Go the Pocket Rocket...:ok::ok:

Airbubba, you should put in the quote who wrote that. It's a classic!

Thanks AB.

Had he done that in a Western airline with a load of passengers onboard at a European city he would have been locked up and rightly so. We don't know his background, training and experience but it is likely to have involved an airforce and combat approaches. The weather was clear, any accident would have been in the sea rather than a built up area and I'm sure the other crew members knew what they signed up for. We need to measure what he did with a different yardstick than the one used for a first world airline.

UNITA rebels in Angola were supplied by flights from South Africa which operated low level at night in turbine DC3s risking CFIT, ground fire and air attack which was much higher risk than a 360' turn on a clear day.

Correct decision with what was ahead.

Perfectly executed turn, good CRM and a safe landing, what's not to like about that ?

Love that the backing music features a certain Bruce Dickinson!

Having around 11 years sitting in the LHS of the 72 I enjoyed watching a well executed manoeuvre in that clip. We all have basic flying skills but his are honed well above the average obviously.

No, it's 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC

Brian Johnson.

That's about the only thing I feel qualified to comment on this thread.

I did not like doing the spiral in the Herc, is too slow coming down and those anxious moments seemed awfully long to me.Flying in Africa and knowing the area, I (and others) preferred the low-level approach. It was always comforting to have the small noise foot print of the Herc; confirmed by observing the reaction, or not, of the animals as you fly over them.

Good old bad days, those were.

All us ex MPA pilots can identify with that sort of orbit, good skills, Aunty Betty only let us do it at 200ft for training though.....manual flying with 2 engines shut down to save fuel.....happy days😊

Wonderful flying skills, I wonder why he elected to do that manoeuvre that way.
Some here seem to comment that not having passengers on board has a bearing on his decision making. It might, but why should it?

Bottom line: No rules were broken and he had fun. All he did was a 360 on final. Would it be appropriate everywhere? Obviously not, but anyone unsure of their own ability to fly a level turn should maybe ask for some retraining!

Beardy, I think you will find that has already been explained several times in previous posts from those who know the area. I would also reiterate what a poster said which was that nothing in that video suggests that the entire orbit was made at 100ft. There is a large gap in the video and he may well have been at 200ft for most of that turn for all we know.

Can I suggest it is probably much easier to do a 360 at 100ft than it would be at say 500 or 1000ft.
At 500ft it would not be difficult to set up a high rate of descent (or climb).
At 100ft, and you’ll notice this in the video, you can maintain a ’constant distance’ from the water... because it is so close!

Not so. Some have speculated about the ground threat, no one has given a date and confirmation that that is why he did it. It could very well be, we just don't know.

Quite a few plusses/minuses about the relative merits of such a manoeuvre. Suffice it to say that those of us who learned to fly in the sixties/seventies are not the least surprised by the skill and awareness of a guy I would love to have flown with.
It is not surprising either that the ex-Navy, Truckie and Coastal Command contingent seem to find this a normal day in the office. We were trained to manoeuvre at low level, over the sea too, and be aware of the missile/small arms threat. In the past, I can remember coming back from one sortie on a dubious day, with salt spray all over the windshield. No sweat.

All this has changed since the reduction of ex-military retirees into the airline business. We are now expected to fly in aircraft that have little direct law control and flown by crews who will fly, well or otherwise, mainly to pay off their phenomenal training costs. Sound experience appears to be at a premium. All they really know is how to punch in the flight data, autopilot in at a 1000 and cruise for hours at 37000 feet glued to the screen, to finally Cat II it at the other end in gin clear conditions.
It will change again in the future when people think and realise that flying a proper aircraft like a 727 or a DC9 had such good manual handling characteristics to teach us our business.

Btw, take a look at the photo on *17 of the C130 thread on "Where are they now ?" Capable hands.......

Same LH Seat guy here:-

He has very sharp creases in his very white smart shirts - no cowboy

Much better video here - hope you can all see it?
Or go to YouTube and watch it in widescreen there

What a cool guy, love it:)

Oh of course it is, but would have been much more relevant to have something from Bruce
(I think he did some hand-flying in a 72' in an episode of "Flying Heavy Metal")

It doesn't detract from the flying skills but doesn't anyone else find it odd that this particular maneuver appears to be filmed from inside the cockpit and from the ground?

It's simple:
- Any airline pilot who is NOT able to do that should not be in the cockpit.
- Any airline pilot who would do that with passengers in the back, should not be in that cockpit.

If passengers think a maneuver of some description will stop them getting shot out of the sky, they will gladly let you do it.

The presence of passengers is quite immaterial.

I think it's mentioned at the beginning of the thread that he's flying a freighter.
I feel that a captain of that calibre, if he had pax on board, he would probably have done it at a slightly higher altitude.
That means of course that he would start his second approach further out on finals .....if he felt that the sea traffic in the bay was harmless ........
Never give 'em a second chance to hit you !

LookingForaJob, aiming point markings ?? (Recommended touchdown area....) Oh, never mind. Think perspective !
Can I suggest that you don't get technically involved in something you don't understand ?

Been there...
In the mid 60s I used to fly regularly as a passenger on Aden Airways C47 (aka DC3) services in South Arabia (now Yemen). All dirt strips. They were mixed configuration, with removable seats, and always loaded to the gunwhales so seating v. cargo was always highly contentious.
I was the local Shell sales manager and used my privileged position as the sole supplier of fuel in the area to get a seat (the Aden Airways agent was also usually the Shell petrol station dealer).
On one occasion there was a real bust up at loading as all the seats were taken and a very angry Yemeni, in customary dress of futa, jambiya and .303 rifle tried to force his way on board, holding the cargo door so the steward couldn't close it. The pilot came down to help him, the stewrd pulled up the steps, the pilot slammed the door in place, went back to the cock[it and we took off.
But instead of climbing as usual, as soon as we had a couple of hundred feet under us he did a very hard turn, all the way round, till. 'Uh.uh. I thought .trouble a't'mill'.
Very,very low we lined up on the dirt strip, but I couldn't make out what was happening as we were still on full power it seemed. I was sitting up front and at over 100 knots and what felt like nought feet under us I suddenly saw the Yemeni flash under us. wildly waving his rifle but instinstively ducking as we passed over him.
So on to the next sector, probably a downwind at Lodar or some such.

Captain Niel Steyl, he's an interesting history in aviation. Google it

Ah, that guy. Pilot for the Mark Thatcher-Simon Mann coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. No wonder he's comfortable with that sort of flying.

From 2005 to 2009 he has been active right here at pprune it seems:
https://www.pprune.org/african-aviat...e-baghdad.html

Executive Outcomes was a "private security" company which used B727s in Angola under the guise of Ibis Air to fly their employees around. Recruitment was mainly from former South African military personnel, though foreigners were also taken on. Captain Niel Steyl's training, experience and ability would certainly make him the right man for this kind of work, I would be quite happy to be sitting in the cabin with him upfront if I had to get somewhere in a war zone.

I think he would have enough sense not to pull a stunt like that in regular airline flying.

Seems all in a days work for him.

Wow...he is a Master in late Go arounds followed by very sharp, tight and low 360's,,,,Rock on Captain ...check this one out \\m//

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1c7d696fc9.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b28fbb445f.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....45f4a60b68.jpg
Someone said Ibis ;)

A crop duster would have thought he was a pussy for staying so high. Any ag pilot in that position would have been able to stir up the water using the wingtip vortices and possible water skied the main wheels on the way in before popping up to 50' on short final.