Extreme Low level flying..great video

www.break.com...

thought you guys might like this movie...

Jeez thats the best job in the world!

That's INSANE!!!!
I can see that there are frensh mirages there but what else? jaguars maybe?

Yeah..i think a few of them are jaguars..boy those guys rock!

Interesting video, they sure fly low but anything special? Yes, it looks nice but I'am pretty sure every fighter pilot on this planet is capable of doing the same thing with the same training.

And best job in the world? Sure would be nice. But it has many downsides too. Flying like that makes you very tired, besides you won't be able to fly for very long (in years) it's too much for the body. But I wouldn't mind getting a ride in one of those

Mirage F-1(C?)!!
Would recognize that cockpit anywhere after having flown the jet on FS2004!

No jaguars there IMO
As for whether they're French..hmm..well..
I've seen French F-1s do amazing stuff over the Alps on a video
But the Mirage F1 has served with 11 AFs over the world:

* French Air Force (250)
* Ecuadorian Air Force (16 F1JA & 3 F1JE)
* Greek Air Force (40 F1CG)
* Gabonese Air Force (3 F1AZ) (1 may be an F1CZ)
* Iraqi Air Force (93 F1EQ & 15 F1BQ) (+16 not delivered)
* Royal Jordanian Air Force (17 F1CJ, 17 F1EJ & 2 F1BJ)
* Kuwait Air Force (27 F1CK & 6 F1BK)
* Libyan Air Force (16 F1AD, 16 F1ED & 6 F1DD)
* Royal Moroccan Air Force (30 F1CH & 20 F1EH)
* Qatar Air Force(13 F1EDA & 2 F1DDA)
* South African Air Force (32 F1AZ & 16 F1CZ)
* Spanish Air Force (42 F1CE, 24 F1EE & 6 F1BE)
Source

Looking at the terrain and even the music , I'd say it was a Spanish affair!
Though I tried to look for the distinct 'X' on the tails, couldn't spot it!

Two more points to note:

1) It the 1st quarter of the video, the pilot is actually holding a map in one hand while he's flying at maybe what ~100-200 ft of the ground?
2) During the last quarter of the video , he uses his left hand again (couple of times) to alter some instrument/lever. Looks like the flaps to me, from the position of the instrument. Any ideas?

That didn't look like Mach 1 to me, more like mach 0.5-0.8?
Flying low is required for avoiding radar, and of course its tiring but hey.. the Israelis flew at 100-300 feet all the way to Osiraq!

[edit on 29-9-2006 by Daedalus3]

WOW!! Amazing stuff!

I love to do tree top flying and barrel rolls at 50 feet. On the Microsoft Flight Sim, FS X, of course!. You can get banged up here any number of times!! But this is for real!! No room for errors. Or its curtains! Gutsy stuff.

And yes, as Daedalus has mentioned, the speed doesn't seem anywhere near mach 1.



[edit on 29-9-2006 by mikesingh]

I think those are French Air Force mirages in Morrocco, and coud be related with this video:

video.google.com...

this one says "RAF Mirage F-1's Show Off Their Low Level Flight Abilities", but i dont know if RAF has mirages, i think not:

www.youtube.com...

These are cool too:

French Air Force Mirage 2000 over the sea - www.youtube.com...

Airplanes fighter pilots flying low - www.youtube.com...

The title needs to be corrected.
The aircraft are not doing "extreme low level flying" but are in fact doing "extreme flying at low level."

There is a difference, hello?

"Extreme low level flying" is when an aircraft flys over a runway.....10ft off the runway. The stunt by the Eurofighter Typhoon pilot at an airshow last year or early this year is prime example.


^^^^Thats "extreme low level flying".........

[edit on 29-9-2006 by Seekerof]

These are pretty Extreme low level flying to me:

www.youtube.com...

(These are not jets but are just insane)

www.youtube.com...

Edit:

That F14 is a painting by the great airbrusher Dru Blair, you can see more here:

www.drublair.com...

[edit on 29-9-2006 by Thoth36]

Originally posted by Thoth36
These are pretty Extreme low level flying to me:

www.youtube.com...

+1, exactly what I am talking about.

That F14 is a painting by the great airbrusher Dru Blair, you can see more here:

www.drublair.com...

You are indeed correct.
I forgot to link the picture I had up, probably because I had it on hard drive.
Dru Blair does some beautiful work.
Thanks for linking to his art work and the picture I am referencing.

Yeah.. try to read a nav map in one hand while flying at ~100 feet..
extreme enough for me!

I concur, those flying skills are insane. It reminds me of a video i watched on youtube (probably) except there were two jets just flying feet off of some body of water. Nevertheless, there will be utter tragedy when one of those jets flies over a little league baseball game.

[edit on 30-9-2006 by vicarious]

[And yes, as Daedalus has mentioned, the speed doesn't seem anywhere near mach 1.

[edit on 29-9-2006 by mikesingh]


Spot on. There ain't much that can go supersonic that low. The Tornado is one of the fastest you're only talking about 800kts.

Originally posted by Seekerof

[edit on 29-9-2006 by Seekerof]

That picture stuns me every time I see it.

The title needs to be corrected.

errr?

i think it pretty much works either way you say it....

theres some very low level desert shots.

I know a guy who was in the air force for about 20ish years (my math teacher, actually), and according to him, flying like that isn't that hard over flat areas because there is some effect that creates a pillow of air so you can't really crash into the ground. Same thing that keeps those weird cargo aircraft with the short wings that fly at 50 feet (can't think of the name) airborne.

Man that must be one terrifying way of assaulting enemy positions. Think about a clump of metal coming mach 2, unleashing bullets and bombs, and painting target for others coming behind. Already the sonic boom at such a lowpass would shatter glas and even eardrums.

To above poster:
He is totally correct. It ain't that hard. How can i tell? Well, modern simulators are quite helluva real.

[edit on 6/29/2010 by above]

Excellent video!
About 3yrs ago I was shown a video at my flying school of low level Tornados by an ex RAF Tornado navigator. Very compelling flying!
I'd love to do low level flying but I cant complain really, as i've done formation flying and I love that

Originally posted by PBscientist
I know a guy who was in the air force for about 20ish years (my math teacher, actually), and according to him, flying like that isn't that hard over flat areas because there is some effect that creates a pillow of air so you can't really crash into the ground. Same thing that keeps those weird cargo aircraft with the short wings that fly at 50 feet (can't think of the name) airborne.

Oh you can still crash into the ground, thats typically what most planes crash into

What he was talking about was "ground effect", where you have slightly less lift needed, and hence less resultant drag, when very low to the ground (half a wingspan or less)

and they have TFR on usaf aircraft....that's what i worked on in 1973....theres a switch with 8 positions....6 are marked . down from 2000 feet to 200 feet.
and then there are two more positions below 200 feet that are not marked
terrain following radar=TFR

[edit on 30-6-2010 by GBP/JPY]