World's shortest runway - Twin Otter STOL at Saba
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- The landing strip on the Caribbean island of Saba, known as the world's shortest commercial runway, is only 400m long, with cliffs plunging down to the ocean on 3 sides and a mountain on the other. The runway is marked with an X, indicating that all aircraft are forbidden from landing, with the exception of a few scheduled air services using STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft.
Landings and takeoffs feel like you're on an aircraft carrier. Here we see a WinAir DHC-6 Twin Otter touch down and stop in under 200m, making the turnoff to the ramp. On takeoff it back-taxis to the very edge of the cliff and still uses all the available runway length before lifting up at the very end. Quite a thrill!
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Plane: starts moving for takeoff Pilot: V1!
lmfao dude
Rotate
V2
Captain: No son, that's V2
Xcub when not moving: v1
Twin Otter, one of the greatest aircraft ever built.
1. A380
2. 747
3. A350
4. 777
5. Twin otter
@@marius9900 you cant compare the twin otter to these, they are such different planes
@Steve Jobs i love the 747 but the era of jumbo jets is sadly finished
The caribou was better!
DC3
Now that wasn't so bad! He still had about six feet of runway!
Richard Bedard 😂
Wouldn’t want a sudden change of wind halfway down the runway.
Exactly, you pay for the full runway. Use the full runway.
@Shirl Zitting Hey! Six inches is a lot. There is nothing wrong with six inches!
@@indridcold8433 Your wife disagrees. Just saying....
I've done this flight on Winair from SXM to Saba and back and it is a true rush! The landing is insane - you really feel the braking force the moment the wheels touch down, and as for the take off you fly right over the end of the runway and you are airborne. I loved every second of it!
It's truly a unique experience. A lot of fun! Or for some people just a regular commute.
There is a point of no return on most runways. Dare I say, on this runway, that point is once you start moving!
😂😂😂👍
A pilot of Winair told me that is exactly the case
For a town otter the point of no return is the end of the runway lol
@@adamlury6443 ah yes, my favorite short haul light twin engine aircraft-- the town otter
@@Sticknub GOD DAMN AUTO CORRECT!!!!!!
That’s the longest helicopter pad I’ve ever seen
Harrison VC 😂
I thought it was the widest.
Harrison VC dude...right!?! Haha
Ha ha ha !!!❤️🇨🇦
Airborne to terminal building in 30 seconds flat. Brilliant.
THAT'S AN ACADEMY RECORD!
I thought it was just me 😂 who noticed.
I saw the approach then I looked away and when I looked back at the TV I noticed that they were already at the gate.
passengers at Newark wished it were so😂😂😂
Commando-roll out of the aircraft with your passport in one hand and your carry on luggage in the other, shout “nothing to delicate!”, then up out of the roll and headlong into a taxi with the engine running and off to the beach.
it's almost disturbing how quickly that thing touched down and braked
Is suspect V1 is when you leave the terminal building.
Hah haaaaaaa :)
😳😱😂😂😂😂👍
Who knows, V1 could be during the Pre Flight walk around.
I don't recognise this aircraft carrier
USS St. Barth. :))
Royal Dutch Ship Saba.
Zijne Majesteit's Schip Saba.
The coolest bit of the Dutch Caribbean.
@@patrickmcconville9908 St. Barth is 600m long, this runway is 300m
This is an ATR .
The shortest place I ever operated a Twin Otter was a little patch of tundra in the high arctic next to a dry creek bed. We paced it out at 589 feet from the ditch at one end, to the rocks at the other. That aeroplane really is in a class of it's own.
Wow! Yes, “shortest runway” doesn’t even begin to take into account all the flat-ish spots of dirt around the world where the Twin Otter has been operated. It’s truly an amazing aircraft.
Wow, over 100,000 views! Thanks for watching, commenting, and subscribing. I had a great time shooting video down in the islands and I'm glad I could share some of it with you. I have a lot more video from airports in the Caribbean and elsewhere that's never been published - thanks to your interest I'm now digging through the hard drives and pulling out the best ones. Click "subscribe" and you'll see them as I get them up over the coming weeks. Thanks again! - Eric
Plane Hound i
St. Kitts & Nevis...? Åland?
