Why This Landing Went Bad Part Deux
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 17 апр 2022
- St. Barts Airport--actually Gustaf III-- on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy is notorious for having a hill off the approach end of its 2100 foot runway. It's a challenge to land there and not everyone gets away unscathed. In this AVweb video, Paul Bertorelli looks at one landing that went wrong and why.
Fun links:
St. Barth live
• Live Webcam - SBH Col ...
Sam Watt’s plane spotting
• WINDY! Approaches Into...
Cargospotter
• Dangerous Airport! St....
Jehen Kateli's insane X-Plane at St. Barth
• Big Planes at St Barth...
Avweb's first St. Barth video
• Why This Landing Went ...
JustPlanes
• EXTREME AIRPORT Cockpi... 
Авто/Мото
“Heroic sink rate”. Where would we be without Paul Bertorelli?!
Truly! The man is a wordsmith par excellence.
"Set humour to *dry* and let him rip!"
I died 😅😅😅
I could listen to Paul Bertorelli’s reports all day. The perfect mix of informative and entertaining. Great job as always. 😊
I love the dry humor!
Agreed!
I could too. As long as he's not reporting on my aerial "skill" demonstrations.................
I'm not a pilot and I love coming here to listen to Paul's analysis. My father was a pilot so I just have an interest. Amazing channel!
he tells a good tail
I have over 500 landings at St Barts. The Twin Otters usually fly a much steeper approach as their STOL ability allows them to. Typically they will be able to see the numbers the whole way down. We were flying Aztecs and couldn't approach that steep safely. Our procedure was much like the islander in this video - cross the ridge and follow it down at weed mowing height. While the Pilatus was a little low, you do have to skim that ridge to avoid being fast and high.
We would get the gear and flaps down and stabilize at blue line about a mile out. Call the non tower and be sure the runway was clear as you can't see it. Cross (more like skim) the ridge about 10kts below blue line, and push the nose down. The angle is steep enough you accelerate towards the numbers. Trade winds buffet you, lots of rudder work. At 20 feet raise the nose, but the sink rate doesn't change much as you are fairly slow. Add a burst of power to arrest the descent. Plant it. This cannot be overstated, no time to be delicate. Get the nose on the ground, flaps up, and brake hard. If you aren't braking hard by those checkerboards you see on the pavement edges, go around. You won't be able to stop in time as the runway is downhill to the beach. We'd brake firmly to be sure we made it, then ease off to the beach. Saved the brakes some, and you sometimes had a topless French babe wave at you as you turned the airplane.
The Baron that hit the beach was way out of profile. Not even close. Obvious lack of local training and no awareness of the need to go around.
Runway 28 was for East winds under 6 knots or calm. West winds essentially never happen unless it's a storm. The approach is lower than the mountain peaks and you are in close to them. Turn final over the bay and take a good look at the runway. Here you decide to commit. The is zero chance for a go-around, the ridge rises too fast. If something enters the runway, take the grass, but DO NOT go around.
Paul Wikander (Virgin Air) had a photo of his DC-3 in St Barts in his office. Apparently that stemmed from a wager, which he won.
Good summary. Thanks for that.
@@AVweb midweek's comment should be pinned as the top comment, I'd suggest :)
One in a hundred RUclips posts are from people who know what they're doing. Yours is one of them. 10/10 ✅
Respects to you , sir !
What about with the 737? What's the best way to do this?
I'm thinking I'll reverse thrust over the traffic circle.....after I dump all my extra fuel on the beach-goers
This guy is the Tom Bodett of aviation videos. I could seriously binge on these. Interesting content, no irritating music, and wryly humorous and well-crafted copy. Good work sir!
I spent a winter flying PA-23 Aztecs into SBH daily, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. Loved it, but often wished for the reverse thrust capability of a Twin Otter. They gave us a little license to fly in there (mid 1980's), and I sure wish I had kept it for old time sake. One of the fun parts was seeing passenger's reaction when the runway finally came into view on final. Landing on 28 is easy if the wind allows (rare event, but we had a two week period in December when the wind reverses and it was called "the Christmas winds"). But if the wind favors 28, you can't take off on 28 so that meant a tailwind takeoff on Rwy 10 which was always much scarier than any landing at SBH. In any event, the fresh-out-of-the-oven French bread at the bakery across the street from the airport was always a worthy reward. Good memories!
