OT: Fancy some 100mph water skiing?

minivin · Post by **minivin** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:52 pm

Taken from an email that's being going around the aviation world;

Not something that you see every day
Pilots Hone Their Skills For Upcoming Airshow Season. Photography by Frans Dely/Aviationdimension.com

Early morning anglers are treated to the spectacle of four T6 Harvard Aircraft from The Flying Lions Aerobatic Team waterskiing across the Klipdrift Dam near Johannesburg South Africa.

Lead by Scully ! Levin, with wingman Arnie Meneghelli, Stewart Lithgow and Ellis Levin, this renown airshow display team rehearse a sequence for the newly launched "Aviation Action" television program on Supersport.

Arnie Meneghelli from Academy Brushware, owner of the aircraft had this to say, "What we did today I believe is a world first. It illustrates that South African airshow pilots are amongst the best in the world".

This unusual act, approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and supported by Castrol Aviation, was meticulously planned and took place under the watchfull eye of divers and paramedics that were on site.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 10:04 pm

Wimps...

They should try it over the North Sea when there's a 12' swell

Neil178 · Post by **Neil178** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 6:47 pm

clever photos ....... but they are fake!

minivin · Post by **minivin** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:58 am

Neil178 wrote:clever photos ....... but they are fake!

And how do you think they are fake?

Blackal · Post by **Blackal** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:51 am

Is it possible to maintain that level of accuracy over water? I wouldn't have thought so.

But - if no-one comes up with video footage on the internet, it's maybe safe to assume that the photos are fake?

Now - I've got a photo of Hitler playing golf if anyone is interested

Al

Desmo904 · Post by **Desmo904** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 8:45 pm

I think this stunt may be easier than you think. At anything above 30mph water is is pretty much solid and resistant to anything trying to enter it at a shallow angle. That's why a flat stone will skip across it.
At the speed these guys are flying (100mph?), the water will be imitating concrete. A tyre will aquaplane on water if you go fast enough.

So I'm coming down on the side of the believers. m'lud.

Phil

Blackal · Post by **Blackal** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:13 pm

Yeah - I'd have to agree with you now.

I looked up the Flying Lions on the internet and they appear to be genuine, plus - I would agree with you on the stone-skipping analogy.

Still don't fancy trying it though

Now - about this pic of Hitler........................................

Al

bmwonder · Post by **bmwonder** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 9:22 am

I'm a bit of a photoshop wiz and I'd say the photos are genuine. Look at the reflections and the wake. You can't fake it to that degree.

bmwonder · Post by **bmwonder** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 9:25 am

.....as for the Hitler thing. Playing "Spot the extreme Right Wing old git" on a golf course isn't exactly hard!

Blackal · Post by **Blackal** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 9:38 am

bmwonder wrote:.....as for the Hitler thing. Playing "Spot the extreme Right Wing old git" on a golf course isn't exactly hard!

I guess we are about to see how many R1100s-riding golfers there are?

Al

Merecat · Post by **Merecat** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:05 pm

With the wing area of the T6 i suspect the ground effect would make it very difficult to keep the wheels in that position on the water, at those throttle settings, which is why the whimp at the back in the top picture has only one wheel down.

Fair play to em.
It theres a spare seat, im in!!

Unzipping anorack

Mick

Al · Post by Al » Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:22 pm

You wouldn`t want to sneeze halfway through the demo, its bad enough inside your helmet on the road.

Al

minivin · Post by **minivin** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:01 am

Ground Effect is the name, where the down pressure generated by the wings can't go anywhere due to the closeness of the ground, and therefore bounces off the ground and back up to the wings to give even more lift. This problem is suffered with helicopters when they come into land, makes them a bit unstable as the pilot has to force it through the GE before he can land, has resulted in a few bent tail booms up at MoD Boscombe Down

Russians have also been doing it for years with their Ekranoplans:

Just a couple:

Merecat · Post by **Merecat** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:59 pm

How about

http://www.yachtboutique.com/Designers/ ... noplan.htm

If you have a few coppers to spare?

Mick

Ade B · Post by **Ade B** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:48 pm

Nothing like a quality site for a quality product

Ade