Plane Hound that's because it's interesting
Good job Plane Hound!!!
Wow. I've driven in parking lots more than twice the length of that runway
Back when I was a kid, we had a regional airline that flew those Twin Otters in and out of our local airport. The runway was about 5,600 feet long. When they took off, they wouldn't even get out onto the runway. They would land, taxi to the terminal, which was about half way down the length of the runway, unload the passengers, taxi back out to the taxi way, then take off from the taxi way. They would take those things off in less than 1,000 feet. They would almost be at traffic pattern altitude by the time they were at the end of the runway. It was amazing to watch those things.
I used to fly out of a short grass strip in one of these. It has a special place in many skydivers hearts.
The Twin Otter is one of my favorite aircraft! I have over 4,500 hours flight time in them! Loved every moment!
Ron Fillmore jealous. When I was living in st barths winter 2000/2001 I definitely looked for excuses to island hop with winair, a lot of the reason was to fly up front in the Twin Otter. So much interesting (scrappy) aviation in the Caribbean, lots of STOL, the Twin otter makes it look so easy with the ability to reverse and stop on a dime.
@@wayneco Yes, I know what you mean! Runway 31 at Williston, ND has the 1st taxiway off the runway 600 feet from the threshold! We always made that 1st turnoff. My flight time in the Otter is second only to that in the B-737.
The pilot pulled the curtains aside and looked at me and said, "Big Boy, get in the back on the other side of the airplane for takeoff" He wanted me on the island side in the back to improve chances of rotation and that left hand turn after takeoff. Also, I seem to remember a 'dip' in the runway just before the very end, sending the Otter into a 'carrier' type ramp lift off and then a sinking feeling before making the escaping turn to the left. Beautiful video. Thanks for this memory. My MOM served as a missionary on that island for 20 years. Pauline Paul.
Ha, that's great. Always a small adventure getting in and out of there. It's a wonderful little island.
Install a catapult for takeoffs and arresting cables for landing and bring on the 747’s.
Neither the airframe nor the landing gear of a 747 could survive catapults and arrestor hooks.
Eric my guy I dont think he was being serious
@@guardrailbiter Somewhere in the world there is someone that just said "here, hold my beer".
@@rodrigoserafim8834
Haha. 😁
I can only hope someone has the will & skill to make a 747 carrier landing/takeoff a reality. It would be insanely cool. 👍
@@rodrigoserafim8834 😂😂😂 yep!
Just cropped up in my recommended, 6 years later! One of my favourite commercial aircraft, I spent about a year on their assembly line in Canada. Truly a remarkable yet unknown airplane, incredibly versatile, and used worldwide by civilian and military customers alike. Fun video showing it off!
They certainly seem built to last! The pride of Canada, and a real workhorse around the globe.
Roses are red
violets are blue
if there is a place to stand
twin otter will land.
10/10
That's actually Impressive and and smells
like and original comment
Amen
I’ve been diving to Saba a couple times and I love the twin otter landings and take offs there. Also, the Twin Otter is my favorite skydiving plane. One of the times we were leaving, the winds were low and so they sometimes unload the aircraft cargo to reduce weight. When we left last time, I think the pilot was waiting for the wind sock to be fully inflated while at full throttle and the breaks on - I didn’t really feel a rotation when we floated off the island - it’s awesome. Yes, Alaskan pilots who fly these planes are also pretty awesome too - one of our otters at a skydiving drop one had a flat tire once up front and the pilot road a wheelie with the otter all the way back to the concrete parking pad :-)
I did a tandem skydive out of one of those Twin Otters, it was the best jump of my life. That plane can climb and dive almost like a WW II fighter.
The Twin Otter is an amazing plane. I remember a Rocky Mountain Airways Twin Otter landed at Stapleton airport in the winter of '85, It had 3 inches of ice on all leading edges.
In the hands of a skilled pilot, there are few equals. Thankfully, Viking has kept it alive...
A fine Canadian product!
one time when I was working in the bush we had to medivac an injured worker. We found a sort of level stretch of cutline about 200 meters long and cut the undergrowth down to about 2' in height. The twin Otter landed and took off with plenty of room to spare. Probably only about 2 or 3 meters on either wing tip to spare. We prepared the strip with chainsaws in under an hour.
