Re: Ram Air Turbine
"In the example you cite, the pilots would probably have been better off putting the nose down a bit and gaining some extra speed anyway."
Hard to say. They were going to overshoot, and without spoilers putting the nose down wouldn't have helped the matter. In fact, they were in a forward slip to try to shed some of that energy, which was probably part of the problem -- the air wouldn't have been entering the RAT straight on.
There were no ideal options, but the choices they made not only allowed everyone to walk away but even allowed them to use the airplane again later, so it's hard to fault them too much. ;)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
