Although the flying is impressive, it can't help but remind me of a Bonanza crash at Baton Rouge a number of years ago. The pilot had almost 4000 hours and would commute daily between BTR and TVR (Tallulah, LA). On takeoff the pilot would always roll into almost a 90 degree bank less than 200ft off the ground. He did this probably several hundred times without ever having a problem... until July 2, 1999. The NTSB report is here: http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X19257&key=1
Pretty impressive stick n rudder work. From a photographer's perspective on the video, the extremely wide angle lense used in the filming distorts the apparent distances and angles ("fisheye" effect) which may add somewhat to the drama of the situation. The curvature of the horizon illustrates this.
Well, you've gotta admit it, that is a very neat touchdown, but the distance between the wingtip and the ground before he landed was perhaps a bit too close. The pilot has obviously done it before.
OH!! It's a Doinker! I thought I read it was in Brazil somewhere and I was thinking it was an EMB-121 (low wing) .. makes more sense now! Some skilled flying!
Flying skill 10, aviation decision making 0. Average pilot score 5. Each time he gets away with these maneuvers it reinforces to him that what he is doing is safe and a little more risk can be taken next time. It only takes once to realize it was being done wrong all along. He could be a really good pilot if he learns to make a safe minimum time approach.
Come on guys that was awesome he probably flies like that all the time what about crop dusting you dont call that crazy.I would right seat with him anytime
That's Germany, but in the U.S. we have a long-held belief that the sport of skydiving is self-policing. The only "credits" that us old-timers who are still current jumpers give such pilots are of the negative variety.
Tom, your right. The vidio was awsome and brought back many memories. I aquired over 2500 hrs as a Diver Driver for 7 yrs for a DZ in Ks in 182'S and Caravan's. When I started I was like most people..20 degree bank in the pattern, 80 mph on final. After several months I seen that was not cost affective and the appr needed to be shortend. Long story short I did at least 4000 short apprs simular to this. Yes I came close to losing my life and the plane too..twice. But I found my limit and the last 5 yrs I was not on a death wish but comfortable with the risk I was taking and no one complained. In fact any jumpers that rode down with me understood why I wanted to fly rather than jump. One question...Has anyone fallen asleep while flying PIC? I HAVE..several times hauling 15-25 loads a day 10-13 hrs plus night jumps. Quit bashing the guy he's probably trying to stay awake. The landing is the DD's only excitment. HE'S GOOD!!! MC and HNY JB
He knows what he's doing. Just like airshow pilots, he has the skill to fly closer to the edge than most of us certificated pilots. Many pilots have never been taught the concept of "unloading" the airplane. When an aircraft is descending quickly, it effectively weighs less and the stall speed drops accordingly. He is flying this twin somewhat like a glider and managing his energy, not so very different than Bob Hover does with the Shrike Commander. MOST of us don't have the skill required to do what he did and we shouldn't try it, but this guy DOES have the skill. Why return to the airport with such haste? Usually it is to pickup the next waiting load.
I saw a ground view on this video recording with a much larger margin and prospective than the Cockpit view. The roll out was interesting...seem he laid on the breaks and could have nosed over.
The energy management is also a bit more flexible in this case the Do28 is designed for short-field operations/STOL. Pilot is trading for a longer touchdown speed and rollout. I think the main unsafe part may have just been mentality. If the conditions during final had departed from nominal flight the question to ask is would the pilot have been comfortable making the missed approach or would he have tried to salvage the approach and shoehorn it onto the runway anyway? As long as he continues to understand the limitations of the flight envelope the Do28 could be capable of sustaining operations under this regime.
This reminds me of the numerous Air Force, Navy, Marine and Army pilots/aviators that over the years went wild buzzing girlfriends, dipping chopper skids on lakes, terrorizing communities risking lives and risking Government property. Some were caugth but never prosecuted for their bosses did the same supid things when younger, some crashed, and some are still at it.
I've jumped from aircraft many thousands of times, but only landed in them a couple dozen at most ... these videos reinforce the fact that I'm doing the right thing, even if the pilot stays out of my and everyone else's airspace.