The Canadian oil and gas industry couldn't have flourished without this aircraft.
Awesome, it's amazing what the Twin Otter can do. That 200 meters is about half the runway length at Saba, which sounds do-able with a light enough load, but could get interesting if there are any obstacles to clear getting in and out!
Sounds made up. Nice try
@@hellonwheels9149 Have you spent any time in the bush?
It's always amazing to see the total professional expert make the most deadly feat look routine.
I flew this great aircraft (single pilot) for a couple years in the early ‘80s. We had extra large tires and made many desert landings in sand compacted by trucks. But we were based at an international airport with lots of jet airline traffic. The beauty of the Otter is that to not disrupt jet landing traffic,with the fixed gear it can be flown 0 flaps at 160 knots right down to short final, then drop flaps, touchdown, reverse props and make a turnoff.
Awesome. Yes, they’re fun to watch, even on a full size runway like at Sint Maarten where they will come in on all sorts of “nonstandard” approaches just to squeeze in between the jets and put it down wherever down the runway the desired turnoff is. Flying like that must have been lots of fun!
That’s one way of keeping thousands of tourists off your island
wolf green Glad they did. Saba is wonderful mostly due to the fact there are only a couple thousand people on the whole island . If you are ever there, get a limeade from the bakery. Super refreshing
Try the swinging door..say hi to Ed!!!👍
I like the way this aircraft carrier blends into the cliff side!😂
Great memories of a GREAT adventure! Best of all, my wife was there to share the days with me! I wouldn't change a minute of it! Thanks for reminding me what a wonderful time it was. Take good care, my friend...Abientot...Larry
Canadian aerospace excellence on parade yet again!
loved my C-7 Caribou, Canadian built for assault strip landing
Borxoi86 cough cough
Exactly my thought every single time a flock of Canada geese flies over my house.
R Diaz well, it is a Canadian design. DHC stands for de Havilland Canada. The company may be international but their Canadian branch made the DHC-6. In fact, the Bombardier Q-Series (Q-100 to Q-400) is the DHC-8, hence the nickname of the Dash-8.
When we were on Saba (a really wonderful place!), we were so amazed by the take offs and landings, we found several places to watch them from while hiking around the island. Very cool!
The Twin Otter is a very versatile and tough aircraft. It can land and take off from paved, grass,
or dirt runways anytime, anywhere, no problem.
I had the oppurtunity to ride on a Twin Otter in Canada that was on floats, that was definitely different
Piece of cake for a Twin Otter. Paved runway, a luxury. Runway at all, a luxury.
I live in Yellowknife Northwest Territories Canada. The twin otters are a favorite plane here . I worked in the mining exploration business. The twin otters played a big part in getting me where I had to go . The can be converted into skies, floats and tundra tires . I have gotten into places where it had hardly a landing strip. Gravel bars make shit trips on the tundra. They are an amazing aircraft
Yup, it's such a great aircraft for getting into remote places everywhere! So many stories.
That WinAir pilot is awesome, saw some of his other videos, he stops those planes on a dime and gives a nickel change.
I was a passenger on a twin otter in northern Alaska that landed and took off vertically, in a high wind. Felt like an elevator. Good bush pilots.
The Twotter is perfect for the job. Our local airline Loganair operates three of them to the Scottish islands.
Beautiful take off and landing.
I practised twin otter plans myself in Sahara for six long years; reliable, safe and fantastic plans ... love them
7 seconds from touchdown to turning. Wow! 15 seconds from rolling to weight off wheels! Amazing aircraft. Great pilots. Winair is a great company.
Prop reverse helps.
Winair DHC -6 -300 Twin Otter. Masterpiece.
Great job with the camera guy! I'm 70, been into cameras & videos since 14 years old. That's the best aviation piece I've seen. Well done! I flew with Virgin Air out of St. Thomas, back in the 80s. P.S. St. Barths is tougher. Mexico is worse. Africa is so-so.
Thanks, I appreciate it. My one regret is that the internal mic in that camera really picks up the wind noise. I've since upgraded to an external one. Sounds like you had a fun flying career. I have some video of St Barths as well that I really should post.
