Category: Videos

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Illustrative example of wing stall using yarn

This video shows what happens to the air flow over a wing as it stalls.  Yarn, placed all over this airplane wing is pushed backward by laminar airflow during regular flight.  When approaching stall speeds,  the laminar layer moves forward more and more until it is all the way at the leading edge of the wing and drops off, causing the wing to stall. The yarn shows the turbulent air moving forward very clearly.

Note where the turbulence starts as the wing starts to stall, and how it reorganizes as the wing recovers from the stall.

This video was made by Harv’s Air in Stenbach, Manitoba, where the pilot taped four rows of 4.5 inch long pieces of yarn over the entire wing of a Diamond DA40. The flight was over Southern Manitoba.

This video does a good job of illustrating what happens to the airflow as it goes over the wing during stall. Read more about stalls and angle of attack here.

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Every Professional Pilots Dream

This great ad from Lufthansa shows crew being treated like celebrities.  Combine a professional soccer team and airline crew and the outcome is a pilot’s dream come true!

The short video is in German with English subtitles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQmXVn4_v-0

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Aviat Husky tows skier up mountain in Alaska

This video combines our two favorite things in the world – skiing and flying. Though we doubt we’d be brave enough to try this.

Towed behind an airplane – now that’s one creative and quick way of getting to the top!

U.S. Ski Team member Reese Hanneman is being towed by an Aviat Husky airplane somewhere in the Alaska range.   Hanneman tweeted the video on from his profile and it got picked up by Alaska Dispatch, citing a number of FAA regulations that were likely broken during this stunt.  He is personally not breaking any laws by agreeing to be towed up the hill. The ‘N’ or registration number of the plane is not visible nor the pilot identified.

Hanneman is the winner of the classic sprint in the 2014 US Cross Country Championships. He is used to going fast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU1YNz4qpug

The Aviat Husky is a popular tail dragger bush plane, very capable in mountain and off airport environments.

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Heavy winds push Westjet Boeing 737 away from the gate at Halifax Airport

After a four hour storm closure at Halifax international airport, the strong winds pushed this 737 away from the gate. The winds hit the vertical stabilizer causing the large aircraft to drift. Luckily no one was trying to board at the time.

This rather long, 11 minute video shows the plane being pushed by the wind, an event which happened earlier this month.  It’s amazing that ground crew are able to stand up straight given the wind is strong enough to move an airplane that weights 110,000 lbs! However, it is because the vertical stabilizer acts as a sail, catching the wind, causing the aircraft to weathervane into the wind. The wind is blowing from the right, from the pilots perspective, which causes the nose also to weathervane to the right.  No doubt the icy runway conditions make it even easier for the wind to slide the aircraft like that.

The jet was being prepared for a flight to Toronto after waiting out a long snowstorm that closed the airport.  Ground crew can be seen trying to push the plane back as it moves to the left.  Great catch, guys!

Here is a statement released by Westjet about the occurrence:

“This is truly a rare occurrence and even more rare to catch it on video. You really were at the right place at the right time! We are very happy with how our ground crew and TechOps AME (Aircraft Maintenance Engineer) handled this situation. Our AME (in the blue vest) was at the aircraft within 10 seconds and our ramp crews (yellow/orange vests) had all ground service equipment away from the aircraft within 40 seconds, which prevented any damage to the aircraft and kept our crews and guests safe while they secured the aircraft with a tug and tow bar. This video is a great reminder of the power of Mother Nature!”

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Video of low-flying Piper Aerostar moments before crash

Amateur video footage captures the last tragic moments of a lone pilot in his Piper Aerostar twin airplane just moments before striking the ground. It appears that the pilot was performing low-flying manoeuvres over the Colorado neighbourhood over which he was flying.

Apparently the pilot was from the area, which crashed in a neighbourhood just outside of Aurora, Colorado. He was flying extremely low over the area, and it is suspected he was probably buzzing his own home or that of a friends.  The accident is a disturbing one for NTSB investigators, as the pilot likely knew the area and was performing dangerous, low flying manoeuvres over a populated area.

Low level flying over a populated area is illegal in many jurisdictions.  For example, Canadian Air Regulations (CARS) prohibits flight below 1000′ AGL over a built up, populated area (CARS 602.14).

The Aerostar 601, built in 1975 crashed in a fireball while performing aerobatic manoeuvres next to homes on the edge of Aurora. Nobody on the ground was hurt. The pilot has not yet been identified.


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