I thought I would share the latest landing technique with you, I hope you haven't already heard about this.

How to safely land a plane -- by blowing one of its wings off

An inventor in Bangkok has just patented a new way to safely crash-land a plane: By blowing one of its wings off and sending it into a spiralling dive, which -- he claims -- would give it a helicopter-like soft landing.

Here's how it works, in his words:

A signal from the altimeter will detonate the explosive charges, with the thrust forward 1, causing a controlled separation of the wing, and the thrust needed to cause a very strong force in the rearward direction of this wing. The explosive devices will provide enough to break the wing from the airplane at the fuselage 2. This force will then, make the whole airplane spin on a horizontal plane and in the direction of the missing wing 3. This spin will cause the following. (1) The spin will cause centrifugal force between the wing that remains intact and the fuselage. Thus maintaining the horizontal plane of the airplane while in a spiral spin. (2) The spin will cause the intact wing to work in the same manner as the rotor of the helicopter, producing lift, so that the airplane slowly decreases altitude, instead of a free fall descent.

"Attention, passengers. In the event of a need for a crash landing, please return to your seats, fasten your seat beats, and stow your tray tables -- before we rip the left wing off and turn this airplane into a shrieking, plunging PINWHEEL OF DEATH."

I wonder if the Lateral G's alone would kill ya?

I think this sounds better:

From engadget.com

Fujitsu has actually come out with a new system that uses expanding polystyrene foam to pin car theifs in the driver seat. When the device detects movement it releases a liquid chemical that then expands to fill the car. Police can then cut through the foam with a hot wire. This sounds just like that scene in Demolition Man when Sylvester Stallone wrecks the patrol car. Maybe they could patent it for car accidents also?

mr scout wrote:An inventor in Bangkok has just patented a new way to safely crash-land a plane: By blowing one of its wings off and sending it into a spiralling dive, which -- he claims -- would give it a helicopter-like soft landing.

I'll pass. A friend died twenty three years ago in a homebuilt that separated one wing. Let the Bangkok dude try it first.

tom

So as safe as that sounds ...what about that lonely wing plummeting towards the ground?

The captain has to stay with the ship, so the first officer gets to ride the wing down.

Are they going to try for a field approval

Bill

Now you watch this closely, I can only demonstrate this once