Thanks for the reply! I think I subscribed. If not, I'll check it now. I never had the opportunity to fly into Saba but it was always something I wanted to do. I didn't even notice the wind noise! Just the great video you did. If you go there again, please take some video of the island itself. It's a strangely beautiful place! Really enjoyed your video! If you want to see one of my experiences in Africa, type in on RUclips: "Bush Pilot Sudan"....the icon will have pretty South African girls on it. Be warned though! Language is rough! About 30 minutes. Thanks again!
I love Saba and WinAir.
Very professional company.
Like landing on an aircraft carrier. Not much margin for error. Have flown Winair multiple times. Gorgeous island!
Amazing STOL takeoff given he didn't use full flap at all 🤔 Impressive aircraft 👍
Whoa, that takeoff and landing is no joke! Hats off to the pilots and to WInair.
Can´t land here, the runway´s too short!
Twin Otter pilot: Hold my beer (lands using half of the runway).
Out of all the airplane videos I've seen this is one of my favorites.
Watch the St. Barth video's
I’ve flown Winair to/from SXM, SBH and Saba in those DEHAVILAND twin otter many times. Sit first row right behind the pilots, they fly with the door open the view is everything you’d expect, it’s almost as good as flying right seat.
I make that landing 400' (123m,) TO 1153' (351m.) Got to love the Twin Otter!
I've seen alot of twin otters incredible short take offs and landings. I think this plane is also capable of land and take off from an Aircraft carrier. One of the best Air plane in the aviation industry.
I'd absolutely love to see King Willem-Alexander, an accomplished pilot of the Fokker 70 as a first officer for KLM (even after taking the Dutch throne), learn these Twin Otters!
I'm not saying this pilot is good but.... he could land that airplane on a house flys' wing if he wanted to.
Jo Momma that what they are for STOL short takeoff and landing
He will crush the house fly
Yeah, there is that.
Jo Momma r
@@realtissaye Thats what I thought as well
Previous post did not appear.
In 1991/92 I rode all over Papua New Guinea in Otters piloted by the Aussie and American expat pilots of Talair.
Some of those one-way mountain strips make Saba look easy.
It was an education!
Awesome! Yeah, "world's shortest runway" kind of implies that there is a runway, haha. I know there's been some amazing flying getting Twin Otters in and out of all sorts of remote places over the years.
I LOVE the roar of those engines, especially when the plane lands and starts do decelerate! Twin Otter and Dash8, simply amazing sound!!!
Thrust reverse props ROAR
In Norway it was the millitary who flew the twin otters for commercial use.
My dad told me once it was so strong wind that they landed "on the spot".
I have seen the same thing in Northern Canada!
What, like this one:
ruclips.net/video/JwMlgc1saHs/видео.html
2:06
Passengers: UP!UP!UP!!!!!!!
Pilot: *Laughs* “Ok”
This cameraman is almost as talented as that pilot! Nice work!
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
Very beautiful plane and awesome video.Thanks for sharing
Anyone else watching this whilst locked up in Lockdown? What I wouldn't do to be there next to that beautiful ocean - even if it means jumping out of that plane before it goes over the cliff
Learn how to fly the Twotter and it becomes part of you. Incredible and well practices flying skills, thanks for letting us see them Eric.
C - 130s have impressed me, landing in about the same scale distance, while we were on the jungle hill securing the area, maybe 100' away. Yes, this is an impressive STAL plane.
They once landed a C130 on the USS Forrestal. Then it flew off a bit later. No arrestor cables or catapults involved.
Beautiful catch 👌
We have about 10-15 of these beautiful airplanes in our region!
Where are you, Janice? By your name I am guessing Canada's North?
When you said he back taxis to the very edge of the cliff, you were not joking!
Love that TwinOtter n the pure propeller sound...Beautiful...🙏👍👍😅😍😊
Canadian 🇨🇦 manufactued, the twin Otter is one of the best aircraft in the world. It opened up the Arctic in Canada and provides vital air transport to many areas around the world.
I've seen a twin otter at the air show take off in S.T.O.L. mode , only went about one hundred feet and was air borne , scary . And no wind that day , into a wind I think this plane could take off in the same space a Harrier would use
The pilot pulls the stick back when all the passengers suddenly shout out "Faaarkin' hell"....
