, it's finding enough altitude to safely cross (in my case, usually crossing from Martha's Vineyard over to Nantucket). There are preferred noise abatement pattern routes for Nantucket (with landmarks) that might be worth checking on the airport's website in case tower directs you to follow one of those. I do not wear a life vest during these crossings, but have 4 of them on board along with a ditch bag.
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Good information. Thanks.
 
I grew up in coastal Maine and I recall ocean water temps in the 50's in August. Then flew over the Gulf of Mexico for a few decades and know of cases of hypothermia, also in August.
 
If you think you need the life jackets, put them on. You'll never get them on after ditching. The points about there being plenty of boats is spot on. I used to be in one of them pretty regularly years ago. Having said that, I've flown WST to BID without them on Christmas day. If I went in then, I was toast with or without. Honestly, I'm more afraid of flying over heavily forested terrain than the ocean. I will wear mine going from FL to the Bahamas.
 
Hang 4 said:
If you think you need the life jackets, put them on. You'll never get them on after ditching. The points about there being plenty of boats is spot on. I used to be in one of them pretty regularly years ago. Having said that, I've flown WST to BID without them on Christmas day. If I went in then, I was toast with or without. Honestly, I'm more afraid of flying over heavily forested terrain than the ocean. I will wear mine going from FL to the Bahamas.
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Heck, trees I can deal with. I get nervous flying over large cities and suburban sprawl.
 
@JOhnH I fly that all the time in a 182. Most people traveling are up at 5500-9500. Get on flights following and they'll keep you clear of jets.

Also, on Block you can call the bike rental people for a free ride into town provided you rent a bike. Getting back, you're on your own.
 
Have been to Block Island many times, I always fly high enough to glide to shore and then some. Losing altitude over BID is trivial and you don't have to maintain the same altitude the whole way. Once you're closer to shore, you can be at a lower altitude and still make the shore (stating the obvious, but it's worth pointing out with regards to having to lose altitude prior to reaching the airport environment).
 
Jeff767 said:
There is always time to gain altitude. Keep in mind that you don’t have to hit your planned altitude until the midpoint over water to stay in gliding range. One circle on departure might be all you need.
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Agreed. When I was at AWO and making regular trips to ORS to visit my parents, I could’ve easily flown low for the relatively short hop. Instead I flew at 5500/6500 so that I had options if the fan quit spinning. Why not? Sure, it cost me a little time and some extra fuel, but I got a margin of safety in return, particularly when I was hauling my family.
In addition, it let me get into the +/-500 levels to hopefully have some degree of traffic clearance, vs bombing around at 2500 with the bulk of the folks going every which way.
 
I assume you are IFR rated? If not, that is a much bigger concern than ditching. I vividly remember the day that JFK Jr died enroute to Martha's Vinyard. I had flown VFR across the Chesapeake Bay that same afternoon and was amazed at how the sky and water blended together in the haze. I was not IFR rated, and there was a point midway across where I could not see the horizon in any direction. I was able to see a bridge below me so I watched that. When I got home and saw the news, I knew right away what happened.

OTOH maybe by late Sept haze is not an issue in the NE?
 
Ed Haywood said:
I assume you are IFR rated? If not, that is a much bigger concern than ditching. I vividly remember the day that JFK Jr died enroute to Martha's Vinyard. I had flown VFR across the Chesapeake Bay that same afternoon and was amazed at how the sky and water blended together in the haze. I was not IFR rated, and there was a point midway across where I could not see the horizon in any direction. I was able to see a bridge below me so I watched that. When I got home and saw the news, I knew right away what happened.

OTOH maybe by late Sept haze is not an issue in the NE?
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Generally in the fall it is very clear.
 
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