> Wow, that ranks as one of the stupidest things I have seen done with
airplanes (My personal favourite was a new pilot getting startled by
heavy traffic approaching from behind at least 2 minutes out and
abandoning the runway and driving across the grass while the tower
controller is screaming on the radio, wish I had taped it). Harvards
are warbirds and although not the rarest it is a shame to see a
classic airplane risked in this way. Fly them but don't abuse them.
Actually this is not all that uncommon, especially in areas with few runways
and lots of sand or gravel bars along a body of water. In Alaska it's done
for both landings and takeoffs on/along rivers. There are many instances of
this being done with several different conventional geared light planes on
rivers. For anyone interested I can send a video of a Super Cub landing on
a gravel bar and a jpg of a J-3 skiing on what looks like a canal. The
biggest dangers in this 'stunt' are other water craft, unseen objects on the
water surface and low hanging wires.
By locking the brakes you are hydroplanning and short of hitting a large
wave or adding a LOT of down elevator it's nearly impossible to trip the
plane. It's just doing a wheel landing on water. Note that on the first
pass the Harvards
all have a little flap dialed in to reduce the flying speed and/or to give
them a little margin on weight transfer.
Jim Porter
Johnston Iowa USA
"The airplane stays up because it doesn't have the time to fall."
Orville Wright
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