At least it looks like it was a closed road, planned event.

Shame, would be a great way to beat traffic congestion

Or to get killed by it... really not alot of room to deal with a van on the road.

But if roads were limited to convertibles and aircraft we could increase road capacity and average speed.

Still a more practical solution than HS2

It used to work, at the very least, to beat congestion and crappy roads.

My old man used to have to journey from the far, far north of Scotland to Manchester/Brum for work, as he oversaw some factories down there.

Driving? At best a working day to get down there (6am to 4pm or so), hotel, freshen up the in the morning to be professional, then after the (often just one or two hour) time on site, either drive back through the night like a bat out of hell, or hotel and do the trip back the next day. Trains were worse.

The problem was (and still is to a degree) the stretch from Wick to Inverness, which back in the 70s was all small A-Road with no dual carriageways etc - that 100 miles could take well over three hours depending on the number of tractors that buses got stuck behind, etc.

So he was looking at light planes from a hobby standpoint, did the math, and worked out that commuting to sites via aircraft would be significantly cheaper, faster and more efficient than anything else.

He put the business case together, and it was agreed that he could expense aircraft fuel and airport space, and other business use costs. Very much like sorting out company use for a personal car, but with wings.

He ended up buying a part finished two seater Cessna-like, built it, got it certified (including stall and VMax testing...*) and got his PPL. He proved that his use case was correct, and he got instrument rating so he could fly on days that weren't nice and sunny (or at night) meaning that used to be a three day trip (drive down, hotel, meeting next day, meeting drags on, hotel again, drive back the next day) could be done in about ten hours flat.

Important points:

A:This was the 70s, the running costs for a light plane were less back then as he explained it - insurance, airport space, etc.

B: His case was a real edge case - if he'd lived slightly south of Inverness (and thus had access to real main roads without a three hour stint beforehand) it would never have crossed his mind.

C: He stopped using the plane once he stopped needing it - it was a bit dangerous as a 'jolly' and mother dearest was quite insistent after they had kids. Especially after a few of his friends in the flying club had...unscheduled landings, killing them. Sort of focusses the mind when a chum ends up flying into a wall at 90mph because he didn't adjust his altimeter properly when flying on instruments.

He kept his nose in the aircraft stuff, but reverted to RC planes and choppers after that - less dangerous.

He kept it in a field over the road from our house owned by a friendly farmer, so yes, he did use it to go and get milk from the airport two miles away. Because of course he did.

Not sure what the point of relaying the above is - just one of those things that me old man did that makes me smile with the sheer audacity of it, the crazy old bugger.

Steven R

* Got a photo of him standing by the plane looking nervous, with the engine running but the cowling off. It was the day of the stall testing and VMAX testing and the pic was taken as he was doing final engine tweeks and checking levels etc - if he hadn't built the plane right, it would have been the last picture there'd have been of him other than the coroners report....

I’ve done it in Wii Sports loads of times.

There is a video on Youtube of someone doing this in Rio in 1967 in a Hughes 269 helicopter - about 40 seconds in to this clip.

https://youtu.be/p_KwNaIRAXU

Tunnel not as long though!

Hope he had an HGS toll sticker in his windscreen, or he'll be getting a fine through his door in a couple of weeks

Is the Eurotunnel busy with all this covid going on?

I think I saw a documentary about a helicopter that flew into the eurotunnel featuring Tom Cruise. Didn't end well for the pilot, but Tom Cruise was ok. I'd say it was his fault really, he shouted something about red and green lights then threw a stick of chewing gum at it.

Is that the film in which he 'rides' the shockwave to safety?

Of course they all do that in films now. Big explosion, hitch a ride on it. Live to change the laws of physics another day.

Would tangle in the catenary

They had mysteriously vanished for the occasion.

Bit of a shame that he took off from inside a tunnel rather than approaching it from the air, though. Now THAT would have been impressive.

Guess that wouldn't have also got the record for first take-off from inside a tunnel though.

Maybe next time could do a loop coming out the first tunnel and then fly through them both full length

And he did not get a speeding ticket? Maybe the 245 km/h was too much for the radar detector?

"Maybe the 245 km/h was too much for the radar detector?"

Finding the number plate would be tricky.

They need a new strapline. How about

Red Bull gives you balls.

Oh no.

He had those before.

What I would like to know, though, is what exactly is his cocaine budget ? It's funny how I have no problem imagining Al Pacino pulling a stunt like that.

My best through the Blackwall Tunnel was about 105 on my bike, after several beers, when it was socially acceptable to drink. Some of the trip may well have been on the walls or ceiling! Great days.

Some people have threaded the Gateway Arch in St Louis. IIRC, at least one flight simulator removed the ability to do that in the program.

The saddest was the skydiver who landed on the arch and was then apparently going to jump from there to the ground. The wind caught his chute and he was dragged over the side to his death. His wife said he landed there by accident.

This was in the early morning and the few bystanders said there was someone on hand filming the stunt.

For a while there was a shiny streak on the leg of the arch marking the poor guy's path down.

(The Gateway Arch is 600 ft-192 m tall)

Forget Teslas.

This is the commute of the future.

An RAF Wing Commander I once had as a client told me a story of an Air Commodore who, on a training flight with a young pilot, on a whim, decided to fly the Chipmunk light aircraft through a hanger. When he emerged he was busted to Pilot Officer.

I still prefer the story of Taffy Holders accidental flight in an EE Lightning

As Cracked.Com would note, the airplane should have struggled to get airborne with Costa's extra, extra large pair. That is actually some very skilled flying.