Hat tip to the FlightSchoolList.com for finding and posting this high quality video of the RAF Red Arrows performing. The video also includes commentary about how the RAF Red Arrows choreograph their routines plus some clever moves.
Mythbusters asks: Can an airplane fly covered only in duct tape?
Everyone knows that duct tape is useful but can an aircraft fly covered in the stuff? Apparently yes, according to the TV show Mythbusters. Moreover, there was an incident two years ago where an Alaska pilot was forced to repair his Super Cub’s fuselage and tail by wrapping it all up in duct tape after it was mauled by a hungry bear looking for food.
To test whether or not an aircraft could be repaired with duct tape and then fly, Mythbusters went to James Wiebe’s Belite Aircraft to first “maul” an aircraft with mechanical claw and then repair it with duct tape. The aircraft was able to fly.
If you want to see plenty of great (but copyrighted!) pictures of the duct tape airplane, check out James’ blog here. Otherwise, AVweb has posted several pictures (including the two below) of the aircraft that got mauled by the Alaskan bear.
Pilot misjudges runway and lands too fast and too far down it
General Aviation News often reprints excerpts from US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports, including this one from October 2009 that involved a Cessna 182 in White Plains, New York where there was substantial aircraft damage but no injuries. According to the accident report, the pilot was attempting a night landing and was told by ATC to expect to use runway 29 at the best forward speed in order to expedite his landing. The pilot looked at his approach charts and noticed that the runway was more than 4,400 feet long. He choose to land with no flaps.
The Cessna 182 touched down past a runway intersection with 2,854 feet of runway remaining to the departure section. However, the pilot could not stop the aircraft as it slid off the runway, down an embankment and then onto a service road resulting in the nose landing gear collapsing. The aircraft’s pilot-rated-passenger would later report that the aircraft’s estimated speed to the runway had been 110 knots.
After the mishap, the pilot learned that the runway’s displaced threshold meant that it only had about 3,164 feet available for landing instead of the 4,400 feet he thought was available. Hence, the probable cause of the accident was ruled the pilot’s failure to land at the runway’s proper spot plus excessive airspeed in order to comply with ATC’s request to expedite landing.
The top 10 lies in aviation…
- I have no interest in flying for the airlines.
- All that turbulence spoiled my landing.
- I broke out right at minimums.
- We shipped the part yesterday.
- It just came out of annual – how could anything be wrong?
- I’ve got the traffic in sight.
- Of course I know where we are.
- If we get a little lower I’m sure we’ll break through.
- I fixed it right the first time, it must have failed for other reasons.
- The other instructor told me to do it like that.
Have we missed any?
Night takeoff mistake causes a passenger to abort the takeoff
General Aviation News often reprints accident reports from the USA’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), including one from October 2009 that involved a Piper Cherokee in Angwin, California which led to substantial aircraft damage but no injuries.
According to the accident report, the pilot of a Piper Cherokee was attempting a night takeoff after he thought he had positioned the aircraft for a takeoff 1/4th mile from the start of the runway. He then attempted to use his radio to activate the runway lights – which did not activate. Hence, the pilot used his landing light to taxi and then attempt a takeoff.
However and when the aircraft reached 65 mph, the pilot figured out that he was not on the runway as he saw dirt and grass. At this point in time, his passenger requested the takeoff to be aborted while the pilot felt he could continue the takeoff.
When the groundspeed reached 80 mph, the passenger decided to abort the takeoff by grabbing the yoke while having her feet on the rudder pedals. The aircraft ended up hitting a fence.
The accident investigation revealed that the pilot had not selected the right radio frequency in order to activate the runway lights. Moreover, it was ruled that the pilot (rather than his passenger….) should have aborted the takeoff when he realized that he was not on the actual runway.
The FAA investigates a sex diving incident…
While mile-high club incidents have probably been around since the days of the Wright brothers, the USA’s FAA and local police were apparently investigating whether two skydivers may have violated the law after a video tape surfaced of them giving a whole new meaning to having a mile high. The explicit video, which began making the rounds at a local high school where it caught the attention of the local police, starts with the couple (the female is or was a receptionist at the skydiving school while the male participant is a professional umm performer who also goes by the name “Voodoo” plus he was a part-time skydiving instructor at the school…) in the jump seat of the aircraft and ends with them finishing up while skydiving. It was then posted on the age-protected blog of the male participant but it was quickly removed when police began investigating.
However, no criminal charges are pending since no minor were involved, the incident happened in the early morning and there was no one around to complain about public indecency but the male participant was fired from his part-time gig at the skydiving school (no word about the female participant’s job status…).
Meanwhile, the FAA apparently has reviewed the video and issued a statement saying that there are:
…no explicit rules regarding sex in a private aircraft. However, a pilot who allows any activity that could “physically jostle” him or cause him to lose control of the aircraft could be in violation of federal aviation regulations.
Apparently, the stunt was devised as a way to grab the attention of radio shock jock Howard Stern and it got mentioned on CNN where the surprised owner of the skydiving school assured viewers that the pilot was in complete control of the aircraft at all times and no one was endangered due to the incident.
(Again, no word on whether the owner of the skydiving school also fired his receptionist or told his pilot that such activities are against company policy…)