float plane takes off from hard runway

id10t · 07-02-2017, 07:39 AM

This is pretty cool, with some redneck engineering involved, but it seems logical to do

Although I'm wondering how you could do a landing ....

island911 · 07-02-2017, 07:51 AM

Why all of the trucks?

masraum · 07-02-2017, 07:52 AM

How fast did that guy have to get going before he was able to go airborne? It didn't look like they were going very fast, somewhere is the 60-80 or 90mph range? Maybe they had a good headwind too?

Pretty cool.

masraum · 07-02-2017, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by island911

Why all of the trucks?

Safety?

recycled sixtie · recycled sixtie's Garage

I have seen this happen a lot in the north country where lakes are nearbye. When the aircraft are changed from skis in spring to floats then the aircraft takes off like this and lands in water.

rwest · rwest's Garage

Cool indeed. I would think if you need to take it off the water you would trailer it out just like a boat, bring it to the airport for repair work and then either cart it back or take off from the trailer like the video.

I would think landing on a trailer would be very risky to everyone involved.

island911 · 07-02-2017, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

Safety?

Or the appearance of...

I mean, if something goes sideways there, it will go sideways and back, and then involve a plane and a 'safety' truck.

ted · ted's Garage

Why all the trucks?

The chase truck is airport management escorting/spotting for the private tow truck and trailer.
He most likely requests via radio entrance to and reports both vehicles off the runway.
The pilots gets cleared for take off and does not communicate for the vehicles on the runway.

cashflyer · 07-02-2017, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

somewhere is the 60-80 ... range?

Seems about right. Stall speed on a Cessna 182 is ~54kts.

cashflyer · 07-02-2017, 11:05 AM

Best one:

Brown747 · Brown747's Garage

"Although I'm wondering how you could do a landing .... "

A couple of times I have a landed floatplanes in the grass alongside the runway. Wet or dry grass without any damage to the float bottoms. Quick deceleration but full directional stability. Departures were done from a dolly like in the above video. The dolly had a brake system that could be released after getting a little power in which created airflow over the rudder for directional control. As the weight of the airplane came off the dolly at flying speed, brakes would apply to bring the dolly to a stop.

Mark Henry · 07-02-2017, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brown747

"Although I'm wondering how you could do a landing .... "

A couple of times I have a landed floatplanes in the grass alongside the runway. Wet or dry grass without any damage to the float bottoms. Quick deceleration but full directional stability. Departures were done from a dolly like in the above video. The dolly had a brake system that could be released after getting a little power in which created airflow over the rudder for directional control. As the weight of the airplane came off the dolly at flying speed, brakes would apply to bring the dolly to a stop.

My buddy did this with skis, grass with early morning dew.

rwest · rwest's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashflyer

Best one:

Man, I so thought they were going to tow him backwards and that somehow lift is lift and didn't matter if he was going either direction- thought my tiny mind was going to be blown!

WPOZZZ · 07-02-2017, 08:23 PM

Should have used a giant conveyer belt.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Navy ships used to launch float planes with catapults.

FPB111 · 07-03-2017, 08:10 AM

One could always bring it in like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKqLaYrcf3A

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by island911

Why all of the trucks?

The one truck could have handled it, but this way it looks much more important.

gshase · 07-03-2017, 10:15 AM

It is easy.....Get rolling and pop the flaps at 50 indicated.

Dansvan · 07-03-2017, 11:05 AM

https://youtu.be/EIm7NJKpX5Q

Ive seen them take off and land on the snow/ice up here on floats.

Eric Coffey · 07-03-2017, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GG Allin

The one truck could have handled it, but this way it looks much more important.

Yeah, it's not a shuttle launch, lol. Pretty common in the places where float planes are prevalent, when folks swap over to straight (non-amphib) floats. The amphibs make life a little easier when it comes to land ops, and things like maintenance/service/fuel/etc. However, they can be 2-3x the cost of straight floats, require additional maintenance/attention, and will reduce the payload on any A/C by a significant amount. For many pilots, that alone is a non-starter for going amphib vs. straight.