In a world first, Polish pilot Luke Czepiela has efficiently accomplished an unimaginable touchdown on Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab Jumeirah. Utilizing a personalized fixed-wing CubCrafters Carbon Cub STOL (Brief Take-Off and Touchdown) airplane, he touched-down on the supertall skyscraper’s helipad at a top of 212 m (695 ft) above the town, stopping with only a few meters to spare.
The helipad was a tiny goal for Czepiela to work with. His “runway,” such because it was, offered a size of simply 27 m (88.5 ft) to land and safely come to a cease. After two unsuccessful makes an attempt on the morning of March 14, he pulled it off on the third, stopping in 20.76 m (68 ft). Following a brief pause for celebration, he then took off once more efficiently, regardless of the restricted area obtainable.
“The most important problem was the dearth of any exterior factors of reference, which is normally discovered at an airport the place you may have a whole bunch of meters of runway,” defined Czepiela. “Usually when approaching a runway, I see how excessive above it I’m, and I can simply management the method path. At this time the helipad disappeared over the nostril of the aircraft and my periphery was diminished. I needed to depend on my observe and instincts when my previous few references went away if I needed to come back to a cease earlier than working out of area.”
Touchdown A Aircraft On A Tiny Helipad (on high of a 7 Star lodge)
Czepiela is an skilled pilot, having logged roughly 12,000 flying hours and dealing because the captain of an Airbus A320 for his day job. He is no stranger to daring stunts both and beforehand flew beneath three bridges and landed on a Polish pier. To arrange for this newest problem, he logged 650 take a look at landings at floor degree since 2021 all through Poland, the USA, and Dubai, constructing his confidence and convincing himself he may truly pull it off.
He additionally had assist. American aviation skilled Mike Patey guided him onto the helipad and was in control of modifying the 7.1-m (23.3-ft)-long, 10.44-m (34.25-ft)-wingspan Carbon Cub with the plane producer. Patey and CubCrafters made numerous adjustments, together with upgrading the suspension, transferring the principle gasoline tank to the rear of the aircraft to permit for extra aggressive braking, including nitrous oxide tanks and changing the material overlaying the fuselage and wings with a lighter different. Ultimately, the aircraft weighed in at 425 kg (936 lb), whereas its Titan CC340 engine has a most of 230 horsepower when the nitrous is engaged – which was wanted to assist him rise up sufficient velocity for takeoff from the helipad.
Naim Chidiac/Crimson Bull Content material Pool
The Burj Al Arab Jumeirah’s helipad has hosted numerous earlier stunts up to now, together with Tiger Woods teeing off and David Coulthard performing donuts in an F1 automobile. Designed by WKK Architects, the constructing hosts a luxurious “7-star” lodge and is a formidable engineering feat in itself.
It was initially accomplished in 1999 and rises to a top of 321 m (1,053 ft). It is located on a man-made island 300 m (984 ft) off the shore and has a spacious atrium rising by a lot of the top of the inside. The constructing’s defining glass-fiber display screen is supposed to lend it the looks of a billowing ship’s sail and really has a sensible goal too, decreasing photo voltaic warmth achieve inside whereas nonetheless enabling subtle mild to naturally illuminate the inside. The sail is connected to the constructing with metal cables, permitting it to flex with the wind. Because of the tower’s location, it is also partly clad in Teflon, serving to to maintain the outside from changing into too soiled and dusty within the sandy panorama.
Sources: Crimson Bull, CTBUH, Atkins