You must have been there just a few seasons before me - I still have my St Barts license. We used to count the "Oh my God!!!"s from the back as we crossed the ridge and dove for the numbers, compare notes after work. Triple cream brie on those fresh baguettes was a great lunch.
I had an engine failure on short final at St Barts, the mag drive cover loosened enough to drop the gears out of mesh. That was excitement.
Paul could I say your laconic and understated brand of humour is so suited to the Australian audience, it’s almost like you’ve been here or have Australian family 😂
When talking to Australians, I try to use simple words of no more than two syllables if possible. 😉
@@renejean2523 that comment says more about you than Australians 😉
@@HelloMyNamesNino - Jeez, mate. I'm a Pom and I lived in Australia for a couple of years and I know they can take a joke. They give as good as they get too. I love the Aussies.
@@renejean2523 well it was a Harmison-esque delivery that needed despatching! 😂
@@HelloMyNamesNino - lol Right out of the ground! When I was a young man and went to travel and live in Australia, I had never followed cricket in England. Then I got into it watching Channel 9 and Richie Benaud and the like. I ended up rooting for the Aussies in test matches because they were the guys I knew. Even against England in their next tour! lol
Experts say you should use this one simple trick to extend your stay on a tropical island.
grounded in a new reality
For eternity
😂😂
Hahahahaha. Clever!
This video is a fantastic example of an informative presentation that is comprehensive, concise and entertaining...a rarity these days. Cheers to you Paul Bertorelli.
Paul’s narration is so soothing, thoroughly enjoyable, great story.
Another factor in landing at St. Barts SBH/TFFJ is wind. There are three windsocks and it's not uncommon for them not to agree with each other. If the normal easterly winds are 8 knots or less, you land on runway 28. One of my landings on runway 10 was 9 knots, gusts to 20 knots. DHC-6s and PC-12s have the advantage of running props into Beta, to shorten roll out. You are required to have a current Letter of Authorization or a local flight instructor onboard.
I’ve ridden in on a twin otter into this airport. They cheat quite heavily flying in there. We came over the hill quite hot. I expected a go-around because of the excess speed. But we got. Over the numbers, the pilot reached up and hit the reverse thrusters and we came to a stop almost immediately.. I had a quick chat with the pilot and he just smiled when I mentioned the speed and the stopping prowess…
Agreed, heck even the approach at full feather (beta mode) is a huge air brake compared to almost anything with a piston engine. So if you are on speed you can simply control the angle of approach with the power lever. Then as you say, as soon as the mains hit its full reverse thrust.
Anything with a PT6 shouldn't need brakes to stop, move the props to beta and they become large air brakes, as soon as the mains are down, pull the thrust levers to maximum reverse. You can easily back up, I've done it many times.
I doubt the accuracy of the sim - the brakes on the A380 probably wouldn't work quite that well in real life. But I suppose clipping the wingtips on the trees and light posts would make up for that...
You know what they say... one man's runway edge marker is another man's EMAS.
Looked like there was a graveyard right next to the runway. Must be where all the others that attempted to land a A380 there ended up.
I'm going to guess that 380 was configured with zero passengers, fumes in the tanks, a preteen-size pilot, and auto-brakes set to "someone call maintenance and the fire department" setting. With a killer headwind too, I'd guess. You're not a simmer until you've set the wind speed to 140kts and performed the legendary 747 VTOL traffic pattern.
It would be interesting to know just how short a real 380 could actually stop in a zero-compromise hail-Mary attempt in perfect conditions.
It’s easy in a sim…just set up 100kts of headwind!
@@suprPHREAK Or in other words gail force winds, or above! At which point runway markers are not going be much of a problem
The Arrow could have saved it, not by adding power at 100’ but at 400’ and going around. All the cues of an unstable approach were right there. Even on short fields, a stable approach is critical.
No reason not to go around until you get it perfect. Unless, you are low on gas, then don't go there!
From your lips, to God’s ear, you speak the absolute truth on this one.👍
If there is any doubt, there is no doubt. Go around.
The twin that touched down a bit far down the runway and skidded into the water also could have done a go around when it became obvious they'd left entirely too much runway behind them.
I would say on short fields it's even more critical.
As a glider pilot, getting only once chance, you do learn how to manage the energy and speed. Excellent discussion on speed control Paul! Keep the lessons coming!
Shhh! Don't tell them about our secret weapon, the piece of wool sellotaped to the windscreen!
