View Full Version : Dead Stick Flying....From Take Off To Landing
SASless
4th Feb 2017, 15:21
Interesting concept this "Dead Stick Flying".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeQP-H_31JQ
terry holloway
4th Feb 2017, 16:52
Maurice Kirk is very accomplished at that, although not deliberately. This video could be considered to project a very silly idea. It's not that clever to roll big rocks down a hill either!
ShyTorque
4th Feb 2017, 17:56
I thought he was going to ground taxy all the way there. Good fun and good flying!
Flyingmac
4th Feb 2017, 18:48
I was impressed at how that engine fired up at the end. Nice to know you have such a fall-back should you need it.
A pilot having a bit of fun, with an aircraft he knows well. Given the chance, I'd love to have a go at that.
One of my YouTube heros. I bet he worked up to the deadstick takeoff. Good skills there.
This video could be considered to project a very silly idea.
Why is it silly? Really no different to a hang glider launching from a hill top.
SASless
4th Feb 2017, 22:00
No laws or regulations broken.
A bit bold for me....but then I am an old buzzard now.
Slopey
5th Feb 2017, 01:11
@Terry - what has this got to do with Maurice Kirk? Why bring him up??
terry holloway
5th Feb 2017, 07:57
@Terry - what has this got to do with Maurice Kirk? Why bring him up??
He is highly skilled competent at doing them. I've done several thousand (in gliders!) and really haven't got the inclination to practice them without a "live engine". That increases the risk, unless you are very skilled, and if you are as skilled as the chap in the video why practice it! That said, Bob Hoover, like this chap, entertained people by doing it and became a legend! However I wouldn't want people renting my aeroplanes and doing it in a 172!
However I wouldn't want people renting my aeroplanes and doing it in a 172!
Nor I, they'd never do it again. Two reasons, one, they'd never ever get to fly my aircraft again, two, they'd probably never ever be able to sit down again as my size 10 steel toe cap would be firmly embedded where the sun doesn't shine.
That said I don't see a problem with anyone wanting to do it in their own aircraft. They know their aircraft and they know the risk.
Sam Rutherford
5th Feb 2017, 17:54
Guys, this is Steve Henry - an extremely experienced bush pilot and product demo pilot (and Valdez STOL competitor since forever). The video is really famous - it was uploaded 6 years ago, indeed I'm surprised it's posted here and people haven't seen it before!
I'm also surprised that people are so negative about it. A supremely experienced pilot doing something relatively easy (for his skillset) in his own aircraft in a remote area.
I'd love to give it a go, the only problem being my:
Lack of experience
Lack of skillset
Lack or remote area
I do have my own plane though, so 1 out of 4 ain't bad... :-)
Sam Rutherford
5th Feb 2017, 17:59
Actually, he has another video which is much more impressive:
Galleries ? Wild West Aircraft (http://www.wildwestaircraft.com/galleries/#/video/)
The landings are great, but it's the taxiing (and 180 degree taxi turns) whilst keeping the tailwheel off the ground, on the side of a hill that I find amazing.
A skill I will never, ever, have the balls (or wallet!) to learn.
Still, nice to dream about...
PaulisHome
6th Feb 2017, 08:01
Neat. Less scary than you might think - it's pretty much what you do when bungee launching a glider.
All the bungee does is give you an initial push. After that, you're relying on the ground falling away faster than the glide angle of the aircraft. And preferably there being enough of a breeze to be able to climb back up in ridge lift. Or it's down to a field like in the video.
Paul
Why is it silly? Really no different to a hang glider launching from a hill top.
As a paraglider pilot, as well as jet & SEP pilot, I don't get it. I also have no idea how he arrived at takeoff. I have no idea why anyone would want to do it. The take off is gravity, no big deal. A hang-glider or paraglider takeoff is much more than that. A sailplane is easier. What the video purports to show skill in is the landing. So why not do a normal takeoff with engine, fly over this take off and switch it off. The dead-stick take off is not so smart. The reward/risk factor is......????
noflynomore
6th Feb 2017, 11:15
I am at a loss to know why a deadstick takeoff is "not so smart? What is the risk? That the hill isn't steep enough and you trundle to the bottom below flying speed? I'd be amazed if he hadn't done a great many such hillside departures and realised how little the engine was needed - and knew from trial that it would work. That rock though...
Gravity can't fail, what's the problem? Isn't this almost the same as saying it isn't very smart to get airborne in a glider?
What is the "risk factor"? No more risk than using a 30' downslope with an engine - indeed arguably less as there is no fire risk and no distraction should the engine misbehave.
The reward? Obvious, surely? Because you can.
Victorian
6th Feb 2017, 12:07
Well I hadn't seen it before and it answered some of my questions about engine failure in the mountains. The Cessna would glide as well as that, right?
cats_five
6th Feb 2017, 12:32
I also have no idea how he arrived at takeoff.
I suspect he was able to land up there.
Hawker 800
6th Feb 2017, 17:37
and if you are as skilled as the chap in the video why practice it!
I really do not know how to answer that, Terry...
How about something along the lines of 'how do you think he got that skilled? Maybe he practices...'
Saab Dastard
6th Feb 2017, 20:27
I'm surprised it's posted here and people haven't seen it before
Not the first time it's been discussed on PPRuNe: http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/368807-dead-stick-takeoff.html and also here: http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/433183-link-video-needed-please.html
It's also made some guest appearances in other threads e.g. the Ullswater lake skimming thread.
It polarised opinion then, too.
SD
noflynomore
6th Feb 2017, 23:25
'scuse me! How "skilled" do you need to be to roll down a hill for heaven's sake?
It's just a petrol-free way of achieving flying speed - what is so hard about a soap box derby?
It isn't a demonstration of superior skill just because it is unconventional. D'uh'oh!
Really!
9 lives
7th Feb 2017, 00:47
'scuse me! How "skilled" do you need to be to roll down a hill for heaven's sake?
It's just a petrol-free way of achieving flying speed - what is so hard about a soap box derby?
It isn't a demonstration of superior skill just because it is unconventional. D'uh'oh!
Really!
Well.... Taildraggers have been known to nose over when the C of G is moved over the main wheels. The pilot would normally be able to use engine power and up elevator to hold the tail down, but this skilled pilot seems to have set up the groundroll, and then maintained it nicely until the elevator became effective, with the most adverse possible balance situation, and no advantage from engine and thrust control. Superior skill in my estimation. I think it must be a demonstration of excellent timing, or balance or something, to get the 'plane to the point where it could be pointed down that hill power off, without nosing it over. The soapbox derby driver probably has much greater opportunity to apply brakes if needed!
Otherwise, presuming that the pilot had carefully assessed the surface as suitable and free of hazards, I see this as a low risk demonstration of skill - 'cause he can't sink and drown trapped in the 'plane, going down the hillside!