Blanik human chain - more Red Bull daredevilry

[kevmusic]

Shades of barnstorming & Curtiss Jennys but still - respect to these guys! :eek:

Hold on, where do you think you're going? Skydiver grabs glider's tail fin as they fly 2,100 metres up at 100mph | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1265891/Hold-think-youre-going-Skydiver-grabs-gliders-tail-fin-fly-2-100-metres-100mph.html)

[J.A.F.O.]

All very skillful stuff but the thing that made me gasp most was when he'd jumped from the second aircraft and a helicopter appeared in shot. I thought for a moment that it was going to end badly for the skydiver.

[Culio]

Very impressive and I shared your worries JAFO!!

[funfly]

Call me a spoilsport but I have never had time for anyone attempting foolish things in an aircraft.

[Tourist]

Ok,:p spoilsport

[hobbit1983]

All very skillful stuff but the thing that made me gasp most was when he'd jumped from the second aircraft and a helicopter appeared in shot. I thought for a moment that it was going to end badly for the skydiver.

Surely a trick of perspective? i.e. the heli was actually seperated by a safe distance horizontally?

[kevmusic]

Yes, I'm sure it's a foreshortening effect, a result of long-distance zooming. Any photographers can confirm this?

[Desert Dawg]

Just brilliant!

And the photo perspective is a foreshortening effect due to long zoom...

We need more of this stuff to put the fun back in aviation (in the highly regulated world we live in today).

Brilliant!

[blueandwhite]

Surely a trick of perspective? i.e. the heli was actually seperated by a safe distance horizontally?

He clearly drops through the rota, its easy just a bit of careful timing. He only had to do it five time before he got it right. :mad:;)

[UV]

This is a few years old now.
As the Blaniks are permanently grounded I guess they dont do it any more...:{

[cats_five]

Not sure they are all grounded east of EASA-land.

[The500man]

You can see how far away the helicopter was since the shot of him jumping from the other side is from that very helicopter!

[Tinstaafl]

Red Bull & Blanik is just a smoke screen. It's really MOL & Ryanair testing a new way to have connecting flights while avoiding airport fees. Of course there will be an additional charge for the connection.

[Tankengine]

Grounded worldwide because a wing fell off one!:mad:

Nice stunt but wrong aircraft.:E

[The Heff]

I'm impressed! In contrast to funfly, I always enjoy watching people perform stunts or 'silly things' in aircraft. Although this is a bit unusual for wing-walking, because normally they only remain in the centre of the wing. I should have thought that walking/crawling to mid-wing would have overstressed the airframe (unless its been deliberately strengthened).

Also, wouldn't the skydiver's body disrupt the airflow over the wing and cause the glider to enter into a spin? How did the pilot counter-act this?

[BackPacker]

I should have thought that walking/crawling to mid-wing would have overstressed the airframe (unless its been deliberately strengthened).

The wings provide lift while the fuselage is where most of the weight, and thus the gravity is.

Move weight from the fuselage to the wings and the stresses will become lower, instead of higher. That's why fuel (and in case of gliders: water ballast) is usually stored in the wings, and not in the fuselage.

So other than making sure that the top surface of the wing is strong enough to support a person, I don't see the need for any other strenghtening.)


Also, wouldn't the skydiver's body disrupt the airflow over the wing and cause the glider to enter into a spin? How did the pilot counter-act this?

You can't spin an aircraft unless you stall it. So as long as they keep the speed up they should not spin. The caption of the photo claims 100mph, which is plenty above stall speed (a quick Google shows about 30 knots for the stall speed). There will be yaw though due to the asymmetric drag, and an asymmetric loss of lift, but this is countered with ailerons and rudder.

You can see the differential aileron, by the way, in photo #2. There's no good shot showing the rudder though.

(I was going to say "simply countered" but I think this stunt is far from trivial, particularly in a glider.)

[pitofrost]

"Call me a spoilsport but I have never had time for anyone attempting foolish things in an aircraft."

To my mind the really foolish bit is being outside the aircraft...

[funfly]

Well, I'm never understood the value of aerobatic teams - military show biz.

[tractorpuller]

The Blanix Team has 2 operational Blaniks and performed several displays this season. Their Blaniks may be the only ones airworthy in EASA-land after a very costly inspection and modification to get them back in the air.

[FlyingKiwi_73]

Hi All,

i've flown and soloed in (L-13) Blaniks, but i don't remember them having flaps???

bloody hell i must have missed and important part of the walkaround?

[kevmusic]

bloody hell i must have missed and important part of the walkaround? .....um, yep. The one I flew at Perranporth in 1984 had flaps.