October
Below are a few other articles I wrote about
the Chico Air Show with photos and video clips
the Chico Air Show with photos and video clips
by Chuck Wolk
Of all the great and amazing aerobatic tricks performed at the Chico Air Show I attended last weekend, there is probably none that I was more fascinated with then a stunt performed by a pilot who stood his plane on end in the air while holding it in place. Only problem is the plane was an RC remote controlled plane. On Saturday I was so enthralled by the many performances that I never had a chanced to interview any of the performers like I wanted to. So I decided to return on Sunday morning and see if I could catch up with a few of the "White Collar Carnies ®" who's lives revolve around the Air Show circuit throughout America.
One person I was able to interview was Bill Braack, owner and driver of the famous "Smoke-n-Thunder" jet car. While I was waiting to talk to him I was pleasantly surprised to see a pilot who stood his plane on end, practicing over near the end of the runway. This time I was not going to forget to video tape it,. so while the stunt did not last long did catch it on film. I added it to music and that is what I offer you in the video below.
Now I will admit that until recently I thought the plane was a normal sized plane and thus I was absolutely blown away. I never would have thought it to be possible that an airplane could be made to do something I thought only helicopters could do. I do know about the V-22 Osprey which can fly like a helicopter or an airplane, but it was designed to do that. At the time I was sure that this plane was a normal small crop duster type of an airplane.
I did some research, but all I could not find any information about a normal sized airplane doing what I thought a real pilot was doing. In my defense, I was quite a ways away from where it was happening so even the sound of the engine did not give it away that it was an RC. I was, until recently, under the impression that the pilot was doing something like reverse flying as he made his plane stand still in the air. I eventually posted a link to my video to a blog where I trust I could learn the truth, and was surprised to learn I was way off on my thinking. I asked for any information to help me understand how a pilot can do what I saw and I was given proof that it cannot be done with a normal sized airplane.
So, it seems that this is actually a video of an RC DEMO (Remote Control Aircraft) and not a real airplane, but it's still pretty cool. Now I am curious as to what I thought I saw on Saturday that even my wife said she saw. I can only guess that the altitude of the plane we saw on Saturday made it look like it was standing on end but really wasn't. I apologize to anyone I may have misled.
The aircraft hanging on its propeller has become quite common at air shows around the country. Now that they are able to build single-engine lightweight and structurally very strong aircraft with huge displacement engines, the only reason they need wings is to provide a place to put the control surfaces. I saw a stunt during a practice session at an overseas air show (it was portrayed as a real calamity, but it wasn't) in which the pilot caused his aircraft to do a vertical snap roll, and one of the wings came off -- completely separated from the aircraft, which it can't do, of course, without it being intentional, due to all the control cables, bellcranks, and etc. So it had to be a stunt. But the pilot flew the airplane on its fuselage (i.e., hanging one wing down and maintaining just enough speed for rudder control) using engine power to drag the airplane through the air using the side of the fuselage for lift. Just before touching down he flipped the aircraft level and slammed down so hard he bounced. But he didn't break anything.
So far as I'm concerned, a lot of the fun went out of air shows when technology got to the point at which the pilot could hang on the prop like a helicopter and then accelerate vertically into a climb. With that kind of power, there isn't much trouble he can get into that he can't get out of with the throttle.