The International Cessna 170 Association

A few years back when I was getting a checkride for SES the examiner asked "If you are over the forest with no lakes or clear ground and only trees would you try to 'land' in hardwood or evergreen trees?" I answered evergreen and he didn't answer. What would you think?

Not having any real clue, I will attempt to answer nonetheless...

I would opt for the hardwood or stands of birch. I say this because I have seen several successful tree landings where the pilot received few if any injuries. The birches in particular seem to have nice energy absorbing properties as do the hardwood canopies. That said, I know of at least two circumstances where the pilots landed very successfully and then managed to fall out of the trees and got hurt trying to get down. The key appears to be, no surprise, fly the airplane onto the canopies, don’t stall.

As far as evergreens go, they just don’t appear to have the same energetic absorbing properties due to the tree shape. What ever you do, don’t stall before impact and don’t hit any eagles or your problems have just begun.
Both the pilot and the passenger managed to survived virtually intact in this event,

N2625U wrote:A few years back when I was getting a checkride for SES the examiner asked "If you are over the forest with no lakes or clear ground and only trees would you try to 'land' in hardwood or evergreen trees?" I answered evergreen and he didn't answer. What would you think?

Having dropped out of Forestry School way back in 1967 because I discovered my dorm-roommate was a private pilot and Nacogdoches, Tx had an airport to hang out at... ( I tried to figure out where I was going to live when my parents found out I wasn't attending classes anymore.... but my Uncle Sam discovered it before they did … so I re-enrolled at San Jacinto Junior College which had an aviation curriculum as fast as I could) ….

...anyway.... even a Forestry School drop-out knows that hardwoods and conifers tend to congregate with their own kind... so it's unlikely that such a question will present itself. You'll either be over a hardwood forest or a conifer forest is the most likely scenario and that decision will most likely be made for you..... and a mixed-forest will make any preference entirely moot.

I'll add that I personally would avoid a lake because there's no reason to expect exiting an upside-down damaged airplane and immediately having to swim for my life in the hopes I'd be un-injured and/or capable of assisting passengers adds unnecessary complication to the problem. Highways are equally lousy choices. My advice: make every effort to find an airfield, and second-choice, an open field.

I'll add that I personally would avoid a lake because there's no reason to expect exiting an upside-down damaged airplane and immediately having to swim for my life in the hopes I'd be un-injured and/or capable of assisting passengers adds unnecessary complication to the problem. Highways are equally lousy choices. My advice: make every effort to find an airfield, and second-choice, an open field.[/quote]

Thats not really very useful advice if you fly in BC or much of Alaska.

My question is always how to approach the trees. Given time I think I would trim all the way back and power to idle which gives me about 60 mph and 500 ft per minute. Easy to keep level with the rudder.

Big city gives your lots of practice cutting in and out between cars so for me I prefer IFR especially through passes, just watch out for the guy coming the other way.

daedaluscan wrote:...Thats not really very useful advice if you fly in BC or much of Alaska.

My question is always how to approach the trees. Given time I think I would trim all the way back and power to idle which gives me about 60 mph and 500 ft per minute. Easy to keep level with the rudder.

One of the better videos I've seen involved an engine-out Cessna 170 in Alaska. There's lots of open spaces....and lots of water. Avoiding water and trees, especially with the kids on board... IS good advice, IMO. (But I doubt anyone really needs it.)
They landed on a river-bank... much like an open field.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTiGU5TiYCE