Fly LOW

[aristoteles]

Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9T51Usua...rch=Flying

[pegase]

Stunning perdormance

Are these Mirage F1? I noticed at about the 30th second, the pilot LOOKING ON THE MAP while flying at 3 meters from the ground !!!

I hardly dare to do this in my car on a clear wide motorway...

[detpilot]

Nice!

[aristoteles]

I think they might be French pilots in the desert of Chad, but could be SAAF pilots too,...

[Valoran]

Are these Mirage F1? I noticed at about the 30th second, the pilot LOOKING ON THE MAP while flying at 3 meters from the ground !!!

I hardly dare to do this in my car on a clear wide motorway...

In Chuck Yeager's autobiography he tells about when he was a test pilot in I think Ohio. One of the guys he flew with figured out that
because of the pillow of air that builds up under an aircraft, it's impossible for an aircraft flying level over relatively level ground to strike
the ground. This is why it sometimes seems like it's really hard for an airliner pilot to get a plane down onto the runway, especially the
bigger planes. There is so much air that is displaced under the aircraft that when they are close to the ground, it actually pushes the
aircraft back into the air. Pretty amazing.

[detpilot]

In Chuck Yeager's autobiography he tells about when he was a test pilot in I think Ohio. One of the guys he flew with figured out that
because of the pillow of air that builds up under an aircraft, it's impossible for an aircraft flying level over relatively level ground to strike
the ground. This is why it sometimes seems like it's really hard for an airliner pilot to get a plane down onto the runway, especially the
bigger planes. There is so much air that is displaced under the aircraft that when they are close to the ground, it actually pushes the
aircraft back into the air. Pretty amazing.

I've gotta say, that's not true. A common misconception about ground effect is that it is a "cushion of air squeezed beneath the plane." People think
of it that way from watching a 747 or other heavy land from a view behind the plane, and it looks like the plane is compressing the air under it. All
ground effect is, is the reduction of induced drag on the wings due to the surface of teh earth (or water) breaking up the wingtip vortices, which are
the main contributor to induced drag. This reduction in drag causes a slight float, yes, but it won't stop a plane from hitting the ground if those
pilots make a slight mistake. I've done a couple of low (<10' agl) passes over the runway with the gear up at about 140 knots in the seminole, and
even more at about 110 knots in the C172, and if you don't pay close attention, you'll hit the ground. In fact, many people have hit the ground doing
just such thing, and I'm sure even that squadron in the video has had some pilots lost due to the dangerous nature of flying so low.

With that said, I still think it's a great video and an amazing demonstration of skill.

[Valoran]

Of course if the pilot aims the plane at the ground, he will hit it. I was just mentioning a theory that a plane flying perfectly level over
similarly level ground (Kansas) won't hit the settle into the ground. I'm sure the dude reading the map had his autopilot or ground
tracking radar set and wasn't even really "flying" as much as riding.

[Joeflyer]

That reminds me of ATC asking one pilot, "Can you keep your speed up and for how long?" The pilot replied, "All of the way to the crash
scene".

[the_nick]

I think those guys knew the area very well , if you don't you aren't going so low through a canyon wall.