Cool video. While watching I kept saying to myself...when you see the guy coming the other way, duck down, because he'll likely pull up! :eek:
 
Video...

Way cool video! I was watching in the full-screen mode, and kept thinking "whoa....watch those trees off the wingtips"!

Oh yeah, and I thought "pull up" about a dozen times! :D

Sweet song which fits the video perfectly!
 
Duck down?

dan said:
Cool video. While watching I kept saying to myself...when you see the guy coming the other way, duck down, because he'll likely pull up! :eek:
Click to expand...
There wasn't a lot of "down" left for him to duck to! If I ever come across a situation like that (extremely unlikely given my very strong sense of self-preservation) I'm pulling up and to the right. I hope the other guy goes to his right, too.
 
Brian130 said:
Very nice. Do ya'll know the pilot or just find the video?
Click to expand...
I don't know anything about it. The link was sent out to the SE RV squadron list and I thought I would pass it along.
 
Hard Knox said:
Hidden track at the end of Buffett's Banana Wind.
Click to expand...
Just tried to find this on iTunes and it's not listed. :( In fact, no soings from the Banana Wind CD are listed.
 
i tunes

well, if i-tunes doesnt list "bananna wind", then I would think they must suck.

The song is NOT listed, just happens to show up, after a bit of verbal clowning at the end of "false echos". Not a seperate track.

Enjoy.

Mike
 
Last edited:
az_gila said:
The plane is a RV-4, right?

gil in Tucson
Click to expand...
Yes. The triangle roll bar behind the pilot is the dead give-away. A 3 couldn't have the cameraman in back, and the 8 would have the rollbar in front of the pilot.
 
3 or 4

I dont think there was a person holding the camera----------image is way too stable. Looks like the camera was fixed in place. Take a good look at the left turn after the pull up/roll----pilot sinks down quite a bit----pullling G.

With that in mind, does the 3 have the same roll bar condig as the 4??

I dont know enough about the two planes to tell, BUT, I would bet a six pack that the camera was not hand held.

Mike
 
The 3 doesn't have the triangle roll bar, either.

RV3.GIF
 
My wife laughs at me every time I watch these videos. She says "You move your head around just like the guy in the airplane".

Am I weird?
 
Mr. Mikey said:
My wife laughs at me every time I watch these videos. She says "You move your head around just like the guy in the airplane".

Am I weird?
Click to expand...

HA!! :D I did the same thing when I watched it last night...with my wife standing over my shoulder!
 
Neat

txaviator said:
Way cool video! I was watching in the full-screen mode, and kept thinking "whoa....watch those trees off the wingtips"!
Click to expand...
Watch for birds and wires if you could see or do anything about it. G
 
Don't do it, but if you really have to...

It's very entertaining and nice sound track, but please don't try it at home. The downside is this kind of flying claims a lot of lives. I would discourage anyone who has the inclination, but for those few who can't resist the temptation, you have to know every inch of your course before you even think about it. Contours and obstructions, especially power lines. Check it out from the ground and at altitude. This was a scary lesson for me after inadvertently flying under a set of high tension lines streched across a river bed near Lompoc, CA many years ago (has the statute of limitations expired?). I only saw a shadow flash overhead, in an open cockpit PT-22. It scared the crap out of me. I climbed and verified; big honkin' cables streched between ridges either side of the river bed. Ten feet higher and I wouldn't be posting this message. If you want to fly low, use MS Flight Simulator.
 
Now that cat is haulin the chili. I've got a log cabin on a river much like that up here in Canada and I watch the ducks fly past several times a day. I would say if you collected one it would be over rather quickly. Having been a Crash Firefighter for 25 years and seeing more then enough. I assure the results would be very spectacular. The obit would read "that dude was having huge fun right up to the end". I think somehow though that it might not be this guys first time in that airplane :D

RV 8 # 82228
 
Brian130 said:
The 3 doesn't have the triangle roll bar, either.

RV3.GIF
Click to expand...
It's not that important, but this is a custom-built slider RV-3. Most all RV-3s have tip over canoies, and yes, they have a triangular roll bar like the RV-4.
 
f1rocket said:
It's not that important, but this is a custom-built slider RV-3. Most all RV-3s have tip over canoies, and yes, they have a triangular roll bar like the RV-4.
Click to expand...
I might certainly be wrong, but all the ones on Van's site are sliders with the front roll bar??

rv-3_title_right.jpg
tp_rv-3_exterior.jpg


rv-3_3view.gif


Compare to the -4 3-view with the roll bar shown in the last drawing...
rv-4_3view.gif
 
My Bad

I stand corrected. I guess I fly with a couple of RV-3s that have tip overs and I thought that was the standard because the RV-4 was that way too. I am apparently all wet. Thanks for the info.
 
Video Link

I had to right click on the "new" video link and save target to my pictures folder to get it to play.
I was watching at my desk at work and reached down to get a hold on the desk in the turns, more than once!
Great video and Stephen Stills did a good job on the song, too!
 