😂😂😂
About 25 years ago I was at Saint Martin and hung around the airport looking to rent a plane and found somebody who had a Cessna 206. He gave me a check out in the plane and we landed at Saba. I kept telling him he had the controls but he said no you’re doing fine keep going. I didn’t see a runway and his advice to me was to “come as close as you can to a car without actually hitting one“ and the runway will be right there. One of the most fun landings I have ever done.
Yikes! That's pretty intense. Was that Saba or St. Barts?
Such an underrated aircraft. Superb piloting too!
Wow, it's like taking off from a naval runway on a carrier
Seriously! It's only about 60 metres longer than a US carrier
"How short is this runway?" "Yes." :-)
Great! I used to live about half-way up the hill from there.
Awesome, what a great little island. I thought navigating the road with its hairpin turns and drop-offs was way more scary than landing at the airport.
@@PlaneHound I was flying out one day...there has to be sufficient headwind to be able to take off (can't do it still air, at least in a loaded 'otter)....We start rolling down the runway and the wind STOPS. We go rolling off the end and started sinking....and sinking....and finally, about the time the bottom of the airplane gets slapped by a wave, we had enough airspeed to start flying..
WinAire and Saba -- an Adventure!
Yikes! Yes, from the takeoffs I've seen it seems like it depends on how fully loaded the aircraft is... a light load and you get a normal looking lift-off. A full load, and you just sort of run off the end and hope for the best :-D
It was a no flap takeoff so he wasnt concerned.
Upper Hell's Gate?
He sure takes advantage of as much of the runway as he can ? On take off ‼️
Amazing takeoff. They used every meter of available runway, plus an extra one or two it looks like!
You know you're watching planes land on a very short runway when the plane is still with its thrust reverse active while entering the taxiway LOL
Great planes the Twin Otters are. Sea level take-off's sure helps also. Nice to hear that De Havilland manufacturing is coming to Alberta.
Yes, a runway like this is no problem for the Twin Otter. It's great that they're being produced again by the "new" De Havilland Canada 🍁
Sheez. Glad I didn't see that before I booked a flight there! You can see Saba from St. Maarten, but we took a catamaran...
It actually doesn't feel as scary when you're in the plane. I was more nervous about the taxi ride to and from the airport with all the hairpin turns along cliffs haha.
@@PlaneHound Really wow lol!
Class! They have everything worked out! With love from Russia!
I would watch Rocky Mountain Airways Twin Otters take off in Cheyenne Wyoming CYS and negative ground speed and gaining altitude! Bank left and then off to Stapleton International Denver Colorado!
Quite a dependable aircraft and servicing her was a pleasure... fuel loads varied due to passengers and baggage.... and the ride for passengers in the Cheyenne Winds...full throttle to get it to the terminal wind/snow! More bounce to the ounce airborne! And a more than likely Rough ride along the Front Range!
Rocky Mountain Airways and Aspen Airways used to fly the Twin Otter, she's a Extremely dependable aircraft.. and Rough runways
Mijn motorrijbewijs gehaald op Saba,uit ballorigheid.Het lukte mij in 2 minuten en 17 seconden.Ik heb een heilge vliegangst maar ik had gelukkig niets in de gaten toen wij gingen landen vanaf St Maarten,anders had ik wel op texel afgereden !
I have to say that with the steep and winding roads on Saba I was more nervous during the car ride back to the airport than I was during the landing :)
Good Bless De Haviland Canada Designers(and PW designers too)....
I knew one actually. He worked on wiring. He loved the dash 7 but hated the dash 8. I knew a couple of engineers that worked on the arrow too.
Extremely beautiful airplane, number one for me #
Love the Twin Otter. Have over 4500 hours in type. That, however, was not a STOL takeoff. STOL takeoffs are not normally made unless absolutely necessary because the aircraft becomes airborne below single engine safety speed. If an engine should fail below that speed, which as I recall is 64 knots, the aircraft can not be controlled and will auger in. As I recall, it is possible to get the TO airborne about 45 knots in STOL configuration. That was a non STOL takeoff. As I recall liftoff would be about 70 knots. What always amazed me is in spite of the TO's fixed gear and high lift wing the bird will cruise at about 165 knots. Very close to the old DC-3/C-47.
