Hey! You pilots out there,

[johnr]

...might enjoy this.

Strikes me as a bit on the hairy side, but what do I know? Got to trust those instruments I suppose.

Looks good anyway.

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/pilotnewzdalnd1

[BRIO]

I'm guessing that it was an instrument approach. Some of them can be hairy especially in mountainous terrain. You want to keep that needle centered and your altitudes right. Woe is he who has to go around in the soup while facing a mountain. You want to  have the avionics set up, time it right, balls to the wall, and keep the turn tight...

[tiger_one]

Cool to watch, IFR let down through the soup, to known ceiling and no forgiveness for being off course or altitude!

[ken farr]

Cool to watch, IFR let down through the soup, to known ceiling and no forgiveness for being off course or altitude!

 :1: :1: :1:


kjf

[Chuck in Indiana]

A friend used to be chief pilot for Eastern. He told me of an approach involving a mountain on an island in the Pacific, IIRC. Absolutely *no* room for error.

[Jurgen]

Remember the approach to the old Hong Kong Airport complete with wrecked aircraft on the side of the runway?  Jurgen

[cloudbase]

Night landing at Aspen with and without night vision equipment.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/LzQtLz4d1Bc

[Testarossa]

Night landing at Aspen with and without night vision equipment.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/LzQtLz4d1Bc

This is a VFR landing -- here's what it looks like in daylight:



Aspen's IFR approach is no longer authorized at night.

[BRIO]

VFR approaches can have pucker factor too!

http://youtu.be/Jw4PHhLBbrU

[Bill N]

Great video's, could watch them all day. My most awesome experience was flying C-130's in Alaska and I enjoyed every minute of it. Challenging places like Kodiak, Adak, Attu, Juneau, Barrow, Ketchican, Yakataga, St. Paul island etc. Crosswinds and runways coated with ice made for an exciting but great flying day.
Bill

[johnr]

I posted it for the visuals mainly, but it certainly struck me that sinking and maneuvering through cloud that you know has solid bits in it would require gonads the size of cricket balls, or at least a great deal of faith.

Here is another short one from a 737 landing from the other end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9TRgQL52KU

And perhaps a better one from a A320 coming in from the same direction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNCQlCgb0SQ

There was a great deal of debate about whether or not to extend the airport at Queenstown to allow commercial jets to use it as it was felt by many, myself included, that having these things roaring about at low level would detract from the atmosphere of the place. Money of course won the day.

If the cloud is too thick they can't do it though and on those occasions they divert to Invercargill.  When I was a bus driver I got the job on some occasions to first explain to confused non english speaking passengers that they weren't where they thought they were and then to drive them, sometimes through atrocious conditions, the 120 miles to Queenstown.

There is a new nav system being developed for Queenstown which will have universal applications based on GPS. So far it is proving very successful.

Bit of stuff about it here. (it's also the source of the original vid)
http://www.gereports.com/post/75375269775/no-room-for-error-pilot-and-innovator-steve

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Beware the stuffed cloud.