I just had to look up the lyrics for that song:
Stephen Stills said:
Treetop Flyer
------Stephen Stills

I could be a rambler from the seven dials
I don't pay taxes 'cause I never file
I don't do business that don't make me smile
I love my aeroplane 'cause she's got style
I'm a treetop flyer

I will fly any cargo you can pay to run
these bush league pilots just can't get the job done
Got to fly down into the canyons, never see the sun
There's no such thing as an easy run
For a treetop flyer

I'm flyin' low, I'm in high demand
Fly fifteen feet off the Rio Grande
I'll blow the mesquite right up off the sand
Seldom seen, especially when I land
I'm a treetop flyer
Born Survivor

People been asking me, "Where'd you learn to fly that way?"
Was over in Vietnam, chasin' NVA
The government taught me, and they taught me right,
Stay under the treeline, and you might be alright
I'm a treetop flyer

So I'm comin' home, I'm runnin' low and fast
I promised my woman this is gonna be my last
I get the ship down, I tie her fast
then some old boy walks up, says "Hey son, you wanna make some fast cash?"
I'm a treetop flyer

Well there's things I am, and there's things I'm not
I am a smuggler and I could get shot
Aint going to die, I ain't goin' to get caught,
'Cause I'm a flyin' fool and my aeroplane is just too hot
I'm a treetop flyer
Born survivor

Usually work alone
Click to expand...
 
New Anthem?

Sounds like this song could be a new VAF Anthem of sorts.

Who is the man behind the wheel anyway?
 
Last verse

It's interesting that the last verse is not on the video... it sort of puts the rest of the song's words into context....

gil in Tucson
 
Just a heads up, I'll likely take that video down sometime this weekend or shortly after. You might want to save it to your computer. I should probably spare my alma mater the bandwidth since they aren't getting my money anymore. :)
 
unmask that man !!

Yes, I agree we must find out who this guy is !!! I downloaded it Sunday and then took my RV4 out and did the same thing. Ok, the river was 2k feet below, but it was almost the same thing :).

Thanks for posting the link.

John
 
Joey said:
Just a heads up, I'll likely take that video down sometime this weekend or shortly after. You might want to save it to your computer. I should probably spare my alma mater the bandwidth since they aren't getting my money anymore. :)
Click to expand...
I would like to make a recommendation that vansairforce adopt the video. Perhaps Doug has the capacity to keep it. It definetly needs to be a keeper.

RVBYSDI
Steve
 
my guess is that the mystery flyer is named Don, drives a black corvette, flies a yellow RV4 and lives somewhere around Bremerton, Washington :)
 
Video guy

jhphillips said:
my guess is that the mystery flyer is named Don, drives a black corvette, flies a yellow RV4 and lives somewhere around Bremerton, Washington :)
Click to expand...
If you know the guy that made the video, could you ask him if we can put the video on Google Video or YouTube? That would solve the hosting problem. I can try to contact Stephen Stills to see if he gives the OK on the music.
 
My hosting plan gives me 400GB of bandwidth a month. If someone will do the leg work of getting the permissions squared away (i.e. a letter from the publisher on the copyright for the song), I will be happy to host it.
 
I have no idea who the pilot really is - I was simply guessing based on having looked at the website to which it was linked - found a picture of a yellow RV4 (front end only - no N number showing) next to a black 'vette, identified under a reference to someone named Don, and other references to the SeaTac Bremerton area - I thought maybe someone else might recognize all those reference points and be able to connect the dots.
 
Am I the only one who thinks this........is, like.......extremely dangerous? I admit it's cool, and I've done a little low level flying myself, but the hair on the back of my neck stands up for fear of hitting a wire or cell tower or whatever.

I guess if you live out West where there are unpopulated area, this isn't as dangerous as it looks. I admit that the video scared me just a tad, especially with the tree tops whipping by in the periphial vision.

I admit it, I'm a wimp when it comes to this kind of flying.
 
f1rocket said:
Am I the only one who thinks this........is, like.......extremely dangerous? I admit it's cool, and I've done a little low level flying myself, but the hair on the back of my neck stands up for fear of hitting a wire or cell tower or whatever.

I guess if you live out West where there are unpopulated area, this isn't as dangerous as it looks. I admit that the video scared me just a tad, especially with the tree tops whipping by in the periphial vision.

I admit it, I'm a wimp when it comes to this kind of flying.
Click to expand...
I don't know this guy (but would love to meet him sometime and shake his hand), but looking at the way he flew through those trees and around each bend of that river (if you will look real closely at the video you will see that he flew through the same stretch of the river twice) tells me that he new that one stretch of that river inside and out. I imagine he reconned it several times before attempting it for the first time. I would bet what we witnessed was no where near the first time he flew this stretch of the river.

I agree this type of flying is a scarry proposition that should be done (if at all) with a great deal of planning. Hmmmm, kind of like that formation flying everyone likes to do. Flying inches from another airplane in 3 dimensional space sounds very dangerous to me. I for one don't have a great deal of desire to risk that much danger but I also say "to each his own".

Love watching the video. Will I ever do it? Probably not. I do have a great deal of respect for those pilots who have the kahonas to do it though. :cool:

RVBYSDI
Steve
 
Up in Goose Bay (northern Canada) all the air forces of the free world get together and do this stuff all the time at 500 kts some of those videos are pretty wild. If this guy has that kind of background he would feel right at home where we saw him.
 
Last edited:
Experience

Paul Tuttle said:
Up in Goose Bay (northern Canada) all the air forces of the free world get together and do do this stuff all the time at 500 kts some of those videos are pretty wild. If this guy has that kind of background he would feel right at home where we saw him.
Click to expand...
Exactly. In the area I fly, just across the border in France, there are frequent very low level, high speed military flights. It's pretty impressive when you're bopping around the pattern and see one of these guys buzzing along barely subsonic about 500 feet below you.

rafale6sm.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.