Top ten low pass flybys

[davidsinn]

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do;jsessionid=32E539AAFF2B7A9E629ADE321BCB43F5?displayContent=212576&ESRC=dod.nl

Number 2 is nuts.

[SarDragon]

But #1 is definitely the awesomest! 

I got to watch two Phantom IIs do that on a fly-by for a Tiger Cruise air show.They did the low fly-by just below supersonic, and them turned around and did a supersonic pass at about 100 ft AGL. Ba-boom, ba-boom!

[bosshawk]

Sort of reminds me of walking across a base camp at Dak To in 1966 and having four Phantoms in finger-tip formation make a pass from behind me at about 100 ft and in burner.  Took me about 15 minutes to get the grass out of my fatigues and find my weapon.

[PHall]

Sort of reminds me of walking across a base camp at Dak To in 1966 and having four Phantoms in finger-tip formation make a pass from behind me at about 100 ft and in burner.  Took me about 15 minutes to get the grass out of my fatigues and find my weapon.

Probably took you 15 minutes to get your hearing back too!

[bosshawk]

That is about right: I have remembered that incident for almost 44 years like it was yesterday.

Also took part in some low passes in an OV-1 in Korea that were not as fast, but just as deadly to the troops on the ground.

[SarDragon]

Not a specific fly-by, but a good Blue Angels video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W6tB8Lf7YoU

[Climbnsink]

Far better here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK5XVGV8eM8

[desertengineer1]

I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pilots ended up in the commander or Stan Eval office afterwards.  A huge crackdown came after Fairchild's accident.  Some of them look legit (i.e. Blue Angel at the SF bay event?).  The rest look down right dangerous, and well out of bounds. 

[davidsinn]

I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pilots ended up in the commander or Stan Eval office afterwards.  A huge crackdown came after Fairchild's accident.  Some of them look legit (i.e. Blue Angel at the SF bay event?).  The rest look down right dangerous, and well out of bounds.

The stratotanker is the one that gets me. Who in their right mind flies a transport less than a wing span off the ground through a valley?

[jimmydeanno]

I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pilots ended up in the commander or Stan Eval office afterwards.  A huge crackdown came after Fairchild's accident.  Some of them look legit (i.e. Blue Angel at the SF bay event?).  The rest look down right dangerous, and well out of bounds.

I was wondering the same thing.  While they are super neat to watch, I can't help but wonder how many of these differ from the "Bud" Holland school of aviation...

[SarDragon]

Straight and level is a lot different from deliberately flying outside the safe maneuvering envelope.

[PHall]

I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pilots ended up in the commander or Stan Eval office afterwards.  A huge crackdown came after Fairchild's accident.  Some of them look legit (i.e. Blue Angel at the SF bay event?).  The rest look down right dangerous, and well out of bounds.

The stratotanker is the one that gets me. Who in their right mind flies a transport less than a wing span off the ground through a valley?

Did it all the time in the C-141. (250 feet @ 250 Knots)
C-17 does it too. And they have NVG's so they do it at night too.

[davidsinn]

I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pilots ended up in the commander or Stan Eval office afterwards.  A huge crackdown came after Fairchild's accident.  Some of them look legit (i.e. Blue Angel at the SF bay event?).  The rest look down right dangerous, and well out of bounds.

The stratotanker is the one that gets me. Who in their right mind flies a transport less than a wing span off the ground through a valley?

Did it all the time in the C-141. (250 feet @ 250 Knots)
C-17 does it too. And they have NVG's so they do it at night too.

Again who in their right mind....

[PHall]

I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pilots ended up in the commander or Stan Eval office afterwards.  A huge crackdown came after Fairchild's accident.  Some of them look legit (i.e. Blue Angel at the SF bay event?).  The rest look down right dangerous, and well out of bounds.

The stratotanker is the one that gets me. Who in their right mind flies a transport less than a wing span off the ground through a valley?

Did it all the time in the C-141. (250 feet @ 250 Knots)
C-17 does it too. And they have NVG's so they do it at night too.

Again who in their right mind....

When you're doing airdrops and you need to enter enemy airspace to get to the DZ.
You're much harder to find when you're down in the ground clutter.

[davidsinn]

I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pilots ended up in the commander or Stan Eval office afterwards.  A huge crackdown came after Fairchild's accident.  Some of them look legit (i.e. Blue Angel at the SF bay event?).  The rest look down right dangerous, and well out of bounds.

The stratotanker is the one that gets me. Who in their right mind flies a transport less than a wing span off the ground through a valley?

Did it all the time in the C-141. (250 feet @ 250 Knots)
C-17 does it too. And they have NVG's so they do it at night too.

Again who in their right mind....

When you're doing airdrops and you need to enter enemy airspace to get to the DZ.
You're much harder to find when you're down in the ground clutter.

I understand that. I was attempting to make a joke and apparently failed.

[ltcmark]

I was an IACE escort to Norway in the mid 90's.  We did a visit to an F-16 base where we were greeted by a group of Norwegian pilots to act as base escorts.  As we were getting ready to enter the main hanger, one of the pilots told us he had a surprise for the group.  He got on the radio and announced that we were ready.  He then instructed us to look across the runway, through a break in the tree line and concentrate on the low hills a few miles away.  We saw 2 dots appear just over the hills.  In a matter of seconds, the dots grew into the recognizable shape of F-16's coming at us head-on and very low.  They flew through the break in the trees and aimed for the hanger where we were standing.  When they went overhead, they had to pull up to clear the hanger!!!  My first impression was how quiet the planes were.  Then the sound hit us and then the air blast with the JP-4 smell.  The base escort said they just went over us at 650 mph. :clap: :clap: :clap:  I am pretty sure a couple of the cadets wet their pants.  Needless to say, it was a nice welcome to the base.

The second story I would like to share is about Darryl Greenamyer.  Darryl was a Skunk Works test pilot that was famous for his air racing and aviation records.   One record that he set was the low altitude speed record of 998 mph at an altitude of 80 feet in a rebuilt F-104.  Before he took off for that flight, he was talking to a Navy flight surgeon.  He said he was concerned about flying that fast that low to the ground.  He said he was concerned about flying into the ground and not being able to react fast enough to pull up.  The flight surgeon told him not to worry about it, because whatever he saw at that time, he would flying so fast that he would be be 300 feet past it.  The doctor said that the delay in what the eye saw and the time it took for the brain to process the image, that if he flew into the ground, he would never know it.

[A.Member]

This one certainly should've made the list:
Spitfire Low Pass

(warning:  a bit of colorful language)


A couple other good low level vids here as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F88ebRyE-mc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5DayFmn4fE