Ah, thanks for the clarification! This certainly seems "short" in layman's terms, but obviously not even close to the limits of what the Twin Otter can do. Many people have been marveling that they seem to almost drive off the end before rotating and climbing out. I'm assuming they were just building up as much airspeed as they could given there weren't any obstacles to clear - it looks like a fairly peppy climb.
Years ago I witnessed a Twin Otter operated by Air Wisconsin return from a maintenance check flight. Stopped in about 75 yards.
You can buy a totally rebuilt Twin Otter from a company in British Columbia, Canada that also now has rights and parts to build a brand new Dash 7, with 4 engines, each 1,250 horsepower. The newer Dash 8 has two engines but each engine has 5,000 horsepower and the 8's have a longer range but you can get Extended Range fuel tanks installed in the 7's and the 8's. Used Dash 8's cost about $5 to $10 million depending on age, condition and number of landings. For heavy cargo, you must use the Dash 7 as the floor of the 8 isn't designed to carry a lot of weight in a square foot, like the 7 is. The military use around the world is where a lot of the 7's and older short Dash 8-300 end up because they can get any Bombardier service center on every continent to supply parts and service. One company takes the older Dash 8-200 and 8-300 and converts them to cargo only or a Combi cargo and passenger version.
I'll take two ✌️
Without question the best STOL airplane in the world. Made in Canada by Viking Air.
I thought De Havilland made them. Or was that just the beaver ? There are clips on here of beavers taking off with much less runway.
I watched them doing touch and goes today at YYJ
De Havilland Canada made the original Twin Otters but eventually they stopped building them after the -300 series. Viking Air bought the tooling and type certificate and has been building new 400 series aircraft
Best STOL is Antonov-28 or M28 for this purpose
everybody: he is not going to make it the twin otter: hold my drink please
That pilot really can fly this plane! Great Video! One of my favorite planes, got the RC model...
The takeoff is more dangerous than the landing . Twin otters are awesome for short field stuff. 😆👍
Супер пилоты-миллиметровщики!!!!!!!!🤗👏👍👌🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
It's just a great little plane. Was used for medivac from Antarctica in the middle of winter. Pitch black polar ice conditions. Only plane capable with bush pilots from Calgary. I had the pleasure of one flight. I would like to fly in one again.
Wow. Touchdown to the gate in less than 30 seconds.
Looks like he used only 5 deg of flaps on takeoff, amazing!
Awesome job from those pilots!
I've flown in and out of Saba a few times, its an experience. Its about a 12 minute flight from St. Maarten, if you fly directly, but some of Winair's flights stop on St. Eustatius first, then on to Saba or vice versa. Landing on St. Eustatius is fun too, the approach was like a dive bomb.
Yup, island hopping is a lot of fun! A few day trips and suddenly your passport is full of all these extra stamps.
@@PlaneHound So true! Though I think I filled up my last passport faster with a bunch of African visas that some take up 2 pages! My current passport won't get filled at this rate with pandemic, have only used it twice this year, not at all last year!
Amazing STOL for a plane with thin wings
Whenever i am looking at the thumbnails for airplanes videos i have to actually see the vid in order to check if it's real or bloody flight sim 2020
No worries there, there are literally no mod planes for that game out right now, and FS2020 doesnt have a Twin Otter yet, so you're good for at least another 6-12 months which is approx the time it takes for a dedicated developer team to make a nice enough Twin Otter for everyone to download.
But on the large I agree, I'm all about fs2020, got it today and its great and all, but ffs when people make a video about the game, only like 20% ever type game title in the video title.
Sim videos should have a different section.
_"We don't need no stinkin' helicopters!"_
😝😝😝😝
Flown on them many times. A great Canadian plane
Just listening to the sound on that video you could tell there was a substantial headwind. I am guessing it is almost always like that, being at waters edge.
Yup, the Caribbean trade winds are almost always blowing steadily from the east.
USAF pilot: My c17 can land within 3000ft, pretty impressive right.
Twin otter pilot: hold my beer.
NAVAL AVIATORS can do it on a pitching deck with C-130.
@@dickjohnson4268 and a tailhook.