He isn't using shoulder harnesses either ... yet another clue of carelessness and over-confidence. Such cowboys don't last long as lift pilots.
I'm sorry, the dive is cool but once he got close to the trees, me and him would have been fighting on the spot. You don't do that that close to trees and ground if there is no emergency.
Uh oh, Beware of the grammar police! Jeff, it's a fucking aviation forum not English class. Quit correcting people's grammar and go get your pilots license.
Personally I wouldn't have corrected him, but someone did, and you felt that you needed to to one-up him. So I'm doing my civic duty by pointing out that "me and him" would not be proper English "down there" or any other place on planet Earth. It may be common and/or accepted where you live, but it's wrong. "He and I" is THE proper way, not A proper way. The correction is also a subtle dig at the validity of John Hale's statement.
This whole tit-for-tat is a parody of the video and ensuing comments. Maybe in Germany this flying is "proper". Maybe in the military it's proper. Maybe in skydiving it's proper. Personally I think it's safe; he was close to the trees (low), but still fast. He bled off speed over the runway. He was obviously fast enough to make a safe landing if both engines failed. Now if he was dragging it in over those trees behind the power curve and trying to make a short field landing, that would be dangerous, and pointless. There's nothing wrong with being low and fast, making steep banks, well withing gliding distance of a long empty runway, in an airplane that is WELL below gross weight. It's part of his job.
How about flying for National Geographic in the middle of the bush somewhere making 40 knots, 40 feet above a jungle canopy? Is that safe? I doubt it. It's the job that the pilot was hired for, and it's low and slow and dangerous. There is also the "innocent" photographer along for the ride. Not only that, there are no paramedics nearby. I think this goes for pipeline inspectors, powerline inspectors, etc.
Is colloquialism a violation of the Laws of English Grammar? Which laws, and to whom is the mantle of penultimate arbiter granted (and by whom)? Is that English English, American English (North/ South of Mason Dixon line), Australian English, FAA English>
Veliecht es ist Ordnung im Deutschland, aber....
Second person before first person is the basis of the classic "Alphonse and Gaston" skit.
As for grammar, "and it's low and slow and dangerous", should be "and it's low, slow and dangerous" unless your are speaking colloquially.
Actually yes, colloquialism does violate the standards of English Grammar. FAA English is jargon, and it is also non-standard. "And it's low and slow and dangerous" is slang, and I realize that it's not proper.
The arbiter is not specific, but it is polite, and shows class, to put the other person's name before the self. Putting the self first is basically classless, or selfish. It's no more a law than whether or not it is right or wrong to eat dogs. Generally, we English speakers would think that eating dogs is wrong, universally. So when someone chooses Bowser over beef, we say that's wrong, and that's that.
I'm making myself look like a jerkoff (slang), and I really was only slightly irritated that so many people were jumping on Jeff Carey, that was poking fun at John Hale for being so brackish. All of a sudden there's a whole bunch of people (happens every time) that want to crucify the guy that likes to use proper grammar, and makes it known that lazy language does not go unnoticed. Looking back at it now, preacher1 may have simply been poking a little fun and making a joke as well.
My apologies to those who misunderstood my intentions, and to all English-speaking dog-eaters.
"Argh! I'm going to arm chair pilot at this guy! He doesn't know what he is doing! He is unsafe! Blah blah blah!" C'mon guys!! Take some time and watch how skydive operations work, he is not the only one who flies like that. And you all know that pilot has way more skill than most of you commenting on here saying how unsafe he is. Looks like the aircraft made a flawless landing to me, no different outcome than if a normal, boring 3 degree approach was made.
He definitely is skilled and several have alluded here to crop dusters doing it this way. That may just be the way these guys do it, BUT, a crop duster does it as part of the job. I just couldn't see the reason for it with a good airplane and wide open approach and airport. That's just me.
Even worse when seen from the ground. The wing was loaded quite heavily and elevator pulled the aircraft around on lineup. To name a few, misuse of the rudder, a wind gust, or the loss of either engine in the final turn would have been fatal. The only thing saving the bacon was excess airspeed which in itself is not the best thing for landing. I'm all for quick returns to keep the revenue flowing but they can be done safely. Why plan an approach leaving yourself no options if something goes wrong? And we all know nothing can go wrong,go wrong,go wrong.....
