A plane has landed on Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab helipad.
The breath-taking stunt was undertaken by pilot Lukasz Czepiela and shared on his personal Instagram page as well as by Red Bull and Visit Dubai.
Czepiela revealed the stunt had been two years in the making and came after 650 practice runs undertaken on the ground.
Plane lands on Dubai’s Burj Al Arab
The helipad measures just 27m across and is 14 times smaller than the world’s shortest commercial runway, meaning it took immense skill for the pilot to land on the bullseye, amid steady wind conditions.
The Burj Al Arab helipad is 212m above sea level and corresponds with the hotel’s 56th floor.
The specially modified Red Bull plane had 13 custom adjustments to make it as light as possible and able to land without the need for a long runway.
Long video:
Has anyone tried to replicate this in the sim yet?
The early evening weather made it more challenging with an 8 knot crosswind across the approach path. I tried it yesterday when it was morning in Dubai, and had a nice 3 knot headwind, and the early morning mist off the Persian Gulf also made it a lot more scenic, with just the outline of the Burj Khalifa visible against the grey haze. I highly recommend flying then if you do it.
My tactic was a high AOA approach, circling the tower. I held the nose high, and used power to adjust altitude and my circle radius to control touch down point. Then I basically stalled it onto the pad, landing on the tail. I turned into the wind just before touchdown, which is why I’m pointing toward the tower on my final successful landing.
