Gives new meaning to vert take off and landing

[PTsideshow]

People can make a sport or competition out of anything!
Alaska bush pilots short takeoff and landing competition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pw4OE7gM2M
Look at the size of the crowd you can see at the bottom of the clip.
And the flying ain't bad either!

[chuck foster]

wow................that's unbelievable 

chuck 

[Krown Kustoms]

That is awsome
The prop would probably have to have foot wide blades to get that kind of thrust
-B-

[tinkerer]

Dense air, high pitch prop and lots of HP. The landing is fantastic.

[DICKEYBIRD]

I think that's a modified Maule Lunar or Star Rocket.  Aptly named. eh?  Luv those big wheels!

Looks like a bit of wind right down the runway; that helps too.

[Bernd]

Looks like those guys could take off and land on a runway's width.

Kind of reminds me of the joke about the Polish pilot's after landing there plane.

Pilot: "Boy that sure is a short runway"
Copilot: "Ya, but look how wide it is"

Running, Ducking and Hidding
Bernd

[DICKEYBIRD]

Dense air, high pitch prop and lots of HP. The landing is fantastic.

Actually a low pitch prop, yes?

[tinkerer]

Dense air, high pitch prop and lots of HP. The landing is fantastic.

Actually a low pitch prop, yes?

Actually not. The higher the pitch, the more bite it takes in the air and the more HP it requires to grab a bigger bite.

[DICKEYBIRD]

Respectfully, low (also called fine) pitch generates more thrust at low airspeed, used for accelerating quickly up to take-off speed and for decelerating quickly.  High (also called coarse) pitch is used for maximum speed or for maintaining cruise speed at reduced engine speed for economy, yes?

[tinkerer]

I just saw the reply. You are correct, the low pitch does accelerate quicker. My experience is with constant speed units that control the engine speed with the pitch of the prop and when power is added the pitch increases. My thoughts were that these STOL's have a lot of HP and therefore can push a lot more air. But, wing design is probably the most important part of the equation.

I looked up the N number of the one in the foreground and it is an experimental with a lycoming 0-360 180HP.

[Rog02]

The aircraft shown on take-off roll appears to be an Arctic Tern manufactured by Interstate Aircraft Co. They are truly impressive aircraft for their size.  The large tires are optional equipment and are from Alaska Bushwheel, who from the looks of the banner along the runway appears to be sponsoring the event. 
http://www.interstateaircraft.com/HomePage.html

The aircraft landing is indeed a Maule.

Looks like those guys could take off and land on a runway's width.

Kind of reminds me of the joke about the Polish pilot's after landing there plane.

Pilot: "Boy that sure is a short runway"
Copilot: "Ya, but look how wide it is"

Running, Ducking and Hidding
Bernd

"Polish IFR" as it is referred to around the airports I hang out at.

I got to know these guys at Oshkosh.  Bunch of really nice folks and a bit on the "nutso" side when it comes to STOL.

Big Foots Famous Island Landing http://www.sherpaaircraft.com/island.html

Big Foot Island Takeoff  http://www.sherpaaircraft.com/islandtakeoff.html

Big Foot Splash Landing plus Canyon River Takeoff  http://www.sherpaaircraft.com/video6.html

More videos well worth watching  http://www.sherpaaircraft.com/video.html

Roger
Longing for a few more Pilatus loads.

[Rob.Wilson]

Very good but this has to be the best landing ever
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[ozzie46]

 UNBELIEVABLE !!!   Now if that isn't a underwear changing moment I don't know what is!


  Ron

[Rog02]

Very good but this has to be the best landing ever

"Contrary to popular belief, when you lose one wing, you lose more than half of your lift."  Duane Cole

Well, I hate to be a spoil sport, but that clip has been debunked more than a few times.  The airplane seen landing is a "Scale" model of the full scale aircraft.  It seems to be the rage these days to fly "3-D" models.  With the ridiculous power to weight ratios that are possible with the engine/prop combination's it is possible to achieve ballistic flight capabilities from a prop driven model.  Some creative film editing and you see a "3-D" model hanging on the prop in a knife edge pass with one wing missing.  The ending shot is the full scale aircraft rolling into the show parking line and notice that the starboard side of the aircraft is edited out of the frame.  The wing is fully intact and the aircraft is flying to date.  For the full story go look at the "MythBusters" website.

Sorry dude, but model airplanes do not count.

Roger
Old, Tired, and Grumpy Airport Bum