[b0r3d]

In the line of showing some interesting rc video lately i found this for those who have not seen this. Absolutely in my opinion a awesome landing and control!

+ YouTube Video

[Jeff_D]

The pilot is Bill Hemple. He flies UAV's for Northrup Grumman for a living. What an awsome job that must be. Have a look at his website. He has a 50% cub ARF that he sells.

[OICU812]

Yea that video has cycled around the net quite abit for awhile now, amazing to have caught it on tape for sure.

I have read in a couple of places that this was a stunt and done intentionally. If you notice there was absolutely no hesitation to go into the right knife edge when the wing dropped off ( I read it was rigged so it would come off ) so he MAY have been prepared.

Pretty slick anyway.

[Gary Maker]

Originally Posted by Don M.

I have read in a couple of places that this was a stunt and done intentionally. If you notice there was absolutely no hesitation to go into the right knife edge when the wing dropped off ( I read it was rigged so it would come off ) so he MAY have been prepared.

Pretty slick anyway.

Well, if its real, he did a great job of landing the plane in that condition. However, IF you watch the video in the lineup where he flys a giant Cub, each time he lands, its banked and lands on one wheel. Not too much of a stretch for someone with his skills to setup a landing of a plane with only half a wing, if it was indeed a "prepared" stunt!

I once landed a plane for a student who pulled very hard up to do a loop with his trainer and blew the whole elevator right off the plane, I mean, it was completely gone. I grabbed the tranny from him and chopped the power until the plane was in a complete nose down position and then added power until the plane was leveled out. I used power, as per my full size training, to control the decent and turned with rudder and enough opposite aileron to keep the plane in a level turn. Got over the field, setup a normal approach and slowly reduced power to get the right rate of decent. Just at about 3' off the deck, I gave it a burst of power to level out and it settled to the runway as smooth as glass. My student was very grateful that I was able to save his only plane. He is a member of RCCanada, aka: Simcoeflyer!

Amazing things can be done but I very much doubt I could have pulled off a one wing landing. Thank goodness my instructor insisted right from the beginning I learn to use the rudder and the proper application of power. He use to get me flying whole training flights using only rudder and throttle controls. Never touched the elevator and ailerons for the whole flight.

I think more instructors should stress the use of rudder right from the beginning of a student's training. The above video is testimont to that practice! The skilled use of power and rudder saved the one wing airplane, whether it was real or staged!

[b0r3d]

Well one things for sure if it was real and not setup that is some of the most calm control movments i've seen.

I've never had a wing fall off on me before but not sure how i'd react on that. Even setup it's control to be credited.

I'm going to have to take a look at those giant cub video you mentioned sounds interesting.

Setup or fake not many pilots i think could land with one wing and he sure did control that knife edge nicely!

[AJCoholic]

I have had a wing fold and depart comnapy with the airframe more than once.

The best I could do was throttle back and watch the impending wreck spiral in...

I doubt it was "planned", as that kind of stunt couldnt be rehearsed and if you are a top nothc pilot, you probably dont panick (heck, even I dont panic when something happens and I am average). Its like driving - some people when faced with a blow out, or a skid - close their eyes and start praying & screaming and others calmly keep driving and stop safely.

Whatever the circumstance, he is a pro no doubt about that.

AJC

[g.p.]

I doubt it was planned, but here's one that definately isn't:

check this out!

[WillyT]

If it was planned a good stunt - if it wasn't planned, I would be very concerned about the structural construction of the plane and how well the plane was assembled and preflight checked at the field.

[g.p.]

I remember reading about the original "Hemple one wing landing" and apparently he was doing airframe testing on a new design.

Not sure what happened in RJ Gritter's incident.