VTOL landing is more difficult than regular landing. VTOL in general is shit. There’s only a handful of VTOL aircraft that have ever been mass produced for a reason.
ps: VTOL F-35s are the marine variant, so this dumbass ejecting is probably a crayola connoisseur.
According to a different time this video posted, it was a prototype owned by Lockheed Martin and not the US military (yet) and this was a test flight. I’m sure US taxpayers still paid for the thing, but yeah, the pilot was probably a former crayon eater working on the private sector.
Helicopters and VTOL planes suffer from something called ground effect the closer they come to… the ground. It’s one of the most difficult things to manage as a pilot.
I’m not saying what we’re looking at is pilot error, I’m just saying that landing is more like a hurricane than a breeze.
Shit, TIL, my ass thought it was easier than a traditional landing.
There’s supposed to be tons of autopilot/assist that kicks in. If this was a test flight then they probably hadn’t quite got it fully functional yet. Even with the assists though, a sudden gust can massively change the ground effect dynamics.
That’s why ekranoplanes usually have hydrofoils or absolutely massive surface areas.
Perfect comedic timing that the plane comes to a complete stop just a few seconds after the pilot ejects and suffers permanent, possibly career destroying injury
And just like that, the pilot is a few inches shorter.
Oof. That probably hurt, right?
Bust your ass landing for sure
You get to join an ultra exclusive club called The Martin-Baker Ejection Tie Club, which is cool. Unfortunately you may be a few centimeters shorter (spinal compression) after you eject so yes, it HURTS but you’re alive and you get a fancy certificate 🤷♂️
Quick! Someone put Yakkety Sax to this!
They shoot themselves down.
