Friday, February 15, 2008
F4
There are plenty of videos on You Tube of short field landings and take-offs and all of them are fantastic. But this one just seemed to capture the idea in a very easy to understand way for the non-flyers out there. This is a short field take-off competition in Alaska. Bush flying in Alaska is in many ways the heart of intrastate commerce. And the importance of the ability to take off and land in short spaces cannot be overestimated. This video shows two excellent pilots (one taking off and one landing) in excellent aircraft for these maneuvers. Don't miss the guy right at the end of the clip saying, "I don't know..." He's not sure the landing will be short enough to win the competition! Next week I'll post a video of an Alaska bush pilot doing this on a sandbar out in the bush where it counts. Enjoy!
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2 comments:
That's pretty cool and I'm thinking that would have been great to see in person.
I've always enjoyed things like this. Being an Air Force brat I got to go to a few air shows growing up.
The short landing in this video is impressive, but the take off is just amazing. Notice how immediately after leaving the ground he levels the plane and even points the nose down a bit? He's trying to give the a/c a chance to pick up the speed it needs to climb. He's staying in what we call "ground effect". This provides the a/c with more lift than it would have just a few feet further up off the ground.
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