Haha, yup! I'll never forget when I asked the instructor what our alternative was, say if there was a runway obstruction at the last minute. "If you can't land on the runway, then land next to it."
Sailplanes have extremely effective airbrakes, and >30:1 glide ratio. Sometimes 45:1. Which is 3-5 times better than GA aircraft 9:1.
Always a worthwhile viewing. THX Paul!
Always fun to hear your commentary. I would love to fly with you someday, Paul.
Great video. Paul you are a natural at commentary and wonderfully witty as well!
Me laughing hysterically at the 40 sec mark. His commentary is great
And remember: Treat every approach as a missed approach.
What makes this approach even more challenging is the occasional high wind rates that creep up the hillside.
One of my favorites in Microsoft Flight Sim -- guess that's as close as I'll ever come.
One of the best and most informative specialised landing videos yet. Laconic, too, l like that, Thank you 🤗🤗🤗 …….. Will share it with family member pilot 😊👍
I love flying into this airport in the simulator. I'm not good at it, but I have a lot of fun.
Thank you for sharing Paul.
Very informative without the excessive hype
An added thought here is the most successful aircraft landing here has reversible props.
Another great one thanks Paul 😃
One of the best aviation videos I've seen in a long time.
Nice presentation with some humor. All your points are valid and good advice.
Loved your narration. I had a good laugh. Thanks.
Excellent Paul. I've made that trip several times, not as a pilot, and it's great fun.
The BN islanders and trilanders too, are still at it in the Caribbean. Have been in both in the last couple years ✈️
Sarcasm is an integral part of these videos!!!
Very informative video and entertaining the same time!
I love your sarcasm. Helps the learning!
Reminds me of the trick my "cousin" Jimmy Doolittle used to use to slow down when he had an emergency landing in a farmer's field while barnstorming. Use a tree hooked by a wing to make a ground loop.
That 380 had No.3 and No.4 ingesting vast amounts of landscape!
pilots should have enough fuel to go around for 30 minutes until you get it right
Yea both those goons could and should have gone around... Instead of 10 bucks in fuel it cost them hundreds of thousands and probably not flying anymore either... Both are lucky it didn't cost them their lives.
Flew for Virgin Air St. Thomas. Barts, during Christmas winds period would sometimes call for landings over the beach which I actually preferred. My boss took his DC-3 in without permission & got in trouble with gendarmes.
I’ve landed twice in a PC12 (as a passenger) and both times they greased it on. The pilot said no two landings are the same at St. Barts.
Managing your energy is the most important part of making a landing happen where you want it, anybody who trains in a c172 knows five too many knots over the fence is five stripes past where you told the DPE you were gonna land the plane, or forcing it down in a less than buttery manner.
last time I played a flight sim ... was flight sim 1 ... and landing at laguardia ... never got the runway ... but the bridge never had a problem .. it does prove that landing takes practice ... getting down o the brooklyn bridge is easy for me ... getting down on laguardia airport ... its too short lol
Great stuff, Paul. Love the sim landing…🤣🤣
Thanks Paul. I was wondering about 28. The reciprocal towards the hill looks good.
Great presentation.
great commentary and observations (making it pretty funny in some spots) . Thanks.
Great stuff. Thanks for posting.
A great video and really well constructed explanation of the solution (s). Could there be another civil engineering solution, in rerouting the vehicular traffic lower around the hill and therefore allowing the approaching aircraft a shallower descent? This would be after a few tonnes of the hillside are removed.
Excellent stuff bro
I’m certified to fly in and out of there in a Caravan on amphibians. That hill on the approach end of runway 10 is no joke. Great video!
Nice video. I guess the Arrow pilot forgot the part about "if you're not comfortable with the approach, go around".
How are all of your videos so well put together? You should just start your own patreon. You are like a brand name in high quality aero journalism. Bravo. Still wondering how you picked this for a video topic, but it was equal parts informative and entertaining, which is a hard act to follow.
I watched a heavy jumbo take off on ChCh NZ cross short run way once. It must have been a test. The pilot had to use power to do a super tight turn skidding the nose wheel in the process to get to the runway, then with the outer engines over the grass and full power the plane created a huge dust storm as it rolled the length of the runway. Spectacular to see.
I just discovered and have been flying the Twin Otter in X-Plane lately. What a plane! Certainly perfect for that approach.
love love loved it paul!
