Float Plane Grass landing - Taupo

[Ykato]

Video is from a henryandwater YT channel.

[strikemaster]

He missed the lake completely. Not exactly a little lake either.

Pretty smooth landing by the looks of it.

[corsair67]

The same mob in action again -





All looks a bit silly to me, as wouldn't landing like that on the floats do damage to them over time?

I'm sure CAA won't be happy with the crowd milling all over the airfield like that either.

[lumpy]

A guy I used to work with once told me stories about them doing exactly this with the Picton float plane ( it was awhile ago , so it wont be the current one ) . They would fly it into Omaka and land on the grass whenever it needed servicing that had to be done in a hangar . Obviously they didnt do it more often than required , but werent overly worried about damage either ( think I recall him saying that they would try and do it when the grass was damp ) , and took off again from the back of a towed " dolly " , just like in the video . I never really was sure if I believed him , till now . ;D

[Andy Wright]

Grass is sooo over-rated.



www.cfww2.com/forums/showthread.php?420-Lt-Cdr-John-E-Ben-Breese-DFC&highlight=swordfish

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/naval-obituaries/5990551/Lieutenant-Commander-Ben-Breese.html

Lieutenant-Commander "Ben" Breese, who has died aged 94, was the only pilot known to have landed a floatplane on the carrier Ark Royal without wheels or arrester hook.

On July 3 1940 he was flying one of the battleship Valiant's two Fairey Swordfish during the daylong negotiations between the British and French fleets off Mers-el-Kebir. As Admiral James Somerville, commanding Force H, offered Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul terms to prevent four French battleships from falling into German hands, Breese remained airborne in readiness to spot for Valiant's guns.

But when Somerville reluctantly opened fire to destroy most of the French fleet, the fast battleship Strasbourg escaped. Somerville gave chase, leaving Breese in the lurch.

His aircraft, Mitzi, had been built to be launched by catapult from a battleship and to land on the sea with floats; it would then be retrieved by a crane.

Ark Royal, however, was not in a position to stop to recover the aircraft and ordered Breese to land on her deck.

As he made the descent his crew, Sub-Lieutenant Peter Starmer and Naval Airman Roy Tolley, loosened their straps in preparation for leaping overboard when the Swordfish skidded over the side. But Breese made a near-perfect landing, going straight down the middle of the flight deck to stop dead after a few yards.

A Fairey mechanic on board the carrier then bashed a dent out of one float with a mallet and declared the aircraft fit to fly. When Ark Royal arrived at Gibraltar a few days later Breese and Mitzi were lowered to the water to taxi to Valiant, which recovered them by crane.

[Peter Lewis]

I saw the floatplane Cub ZK-BPC at Ardmore years ago, and wondered how they got it there.
I was told that it landed on the grass, but I figured that was a leg-pull.

First time I've seen proof that it can be done. Very nifty, but the landing could be a problem in a crosswind.

[Darren Masters]

Here you go:

[Radialicious]

I watched the Float Air Beaver land and take-off at Omaka years ago. The landing was pretty tame but the take-off certainly took a bit of skill and coordination. Marlborough helicopters had a dolly trailer that was used to cart the floatplanes around during their time at Omaka. I seem to remember Fletcher wheels and nose fork on the front. The front wheel was able to castor. When it came for them to leave, the drawbar was removed and the Beaver tookoff unassisted. Colin Bint was the pilot I watched on this occasion. When the trailer was pointing in the right direction on Rwy 07, Colin opened the tap. Initially the weight of the aircraft kept it on the trailer and as the wing started to fly, Colin eased in a bit of fwd stick to hold it on. When ready he smartly lifted off with elevator and flap. The helicopter boys shadowed the trailer with their utes as it coasted to a stop and were prepared to 'nudge' it if necessary to keep it from steering off the straight and narrow. I have photos of the takeoff that I should try and dig out. I saw it land at Woodbourne once too after the firecrews were kind enough to soak a portion of the grass runway.

[flyjoe180]

Not as bad as this guy's landing. He did find the lake.

[strikemaster]

Jesus H, that's incredible. Nearly a candidate for the Darwin awards.