Test Pilot Video

[uspirate]

These guys must be nutz doing a barrel roll in a 737. i know we have some pilots on here...comments??

[labatt]

I love that last clip... wonder if that's rum! That would explain how he could be so relaxed

[byrondv]

Another great video about that is here: http://www.aviationexplorer.com/707_roll_video.htm

Has an interview with the guy and some footage of the roll.

Of course I have to say, in the beginning of your video the crosswind landings are probably done by the autopilot rather then pilot... since those are the ones that normally make their way online since they videotape the tests.

[Giulietta]

The first were 767 and 777 cross wind tests made by boeing as part of their tests for certification.

The upsidedown photo was of one of the first test flights of the 707, in the 50's. In a presentation the test pilot (I forgot his name) made a barrel roll and the photo was taken..at the time everyone at boeing was pretty pissed off with him and he almost got fired..

The other ones with the smaller twin is the GREAT BOB HOOVER and his rockwell aerocomander, and he was showing his momentum and energy therory by doing all that with engines off.
Hoover lost his licence by FAA due to a technicality, but is now flying wiuth an Australian licence.

He is actually drinking tea, to show that a loop is a 1 g manoever.

[Cruisingdad]

Wow! Pretty incredible footage. For some reason, flying has never appealed to me. I prefer something where I can go, "OH SH**, jump off, and hit something soft." HAHA!

- CD

[byrondv]

Originally Posted by Cruisingdad

I prefer something where I can go, "OH SH**, jump off, and hit something soft."

You can still jump off into something soft... just might take a while to hit it... and you might hit it a bit faster then you want...

[Faster]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

The other ones with the smaller twin is the GREAT BOB HOOVER and his rockwell aerocomander, and he was showing his momentum and energy therory by doing all that with engines off.
Hoover lost his licence by FAA due to a technicality, but is now flying wiuth an Australian licence.

Thanks, Giu - as I watched that clip I was trying to remember Hoover's name - he had quite a following in the 60s and 70s air show ccts... good to know he's still around.

[bestfriend]

Awesome. Just a side note. My Dad worked for Sperry and designed many of the instruments used on those early Boeings. He also designed the flight simulators for the pilots. Later we moved to Phoenix and he worked as a director for Sperry and Honeywell designing the instruments and flight simulators for the first Space Shuttles. An amazing feat considering that what we can do on a laptop took up a whole wing of the building back then. Remember the punch cards?

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

The first were 767 and 777 cross wind tests made by boeing as part of their tests for certification

I didn't know you knew so much about the topic, Alex. Did you know that the B-52 bomber has pivoting undercarriage that can be actively steered? This is so it can land in a heavy crosswind without added lateral force to the gear.

Interesting piece on it here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_landing

The same effect happens when boats that make a lot of lee try to lay the mark in racing. I spent some time learning how to use this tendency to my advantage in racing, and expect when I encounter tidal waters, that my feel for set and drift will seem like racing on a bigger scale...

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by bestfriend

Remember the punch cards?

Yes, and writing them in FORTRAN, WAT5 and eventually BASIC.

Programming is a hell of a lot less tedious now. I had a look at VAX/UNIX about 10 years ago and thought "Hell, I could do this...but I'd be very bored..."