Brings back memories, for sure. My flight school had a 1600 foot runway. There was no sand trap at the end but there were a bunch of trees out there, and the damn things grew taller every year. We could land our 152s on half the runway but needed every inch on takeoff. Once we staggered into the air we'd have to do a quick left bank to miss a big one, followed by a right to miss another. Interesting close-up views of the branches out the side windows. We could handle it OK but some pilots unfamiliar with the place would crash into things, usually the chain-link fence and airfield sign at the other end. Fun times.
The occasional pilot crashing into the trees once and again will hold them in check.
I loved being a passenger flying in and out of St Barts and watching from the hill where there is a traffic rotary was eventful. Miss that place.
I love this channel!
Love the Twin Otters! Noisy as heck inside but true go-anywhere workhorses.
I wonder what the A&P rates are at that airport. I expect they're not cheap, and work progresses on "island time."
p.s. for ground loops, you're supposed to loop _on_ the ground, not _in_ it.
When I was there, there were no A&P's. No fuel. I had a mag go bad there, and we flew in our own mechanics.
@@midweekpowderhound ouch!
Only 9000 people live on the island, so it seems like it would be asking a lot for them to have major services.
I landed a 727 on an aircraft carrier in X-Plane 10 once, but there's no way I'd attempt an A380 at St. Barth's in X-Plane. That's just madness.
Why not? Maybe I'm missing something here. If you tried and failed would your computer explode?
Yes.
Interesting video. I wonder how far that A380 would have traveled in the lake before stopping. This looks like a Sully land strip.
I learned on Zenair ultralight. That sets you up to learn STOL landings, slips and crosswind landings that carry you through to other aircraft as you progress.
Brilliant! Amazing!
Paul, what software do you use to create those simple 2D animations? Thanks!
What a great video!
That is a terrifying downhill approach
Very Cool 😎
I used to fly for the only U.S.
air carrier that was allowed/authorized to operate into/out of TFFJ.
It did require extra training, which my boss developed for the French.
TFFJ is classified as a "Hazardous airport" under ICAO standards.
Due to the fact that you can not fly a stabilized approach to get in there.
The gear almost held.
That poor little plane.
something something horseshoes and hand grenades
It's okay; it was a single- use aircraft.
The sarcasm had me laughing! Brilliant!
Everyday I check to see if Paul has made a video about the RedBull plane swap incident.
My favorite airfield of all time is Rankin (78Y) in Maryville MO. Its an almost textbook short field which (used to be) 1300 feet of concrete with another 1100 of gravel in case you mess up, minus displacement from an obstacle to the north, and is quite narrow over the paved part. It feels like landing on a bike trail but it's great practice for emergency precision. It looks like they have since paved the whole thing but it's still much narrower than the humorously named Jet Rd. to the West.
My first ever flight in a light plane was in the right seat of a Britten Norman Islander flying over the marvellous bahama banks in 1969. 3 years later i bought a Luscombe and learned to fly. Amazing airplanes.
I recognized the air strip immediately from the thumb nail. I lived there full time for 3.5 years. I first landed there in 1982. Everyone jumped in their own cars(locals) and took off. I stood there like an idiot with my passport in my hand.
It was about 11AM and NO customs or immigration were around. In fact, NOBODY was there. Not a soul. I lugged my large bag to the top of the ridge and hitch hiked in to town (Gustavia) which was actually quite close.
I put 75% down payment on a sailboat and moved aboard.
By 1985, a full airport facility was built on the other side of the landing strip. Car rentals etc. I MISS the quaint 1982 St Barts. Oh, well. I sure was glad to experience it.
The island was AMAZING until 1985 when extreme rapid construction and growth killed its charm.
About 25 of us ex-pats left there in 1985. I moved to St Maarten Dutch West Indies, and then Tortola in the BVI
I bet a Mooney ovation, bravo, etc., would be a treat to drop in there. You'd have to be right on speed maybe a knot or two under, maybe 3 under approach speed. Those birds love to float!
That A380 is my new bizjet that I landed there last week at Barts... I was blindfolded and had both hands tied behind my back too!
Need a cable and tail hook there!
My instructor used a neat trick. Take a grease pencil and make a crosshair on the windscreen horizon. For a normal landing point that crosshair at the numbers and use throttle, yes throttle to ctrl a/s. As the nose crosses over the numbers, pitch to level as you close the throttle and then as the plane settles pitch to one finger, then 2 fingers width above the horizon for perfect landing attitude in a Cherokee. You have use maybe 3 fingers for a cessna. This works a lot more precisely than the old "pitch for airspeed, power for altitude." For short field put croshair 2bfingers width below the horizon in cruise, then slow down on approach and aim the crosshair on the numbers as you use slow flight descent for the shortfield. It works terrifically and instilled sight picture and speed control into my airline days.
