airplane short takeoff/landing records

[Frank S]

Who needs a runway in a bush plane if you have a nice cliff?

[Frank S]

At an air show one time I saw a guy completely brutalize a homebuilt twin engine 4 prop push pull stubby wing bi-plane. He came in at a near vertical stall dropped his rt. gear in a wash tub his flaps were already hard down but as soon as the wheel entered the tub he went hard up on the rt. flaps sent the vertical stabilizer full rt and throttled the left engine wide open made a 180 pirouette, flapped the rt. and throttled the engine the tub moved around some but from where our vantage point was it looked almost like he had done a pin point landing 180 spin and take off

[Toolmaker51]

Saw vid and thought "one way to gain airspeed! Yeesh!...package check, hold on tight boys!", scrolled down and lookee here PJs beat me to it. A sheer drop-off that distance above forest, I'm thinking he'll only get one try...practice would be facilitated how? OK, lock brakes, jam throttle, full flaps and tuck 'er in sonny.
I guess leveling off qualifies as flying home once your internal organs catch up. I'd cheat with helium in those balloon tires.

"Tuck in" was a favorite joke on PCH/101, San Benardino/10, Grapevine trying to catch a car full of eyecandy IYKWIM, not too different than "Hotrod Lincoln". If we were on bikes it'd make sense and not be funny, I caught anyone I wanted on the Z1R, even the Sportster, but behind windshield of an El Camino? Priceless.
Still have the ElCO by the way, since 1970, legit second owner of Ol' '65 the Fleetside Ferrari. Not much motor, but 2.73 rear end, < 3300 lbs, wide ratio Corvette trans, lightweight dual disc flywheel running one disc, and suspension assimilated from air conditioned big block GTO's and Monte Carlo's. For awhile speed limit was 55 and it could; even initiate U-turns, literally.

[Frank S]

" For awhile speed limit was 55 and it could; even initiate U-turns, literally"
and those doing the U turns had the wrong color doors for the paint color of the car right?

[Toolmaker51]

" For awhile speed limit was 55 and it could; even initiate U-turns, literally"
and those doing the U turns had the wrong color doors for the paint color of the car right?

lol Frank buddy. I just tested and learned it, and demonstrated to my self; judiciously! So the described Ueys were mine.
Now, once on the Sporty; an 16mi roundtrip during 30 minute lunch home for shop keys... Lights were with me all the way. Last mile of return leg was a radar trap, This was mid 80's so radar wasn't all that awesome. Never saw it, likely behind a low billboard. Anyhoo, got back to shop, rolled up little incline of lot, idling, kickstand already down. Bumped front tire to curb in gear and dismounted. Motor officer rolled up as I reached door advising me he couldn't ticket if I wasn't aboard. "I couldn't catch you sooner".
I was young and full of myself. "Well of course not, on a Moto-Guzzi".

[Jon]

[Frank S]

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Jon seeing this last video reminds me of a friend of mine. he just turned 72, someone he knows has 2 para sails and wants to learn how to fly them. He told my friend that he would give him 1 if he would teach him and his grand son how to fly one.
I asked "W" if he had ever para sailed. NO but I've watched lots of videos and listened to you tell me about how to handle a parachute how hard can it be I'll just jump off a cliff.
Man I was 18 the first time I dropped from a 60 ft tower hanging from an already fully deployed chute and 21 the last time I strapped 1 on None of my talks would have much relevants today. except for maybe some of the safety precautions. If you want to learn to para sail find someone who has 1 and a boat , learn to ski first then get him to buddy sail it with you and teach you at least the water might not be quite as unforgiving but the landings can still break limbs.
But if you decide you have to do this do not expect me to sign your body cast.

[PJs]

Love those para-gliders, Jon. Hi tech and aerodynamic. Mom and Dad both got their tow-glider certs while we were in Germany. Surprisingly Mom enjoy it as much as Dad...I just got to watch and wait although went up with Dad once...amazingly quiet and inspirational in the countryside. These shots look like Germany to me?

Not to veer off STOL too much but it does relate to dancing on the edge and catching air once in a while...

I caught anyone I wanted on the Z1R, even the Sportster, but behind windshield of an El Camino? Priceless.

Wow TM51...I had the first Z1 in Marin (73') and ate Sportsters for breakfast and H2's with expansion chambers for lunch and was plus a 100lbs. Only vehicle I ever gave a male name to...A bike called - Bruce! He'd pull the front wheel off in third and pegged the speedo once. And then there was the Sunday run down the coast through Marin...till the cops got wise and one ID10T passed on the inside of the 270° coming down into Mill Valley becoming bug splatter. I tricked out a 70' Elky for a friend but no way it was more priceless than being stopped and turned around on a 1/4mile run, after a loud mouth on an H2 called me and Bruce out...he didn't even stop to admit the shame, just putted on by, never to be seen again. And...some how I resemble the cop story...too much to Koinkidink away...You been walkin in my shoes, Bud?

[Toolmaker51]

Ate Sporty's? One of them maybe not. Borrani wheels, Bridgestone 70's, Sifton Cams, Drag Pipes, 40DCOE, Rajah plug terminals, a weird Moon coil, stock 1000cc but 11:1 Venolia's, if only Andrews gears were developed earlier...I normally got them to buy a rolling start. Generous pinheads thought RPM's meant everything.
Lol, torque is what gets things moving.
I wanted to emulate Jerry Magnusen's [Santa Ana, CA] crank driven blower setup, his 2-71 PEPCO magneto ironhead. I was probably enough machinist, but too little tooling for what is kinda highly WAY dialed-in work.
It didn't have a name so much as a title..."Cut Across Sporty"
And noooo, if you've been 6'6'' since then I definitely wasn't rocking your shoes. I wore 9D at the time.

[Frank S]

Pj back in 79 -80 I worked with a guy building nat. gas compressors and in 80 he and I took on a contract to design and build drill rigs . Before then at 1 time he was legendary in the moto cross and enduro crowd for his tuned expansion chambers. Called Bankie pipes. I remember visiting his shop a couple years before , he had something like 30 or 40 very young just out of high school if that sitting at tables oxyacetylene welding up those chambers. with 100's of patterns hanging on the wall every piece was hand cut and formed on small mechanical rollers. I was never into oil burners but those who were swore by his pipes.