Unsafe 747-8 Vertical Takeoff

Is this an unsafe near vertical takeoff from a 747-8?

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[tripprogers]

I LOVE it when Kelsey gives us the "Concerned pilot watching something questionable" face.

[scottkludgedorsey]

The sequence at 8:20 involves some tricks with thrust vectoring... the engines don't necessarily just point toward the back so you can move the thrust vector off the axis of the body. This allows you to do a number of interesting things if you are being chased by bad guys but at the expense of poor efficiency and high fuel consumption. This includes spins that aren't spins, tight uncoordinated turns, and likely stuff they don't want anyone to know about...

[C.Church]

Kelsey flies the Snack-8. It achieves altitude as quickly as possible for the discerning pilot with immediate priorities.

[chris]

Kelsey! Just wanted to give a big thanks to you and your channel. My daughter (who is four) loves anything and everything about aviation, and we watch your videos all of the time. Didn't know where else to message you, but I wanted to display my gratitude towards you for making my daughter feel safe to fly. We recently flew to Florida, and she asked if you were the pilot lol. Thank you for all you do and for making our flight experience less anxious!

[directioner]

My Dad was an Air Force F4 pilot and after he retired he had a 2 seat Cetabria for a time. Some of my favorite memories are when he would take me up over the Chesapeake Bay and do aerial acrobatics. The plane had a front and back seat with two stick controllers and a plexiglass window in the top for viewing. The smile never left my face while I was in that plane - wonderful memories.
Always look forward to your Sunday uploads! Thanks for making us all more knowledgeable!

[BayAreaClownShow]

Just a note here from a trucker. Truckers actually do use transmissions to slow our truck down. Of course brakes are used as well, but when driving a manual truck you actually want to use your transmission as it''s much more durable. Plus with the heavy load, brake fade is a lot bigger of a risk.

[jonathanshumpert]

Your comment on having a bathroom, bed and free food reminded me about a story I heard in the Navy. I worked with the P-3 squadrons and heard the story. A P3 was doing exercises with a carrier group doing tracking of subs. An F14 pilot came alongside a P3 then did some fighter pilot maneuvers. He then came back alongside, got on his radio and asked the P3 pilot, "can you do that?" The P3 pilot reached over, grabbed a can of Coke, drank some, and then asked the F14 pilot, "can you do that?" I don't know if it really happened, but like to think it did.

[odonovan]

12:53 - As someone who drove manual transmission cars for MANY years, it IS preferred to downshift to slow the vehicle down, then only use brakes as necessary, when going slowly in second gear. The transmission/drivetrain is MUCH more sturdy, and that puts almost no practical amount of wear on them. Plus, by minimalizing the braking, you prevent heat buildup in the brakes. Heat increases stopping distance. In the event of any emergency, cooler brakes are MUCH safer.

[mel]

I'm not a car person, either, but truckers use engine braking often. It's noisy, though, so some cities have ordinances against using that in town. I occasionally use it in my car on icy roads, especially going down hill, to keep the speed down. Also, that's how I was taught to drive a manual transmission car when coming to a red light, for example. I think it's also pretty common in mountainous areas to prevent brake fade.
Anyway, great content! I recently returned from Europe on a 747 and was thinking of all I've learned from your channel!

[christopherg]

When driving down a mountain, it is SOP to run in a lower gear (roughly as low as the one you use going up).
The problem is that when wheel brakes run hot, they stop working. And if you try to use them long enough going downhill, they will get too hot.
So when going downhill for any decent amount of time, you want to use as much engine and transmission resistance as possible to keep the speed manageable.
I lived near one of those long, serpentine roads. Where a lot of people tended to forget that rule. Ended up overheating their brakes, then went straight into the river.

[danielislive]

Hi Kelsey. Those side windows on the ERJ aren’t heated, so when you land on a warm/humid day the tend to get fogged up pretty quickly. So in this case the F/O opens his window to let the Capt have a visual on the marshals. Keep it up!

