Originally published at: Red Bull Pilot Lands, Takes Off From Moving Train in Turkey
Italian Red Bull pilot landed aerobatic aircraft on cargo train traveling at operational speed.
Really stupid. Not impressed at all.
My Dad, the “OLD SARGE”, retired from the Air Force in 1963. A was part of group flying J3 Cubs that did Touch and Go’s on a freight train crossing the AZ desert near Tucson in 1947.
Add me to the “not impressed” group. Touching the wheels briefly on the top of a train car travelling on a long, straight section of track at a constant speed is not impressive. Sure, it requires superb flying skills, but any high performance, aerobatic show pilot is capable of doing the same thing.
I’m more impressed by the guy in a J3 that lands on a small platform attached to a pickup truck that is travelling down the runway. And the landing is to a full stop.
Its neat to watch, Once. So, when I have my Zivco, am tired or bored Ill be able to pick-out a U.P. freight train, land and take a break while still getting to my destination.
Go to Landing Cub on a Truck where I’m going through training to land a Cub on a truck. Not a big deal. A few unexpected things but otherwise a piece of cake. It would be a nothing process in a something like the Zivco on a platform moving that fast. Budd Davisson
On my weeklong 1979 Florida to Julian jaunt, it was the only way I could get across West Texas in daylight. With my 65HP Luscombe 8A flying into a stiff headwind, out of desperation I landed on a CSX westbound reefer boxcar of beef passing Kerrville at noon, stood on those Goodyear mechanical heel brakes at idle for 7 hours, and then rotated just before the first El Paso overpass. Tied down in Las Cruces at sundown. GS 80 vs 20!
Some of the Red Bull flying stuff is fun to watch, but I’m with the crowd here that this one is kind of ho-hum. I grew up in Omaha, and a lot of the little airshows at nearby strips would have “The World’s Smallest Airport” bit which was a cub landing on a platform welded to the top of a pickup truck. That was 35 or 40 years ago. Yawn.
You guys are hard to impress!
To the new generation, this looks like magic!
That is, unless someone posts something else, funny on Insta or comes up with a real issue in todays day and age.
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