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[jocan2003]

So i saw a video, while in my heart and head think it is possible i prefer asking other to make sure. Please make sure you got source or answer with backup as i dont really like speculation.

What i saw was a plane using a perfectly lined-up Nissan truck as front landing gear because the plane had a malfunction, is it possible?
Link to the video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150411795112658

Well after some search i found out it was a publicity, but would it be possible under real circumpstance/? ?

/? mean typpo

[Bdthemag]

Wait, you want a source to back this up? Isn't this a highly hypothetical and speculative scenario?

[jocan2003]

Wait, you want a source to back this up? Isn't this a highly hypothetical and speculative scenario?

Nah i mean i dont want sombody coming here saying its impossible and then go away, if its imposible i would like to know how he came to the conclusion with back-up. I.E.: Plane too heavy, hmm right but its all about center of mass, furter back it is, less weight on front gear. And possibily a source giving how heavy it is in the front and how much truck can carry before breaking etc.

[Pnx]

Saw the video, it's odd, it definitely looks like some kind of a viral pick-up truck advertisement.

There's no logos or anything like a "X news" to indicate what news station was reporting this. They also give no indication on the video where it took place, any local or regional news station worth it's salt will typically drop names and locations as much as they can because they know that people will be much more interested in an airport they've been to, or one that's nearby than one that happened... somewhere.

They also seem to have a lot of quality footage of the event in question, and there's something like a dozen different other things that are tipping me off that this was probably staged, if not done with CGI.

I'd also point out the landing gear seems to be fully functional, it was extended out, and it didn't collapse or anything when it hit the truck, so really it was a fully functional plane landing on a pickup truck. I suspect this is because if the landing gear at the front really wasn't working, there's a decent chance the nose would have crushed the front compartment, and that looks bad for the truck.

As for whether it's possible? Sure I guess? Planes are typically built to be lightweight, and it's a pretty small plane. If you've got a professional stunt driver at the wheel you could definitely manoeuvre it into the right place. I'd be worried about the truck being misaligned or the plane slipping off though.

[10ebbor10]

Yup, the landing gear appears to be in order. Oh, and getting onto the Tarmak isn't that easy. Doubt anybody would do that if they weren't 100% sure that the thingy was broken.

[jocan2003]

Oh it is a pub, if you look carefully lower right it says its fictional do not attempt when the video starts. As for the landing gear sometime the landing gear doesnt fully retract, get stuck, or thing like that, if you look at the end of the video the landing gear seems to be misaligned like if it were bent. Also during the pub they said the plane has been circling for 2 hour, what i tought was, well he is burning his fuel to be more lightweight during descent and give better handling to the pilot.

Also if you look how the plane is designed you could easily bring more than half the passager in the back to move the center of mass further back, wich would make the nose even lighter for the truck to handle.

Anyway it HAS been made once in the pub so its defenitly possible,. but at what state the plane was? i dont know, im quite sure the fiddled with it to move the center of mass much backward as to not give too much of a jolt/? boom/? tremble/? FRACK I HATE being french, hit? anyway you get what i mean, when the plan landing gear hit the back of the truck.

[10ebbor10]

Airplanes can dump their fuel tanks. No need to burn it up by flying circles.

Oh, btw. Unless it's CGI.

[jocan2003]

Well not all airplane can do that, most of the fuel are still in the wing fuselage. I can hardly see a plane dropping wing unless there is something i missed. Is there a purge emergency option or something?

[sneakey pete]

Yes.

[Skyrunner]

*flip crossfeed*
*flip vents*

If I'm not mistaken.

Also, is there any non-Facebook video of that? :S It's trying to bully me into logging in and no I'm not doing that D:<

[rhesusmacabre]

No CGI in this one, but I still have doubts about it.

[jocan2003]

Oh god the memory you just jolted me....