[kevingould]

Hi Kelsey. Use of reverse thrust . Your comment was spot on . They are there for landing only and not always needed. However they can keep the brakes a bit cooler by assisting the deceleration which is important if the aircraft has a quick turnaround as after the next takeoff the hot brakes are now stored in the undercarriage bay . Working as an engine technician in the Royal Air Force I scolded a few Tornado F3 fighter pilots for using the reverse thrust buckets as a means of slowing down the taxi speed. The pilots are supposed to select taxi nozzles on taxi which opens the engine exhaust nozzle to max open position. Now the engines are producing a lot less thrust. Maybe you can simulate this on your 747 by shutting down 2 engines ( one from each wing). He can still use his throttle power to speed up and slow down. Incidentally the only time the nozzle will be in the fully open position is when Full Afterburner is selected and the engine has powered up to this position. Variable nozzle position is essential on a engine that has a afterburner to ensure the core engine runs smoothly. Hope I didn’t bore you guys too much.

[HaleyCottage]

“…a bathroom, a bed and free food. So take that fighter pilots!” 🤣 Enjoyed your video, Kelsey!

[bslaws]

In 1983 I was returning to the US from Zurich. I was on a Swissair 747 and we first had a short flight to I believe Geneva before heading to the US. There were at most 20 people on that first leg of the flight. I was amazed at how quickly we were in the air, seemed like just a couple of seconds. Little cargo, few people and light on fuel, it was a hotrod.

[CaptChang]

F22 was doing a falling leaf maneuver. It was smooth because it is capable of post-stall maneuvers.

[midwestavgeek]

Thanks for debriefing my video Kelsey! I might have a little more information about the steep 747 takeoff.

1. This was filmed at O’Hare and they were using 22L/R because of the winds. The winds that day were I believe out of the southwest gusting up to 40 - 50 knots.

2. It was pretty wet after it was raining about 30 minutes before that 747-8 took off.

3. There was a ground stop prior and there were many planes waiting to takeoff, along with many planes landing. Also they were only using two runways for arrivals and departures that day.

Let me know if that helps and thanks again for reviewing my video!

[AlexandarHullRichter]

Car Transmissions are not damaged by engine braking. In fact, engine braking is recommended for any extended downhill driving because your brakes will overheat and fail before the transmission does.

I think the risk you're talking about with the thrust reversers would be more similar to driving through a sandstorm without having an air filter in place. If a car engine ingests of sand, that will also do a lot of damage.

[steven]

ATLAS air flies into various combat zones. High power climbout is SoP for these regions also depending of the age of the video. Bagram's western departure was facing a 13k mountain with the runway already at 5.5k. So every take off was that profile. Kinda crazy to watch. Regarding the F-22 that's the typical air show fodder they do, It's also handy if you need to drop through the air also they can park it on the tail and move along at a few mph almost like a vehicle.

[sthomas]

I think a bigger effect here is distance compression due to the angle the plane's direction of flight makes with the camera. The plane might be light and all those other issues, but looking at a small angle, nearly tail on, is going to make it look like it's going straight up because the perception of forward motion is minimum at that angle.

[SaigonMikael]

The F-22 is performing the falling leaf maneuver, which is basically a controlled stall where the pilot uses the rudder and ailerons to control the plane during the fall until hitting the thrusters again for airspeed. The F-22 Raptor also uses thrust vectoring, which allows it to pull off those seemingly unnatural tight turns.

(Edit: typos galore ahead)

That transmission analogy is an apt one. In driving school they teach you to break with the engine to save breaks (hence the term "engine breaking"). It also works with motorcycles. I prefer the common practice of downshifting to just applying the breaks in order to reduce speed for staying in the flow of traffic - and use both for coming to a full stop, because it does save the break pads (and is more satisfying because of the engine sounds). 😄