That video of the aircraft hitting the trees reminds of my narrow one. Shortish bumpy runway, full load eight people, calm conditions. Normally a comfortable situation albeit with no margins.
Up in North Ron there's a 330m runway, that's shorter than the runways quoted as the various contenders for shortest in the world.
Normal take off technique for light wind up there, approach the runway slant wise like a high jumper (avoiding the solidly built stone wall), full power sweeping turn onto middle-ish runway for a running start, ignoring all alarming bangs, thumps and rattles.
The Lake Tahoe airport in California has a BIG digital sign showing the current density altitude for those who forgot to calculate what warm temperatures at high altitude could do.
Those trees? Those mountains? Remember, leaving in the hot sunshine can be harder than landing in the cool morning.
And then there are those fields (usually grass covered and on somebody's walled farm) into which certain light aircraft types can get in but will not get out of no matter what the density altitude or what the elders of flight say!
Wasn't there an incident with I think a 737, but it was a while ago in the late 70's or early 80's (and memory fails me with monotonous regularity) diverting into RAF Northolt which had problems getting out again under its own power? I vaguely remember them having to remove all the seats in an effort to reduce weight.
Up in North Ron there's a 330m runway, that's shorter than the runways quoted as the various contenders for shortest in the world.
Normal take off technique for light wind up there, approach the runway slant wise like a high jumper (avoiding the solidly built stone wall), full power sweeping turn onto middle-ish runway for a running start, ignoring all alarming bangs, thumps and rattles.
Actually I use that technique for the opposing runway at the same airfield. I believe it's known bush pilot trick. Alarming for the unitiated as it looks like I've lost my mind! But a nice sweeping turn and you get off with plenty of space. Which is good because just beyond the boundary is the town and in the engine failure case we will all find ourselves the lead story on the six o'clock news and not in a good way.
A pilot I new said that when she was young, her father, a pilot, realized when taking off from a grass strip that he would not be able to clear some nearby high voltage power lines, so flew under them instead.
Sounds like poor planning. (Or maybe a stunt?!?) In addition, maybe not the best way to convince your daughter that flying is what you want to do for a living.
The barn-storming days are long gone.
----------------- Although once, when rafting down the Grand Canyon, we heard a boom, and wondered what could possibly cause a noise like that when we were 60 miles away from civilization. Then a fighter jet came screaming overhead flying lower than the canyon walls.
Supersonic.
(Against the rules to fly that low.)
I'm not good at identifying fighter jets and it went by fast (duh), but it was U.S. military.
I recall a tale about, I think, John Donovan who flew for Logi many years ago in either Orkney or Shetland. Islander, no pax, parked on one of the island strip 'aprons', usually a square of tarmac a bit bigger than a domestic driveway, in a howling gale. Let off the brakes and rolled back a bit, then full power and up and away in about fifty feet.