I don't think anyone is questioning the unloading of the plane and getting down quickly. The final approach, I believe, is what separates those who know from those who don't.
Now that's what I call a narrow margin for error. Its like with some sports motorbikes, easy to throw around and deceptively forgiving on corners until you hit a patch of oil, then you're on your ass. I personally prefer to have a few thousand feet between me and the ground before messing around.
I don't even want to know how he pulled off that landing with all the excess speed. probably with a lot of braking, and a hook and wire system system used on carriers. after that, he probably dumped some cash on new brake pads afterwards.
As a jumper and jump pilot; my thought is "WHY"? One of these days he's going to destroy that airplane and piss off skydivers that will be stuck on the ground. Because I know jumpers, and that airplane crashing in a ball of fire will not damper the will to skydive...
To my thinking, the pilot makes BASE jumps from the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls more attractive. I hope this doesn't run afoul of the grammar academy :)
Looks like it could be a Westwind Beech. Anyway, the goal is not to use any fuel on the way down to pick up the next load. Power to idle, push it over and stay shy of VNE. It's done every day at most drop zones that fly turbine aircraft. This guy just pushed it to an extreme. If he leveled out at 300' AGL on final we wouldn't be commenting on it at all.
Great flying! The decent could pop your ears out LOL. It is good to have a practice sometimes so that you won't panic on a real emergency. I wont even dare to do it in a sim, however.
Mssr. Nair stated "The decent could pop your ears out LOL."
Perhaps if one has a head cold of some sort it would pop ones ears IN, but the skydivers are usually experiencing a rate of -10kft./min. or greater without such problems.
Envy, that's what you all...soooo "Pro" pilots ..if any here.. have... you'll never ever enjoy Flying like He...and some of Us here do... and yes..He...me ..you all eventually will die....probably flying like that...or..by a cancer... anybody here knows how?
Hah! He beat the parachuters to the ground!I actually thought it was an awesome approach. I try similar things in FSX all the time, but I never can get the plane down as well as he did.
since when was a king air certified for aerobatic? never. this guy is nuts, at least when he crashes he'll only kill himself as all the jumpers would be out. i thought the inverted flight was bad, then i saw the landing. Completly unstabilized and very unsafe.
I just watched it again, and IMHO there wasn't any INVERTED flight, just steep turns. My guess is that he lands it like that several times a day, and practice makes perfect!
As a former skydiver, I can attest that sometimes the jump plane is actually on the ground BEFORE the skydivers they released even touch down! One time had to abort a skydive due to clouds so I came down with the plane... wilder ride than any roller coaster I've been on an almost lost my lunch. These pilots do this dozens of times a day, the idea is to get on the ground fast to take up another waiting load of skydivers.
Another "skill" note, the Cessna at our DZ carried the minimal amount of fuel to reduce weight and carry more skydivers. On a couple of occasions the jump plane has run out of fuel and "dead stick" landing. All routine for these guys.
Roger that, Andrew. Case in point: http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20111217X73006
The "former skydiver" seems to negatively reinforce the opinion stated by many here that it only takes one time to prove the folly of ones reckless actions.
Andrew and Ynot - I'm not a pilot so I can't address the FAR's or waivers; I can just tell you specifically TWICE in my skydiving experience the pilot has had to dead stick. The DZ I jumped at is long since closed.
I don't know how the pilot calculated how much fuel needed but he could usually take up about 4 or 5 loads of skydivers packed liked sardines in a C-172 with the seats removed before needing to refuel.
I firmly believe you n9733s (not a registered number), but am not willing to endorse such risk-taking flying in the modern day. Especially in the current litigious environment, most of us have far more personal monetary value than the few minutes it takes to keep track of fuel consumption and refuel as necessary.
To tie your track back in with the OP, in a low fuel situation such dive and bank angles would increase the chances for engine fuel starvation, given such careless fuel management as you seem to admire.
In our club house at La Ferté Alais war birds meeting we had a view of a plane crashing on a roof the commentary was: YOU WON'T WOW THE DEVIL Good Safe Flights to all Lucky Piper