More Than Just A 747 Landing - A Video Lesson In Checking Out Details
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 10:56PM This video from youtuber 1970sPlaneSpotter is short but very sweet. I just love a video that gives you the opportunity to see details that otherwise are easily missed. This 747 landing viewed from behind just looks cool to start with, but what I really like is watching the control surfaces move and then seeing the response the airplane has to it. When the airplane first appears from the top of the frame, look at the elevator to see a fairly large input to initiate the flare to slow the rate of sink. The you'll notice some pretty pronounced stick movement (as seen in the elevator) as the pilot 'feels' for the ground.
As you shift your attention to the gear to watch the touchdown, you might wind up seeing one of the pesky youtube ads pop up in the way. Oh well, I guess they do have to make money somehow. If you're like me and you enjoy this video, you'll probably wanna watch it at least 10 times, and you can clear the ad early in the replay so it's not obstructing the touchdown.
After touchdown, all kinds of things can be seen. The spoilers pop up; the tire smoke makes a rapid swoosh and swirl out from under the airplane; the rudder can be seen taking the crab angle out of the touchdown (note that the inboard mains straddle the centerline almost perfectly at first contact, but the airplane moves slightly off centerline due to the crab); the elevator continues to fluctuate (imagine how much stick movement that represents); and possibly most interesting, the horizontal tail does a lot of wiggling and shaking! The shaking is normal. If you've watched any of the jumbo jets in videos you know that a shaky tail is totally normal. I must say that it always catches my attention tho... should the tail really wiggle that much?!
Lastly, the pilot holds the nose wheel off for a while as the airplane can be seen tracking almost exactly down the centerline of the runway. Then the nose wheel touches down, followed by a short period of it lifting off again. Finally, the nose is down for good as the rudder is used to keep the airplane straight, and the wings do a little of their own wiggling.
Maybe I'm just a weirdo, but I find all these little details to be fascinating. It's not just a really big airplane landing - it's a complex but well orchestrated merging of about 500,000 pounds of aircraft traveling at about 150 mph with a large and rather firm earth. It's man and machine working together to dissipate both altitude and energy down to zero... and hopefully it's all done at such a level as to make the people who pay the bills happy they went flying that day : )
Reader Comments (5)
Landings are always my favorite part for just that reason! That guy has some great videos on his channel; I'd guess that likes the details as well.
What's up with number 1 engine? Stop the video at 12 seconds and look at all 4 engines. Thrust reverser not deployed???
Marvin- Glad you liked... and you're right, there are a ton of great videos to watch by 1970sPlaneSpotter.
Gary- Good catch on no reverse on the #1 engine... I hadn't caught that. I'm guessing it wasn't that it was marked 'inop' as I don't think they would have deployed #4 reverser if it was. Interesting : )
Cool video to watch at 1080p fullscreen. The extreme perspective jumps out as you watch the centerline reflect off the bottom of the fuselage.
Darrell- Great advice to watch it in 1080p HD fullscreen! I was having so much fun picking up details that I forgot to go HD with it.