You can control the aircraft exactly as you need to with pitch for airspeed/throttle for rate of decent.
@@TRPGpilot Sure, but fazole's CFI's method is basically landing by AoA instead of landing by speed. Landing by AoA is safer and more precise.
@@TRPGpilot Using power for airspeed is a much quicker way to change your airspeed, and using pitch for flight path is a more direct way to control flight path.
Here's my example, in S&L if we want to accelerate, what do we do first? Increase power and then as we accelerate we pitch to maintain altitude, the same applies for a descent. In a climb, we set a constant power, then we use pitch for airspeed, unless we want as specific speed and ROC/Flight path then the same technique applies.
I'm now tempted to land at this airport in MSFS with windy conditions
Glad you mentioned slips, learning on a very short crop duster field it was standard procedure....seems like its a lost art these days...and looks like it would be perfect for that runway
And for glider pilots too! Slip is one of the tools when the spoilers are WAY out and still too high.
Interesting about Twin Otters, I've flown in them hundreds of times. Take offs only, no landings (skydived).
Reminds me of trying to slip my SR22 into Matituck from the north
I learned a long time ago, flying RC glider comp, that the best way to land short with an unusually steep approach, is to trim the plane to high AOA above the min sink AOA. This gives you very high CDi , making the approach slow and steep. That way, you do not need to wash off excess airspeed before touch down & therefore, you will not overrun the landing.
If you instead aim the plane down the hill, you will have to land with excessive speed & will either overrun the touch down or you will have to plonk it down at speed & jam the stick forward & flaps up in hopes of pulling it up on the ground . Neither option is great.
For a steep slow approach, while you have height, ease the stick back a little. The plane will flare & float until you wash off airspeed. When the nose tries to drop in response to the reduced airspeed, pull back on the stick more to maintain attitude at the slower airspeed, (faster than stall but slower that for min sink rate). This gives the plane it's steepest possible stable approach & you land slow too.
However you are flying the approach closer to stall speed, so I guess it's one thing to do this in RC & another to have the nerve to do so from the cockpit. I sometimes wonder is pilots know about this technique at all?
A380 sim-landing into St. Barts...does Xplane model the windsock deflection correctly? The windsock is pretty limp as far as I can tell...
Considering numerous people stating that in the sim world you just turn the head wind up and then 'helicopter' in a large jet anywhere.
1. Retract gear on approach
2. Slide on belly downhill
3. Extend gear at end
4. Roll out on runway.
😀😀
Failed Harrier approachs should be the title of this video lol
Collapsing the main gear on a P28 is no mean feat... That hit hard.
When I was learning to fly, way back in the mid-70s, I flew out of Waterford, CT. We had 15, 18, 33, and 36. Runway 36 was permanently closed because at the departure end of it was a huge hill. I would guess that the hill was probably about the same height above the airport as the one at St. Barts is, except it was a little further back. Between the hill and the end of the runway, I-95 ran through. The wind usually favored 18 anyway, but you could use 15, which brought you in over the same ridge, but it wasn't quite as high, and you had a lot more room to get down. They used to fly Twin Otters in there on occasion when Groton airport went below minimums with fog.
The difference between St. Barts and Waterford was that Waterford had trees on top of the hill. More than once did I pick small twigs and leaves out of the landing gear on the 150 I was flying.
Waterford closed years ago, but you can still find the outline of it on Google Earth, just east of the Coca-Cola bottling plant. It sat down in a valley, and it's really hard to see how low it actually was.
Where was this airport in Waterford? I fly out of Bridgeport and have never heard of an airport in Waterford.
The airport at Waterford is long gone. On Google Earth, Latitude: 41°21'54.60"N, Longitude 72° 8'50.27"W
If you use the History feature in Google Earth, you can go back to April 1991 and see the airport. This was well after it was closed. By then, all the buildings, hangers and the barn to the west of 18/36 had been removed. That clump of trees just west and south of the 18/36 and 15/33 intersection was a two story barn. We had our Civil Air Patrol meetings on the second floor, and the first floor was a woodworker/furniture maker's shop. It was also the cause of 'The Waterford Barn Effect' which was kind of nasty. You'd get a cross wind from 270º or so, and it would come down the hill (the whole airport was in a depression) and it would hit the barn, and all of a sudden you'd have dead air. Trying to fight the crosswind to stay on center for the runway, and then not having ANY wind, was interesting, and then you'd get by the barn and the wind was back. By then, you should already be on the runway, but there was more than once that I said 'Nope, let's go try this again!'