[Starver]

Not seen any of those videos (bandwidth low on this connection, not worth it), but I've seen stunts with both planes and light helicopters landing on moving vehicles.  "Staged stunts" in isolation as a purposeful and actual continuous event, not just fictional scenes that could have accomplished their appearance through clever editing of less exciting component shots[1].

Undoubtedly it's possible to do (...and has been, as I said), although whatever you've seen (again, can't say for sure) could be as artificial as what happened in the "Trapped In The Sky" episode of Thunderbirds (first episode, first series, IIRC).  Which was exciting.  Good job they had the backup vehicle[2], eh?

Unlike with International Rescue, I don't see it as something you'd be prepared to send out as standard resource along with the fire-trucks at any international airport of your choice, though (even for smaller aircraft needing just the single landing platform).  In a real-life emergency, where you even have the time to prep for this, a driver willing to risk his life on an unplanned, untrained-for and un-rehearsed stunt is going to be an unlikely thing this side of the silver-screen.  If it has at all happened and been successful, I bet it has also failed and been disastrous many, many more times than that with a healthy dose of "I told you so" comments from the ultimately prophetic naysayers.  And (as also mentioned) aviation fuel can generally be dumped[5].

(I can only imagine how many different random training scenarios those Tracy boys must have gone through in order to have been prepared for just such a situation on their first outing...  No wonder they're largely reclusive, apart from the odd extreme sports or motor-racing venture...  I'm surprised they find time to sip drinks alongside the Thunderbird 1 launch pool at all, with dad Geoff getting them up to speed...    Sorry, it appears that my Fandersonesque geekiness is showing...  I used to be able to tell you what happened in every single Thunderbirds episode[3], but that skill is now less acute and my memory more hazy.  Of course, any gaps in knowledge that I have are doubtless fillable from Wikipedia, these days...  Such is progress.)




[1] Planes and helicopters can be flown close to a the ground and a 'target' vehicle, switch to a close-up shot of the skids or fuselage seating itself (without seeing that there's a rig just out of camera-shot accomplishing that 'landing') and then away to a wider shot of the seated (possibly installed when at stand-still) aircraft being carried aloft the target vehicle.  As mentioned, CGI assistance is also available to create the sequence.

[2] IIRC, that piece of drama was unscripted, and actually happened due to failures of the original model setup.  Still, it either created or conformed to classic "Yes, we have a clever solution to the disaster...  oh no, it's not working...  try again harder/try something new!" formula which pervaded absolutely every future incident in the classic series.  So by (bad) design or (no) accident it worked out for the best in more ways than the purely fictional one!

[3] Save for the one called "The Mighty Atom", which I seemed to keep missing, whenever it was on TV, both originally and during very rare repeats over the next couple of decades.  I only ever knew the episode name.  I finally got to see it when I got my hands on a full VHS boxset.  You don't need to know that, but I'm telling you anyway.

[5] Without an "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker" device... to once more drag in some Supermarionation fictional facts.  The trouble with Fireflash, however, was that there was a bomb (albeit that it was purely bait and may have even been intended to be dud) on the landing gear of the atomic-powered plane, thus making a risky but not unknown (IRL) belly-landing attempt far riskier...

[Skyrunner]

Where did [4] go, Starver?

Having seen that video, I can safely say it is very fake.

Why?

There's a jet liner coming in at full landing speed, and there are no firetrucks out there. Firetrucks are standard procedure for all emergency landings, as far as I know. Even pretty normal ones, like this one (as far as normal can go. The video's plane has hit a bird but has perfect landing gear). Also notice that this landing has very blurry film, where some people who heard of an emergency landing came to investigate.

Lots of fire trucks.
This is how you land without landing gear. Given, it's a small propeller plane, but it still holds. Notice that despite being small it has firetrucks right there to come turn the flames off.


Here's the Youtube link. And I just realized that it says "Fiction, do not attempt" at the very start XD Stupid me. Still, the various plane landings are interesting.

[RedWarrior0]

I have some anecdotal evidence that this is possible. Saw it once at an air show, but not with a big plane of any kind, just a little one.