Amazing Airplane Landing Skills

[Al Schlageter]

http://www.jokeroo.com/videos/cool/alaska-bush-pilots-are-the-best-at-what-they-do.html

[AndyJWest]

Yes, but how do they take off again?

[BadAim]

Same way; like a madman with big brass balls.

[Blackdog_kt]

Yes, but how do they take off again?

They use tundra tires that can "ski" on the water (like the video shows) and most of these things they fly have a stall speed of 50 knots at most.

To take off from such a small area they would do the reverse.

First, point the aircraft into the wind because the wing flies depending on the speed of oncoming airflow. So, if you have a 10 knot headwind and a 55 knot take-off speed, you only need to accelerate to 45 knots ground speed.

That's also the reason even today where calculating true airspeed and ground speed is relatively easy (electronics plus GPS), the primary speed indicators still read indicated airspeed, which is speed of airflow over the wing.

Then, they would accelerate on the limited patch of ground they have available, to the point where they have enough lift for their tires to "ski" on the water. From that point on it's like taking off in a floatplane.

Some experienced pilots go even further. Regardless of whether they have floats, skis or tundra tires, it is common practice to bank during the take off roll. This leaves only one contact point with the water and decreases drag, which helps to take off from a river before reaching the next bend.

It's amazing what those aircraft can do. Some are built for ease of handling as initial trainers for WWII pilots and still fly today (the original piper J3 cub with a mere 65 horsepower), some are improvements of those (the super cubs, with engines up to 180-200 hp) and some are purpose built for the job.

For example, the Maule Orion you see in the video. It actually has so much lift built into the wing that the resulting drag limits its top speed quite a bit, so they went and added a notch of reverse flaps to be sure the pilot gets the best of both worlds. Loads of lift for those short take-offs and landings, negative flaps to get a more efficient airfoil once it's up and cruising. It's insane, but the flap extends above the wing :-P

[WTE_Galway]

Yes, but how do they take off again?


You only need about a plane length ... look here ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWTcCtYl5Cs

[Richie]

First two landings in the first video were Piper Supercubs. I Love them :)

[Sternjaeger II]

it's a kind of "looking for trouble" flying, when things go wrong (and they do often) there's a lot of bing bang wallop happening ;-)