If you look a couple of miles (about 5 miles to the east) you'd have Groton Airport, and there used to be Pilgrim Airlines in there, which flew Twin Otters, and sometimes we'd have to have them land at Waterford because Groton would go zero visability in the fog. More than once I drove passengers back to the Groton.
But, yeah, a fun airport back in the 70s and 80s.
Small world. I fly out of republic on Long Island. I’m doing a cross country from republic to Groton, then to Bridgeport and then back to republic.
@@crazy4gta1 Should be a nice cross country. We used to fly out to Montauk light house, and then back to Groton. No life rafts, no life preservers, none of that. I guess if you were doing that today, you'd need to have that in the airplane.
Republic, that's where they used to build the P-47, F-84 and F-105 'Thud.' Must be a lot of history at that airport!
jesus christ even after years it still boggles my mind how this guy from the first landing didn't go around but decided to float the shit out of that twin till he was halfway in bikini bottom. smh big time
"Fixation" - it happens a lot. People can only concentrate on a couple of things at once and it's really easy to miss the cues that you need to abort NOW
Gustaf III, named after the Swedish 18th century king. Be careful at theaters, and that airport!
The Piper pilot thought that by pulling the yoke really hard just before touchdown should work, but he did not have the energy. He might be actually flying the text book approach airspeed of 1.3Vso, but the much steeper approach angle may have required more energy stop, so seems that higher than 1.3Vso or adding power is now needed. For example to land Pitts very steep power off approach is used to improve forward visibility, and while the stall speed is 60mph but approach speed is 100mph for such steep approach. Paul do you know if the text book 1.3Vso approach speed as per POH of most airplanes applies regardless of approach angle?
My trip to Europe on one Labor Day weekend. Three of the ten worst airports. The airline sold a ticket to a passenger after flight left, so we had to stop in the UK at Beef Island. Then to France and St. Barth's. When we tried to confirm our flight home the airline explained that the flight we were to go on was not flying. We had to book a trip back to St. Thomas via the Netherlands. So a landing at Sint Maarten.
"cram it in there"! Funny!! 😂🤣😂🤣
I spent a week at SBH back in 2007 flying the Pilatus for Tradewind; the first landing was *memorable*. Best part of turboprop power is beta thrust.
Very good
Doesn't really look any worse than a number of strips around here that are only 1800' long but have 125' trees on both ends. Technique is fairly straightforward. Have your airspeed 1.1Vso right over the top of the trees, once clear of those, pitch the nose down, but use a forward slip to make the aircraft draggy and avoid the speed up, when you get to the ground you will be right at the end of the runway at 1.2Vso. Some airports like Whitter AK that have the same hill are only used from the other end, so you have to wait for favorable winds. One last point, if you aren't going to make it, go around!
You very obviously have never flown this approach.
Gotta say I love this approach in flight sim in a twin turboprop beech
Dang. That was good! A like has been tendered.
I'm glad I was raised on a 2000 foot hole in the woods. The old man taught me how to make an approach with accuracy.
"That's kind of a carrier landing but without the tailhook, the ramp or the LSO"
Or carrier-grade landing gear xD
That runway is insane!
While I, like most of us here, will only land there in a sim, it's still an excellent basis for your refresher on the basic physics of landing any plane in any conditions, including the long strips of asphalt surrounded by very flat corn (and soybeans - less cushioning in case of a Dan Gryder-esque mishap) in my area.
bleh - Dan Gryder.
he can plow a field with his DC-3 for all I care, that man is a loose cannon. already lost his job at Delta to being a ego driven idiot with his Spaulding County/Griffin incident. Which AVWeb has that article if you google it.
Pissing off other pilots with very unethical commentary, even to the point of people breaching his RUclips Account, and then blames Google/RUclips on accepting bribes to give out his password! Funny thing is, THEY DONT HAVE IT, its encrypted to a hash. even Google's CEO doesn't have access to decrypt it into a readable format. how he still has his channel after accusing them of that, is beyond me.