If that rock would of been in front of his landing gear, this would of been an EIA video. I can't figure out if this was daring and challenging, or crazy and foolish.

From the tire tracks at the landing site, he's planned this out. Probably by cutting the engine close to where he takes off.

The plane he's flying is practically an ultra-light. The take off was no more dangerous than hang gliding.

I don't know. Doesn't seem overly foolish to me: it is a plane he's using, not a schoolbus. And he's not counting on his engine, just the physics and the known flight characteristics of his aicraft....which he probably knows like the back of his hand. Plus a skilled pilot should be able to land a plane with no power.

He picked a clear day, presumably little to no wind, and knew the area (I'm also going to assume he checked his takeoff slope for anything that would really mess him up). His landing zone was massive...lots of room for error. The takeoff was a bit weird, but running a plane down a hill to takeoff isn't unheard of either (bush pilots with ski landing gear do this all the time on glaciers for instance, albeit under power)

Actually, having flown with a few bush pilots myself, but almost seems a bit tame...those guys are generally nuts, and regularly fly in conditions that make this look like a walk in the park. ;-)

It isn't even a real plane but some tiny kit ultra light. I'm not sure the point of showing a plane can glide.

I thought it was cool but no big deal. Planes glide.

> It isn't even a real plane but some tiny kit ultra light.

Oh, it's a real plane, it uses wings, airelons, elevators and a rudder. Is a 747 not a plane but a giant behemoth?

I wasn't talking about gliding being the foolish part, but his take off surface. It only takes one large rock or bump to turn your plane sideways. and on that surface, it would be a roll if that happened.

EDIT (Just fyi, his only real method of control at the downhill part was rudder and brake. Rudder is only good for small adjustments, and brake would of likely sent the him head over heals. )

I'm not sure why you guys think this isn't a real plane... From reviewing his youtube account, it seems to be a Highlander Bush Plane, which is quite a bit different from Ultralights.

The guy seems to be well experienced with that sort of takeoff, judging from other videos on his account, particularly this short take off landing (STOL) video, in which he lands on a hilltop, turns the plane around and takes off again.

Even if the pilot survived, this video is *dead.

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