Awesome Airplanes

On 7/23/83, Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of fuel in mid-air. The pilots decided to make an emergency landing on an inactive Air Force base in Gimli, Manitoba, but they didn’t know that the runway had been converted to a go-kart race track. Don’t worry, it ends well.

(Flashing lights) Playmodes used Eduardo Cajal’s upcycled fuselage to make Porta Estellar (Star Gate), an audiovisual installation that took audiences on a breathtaking six-minute interstellar trip. It was opened to the public in Barcelona’s Ciutadella park this past Sept.

Check out this amazing footage of a pair of Russian Beriev Be-200 jet planes, as they each roll off of dry land and into the water to take off, each spewing forth a massive wake and scooping up water into their fire-fighting bellies as they take to the skies.

To promote its SHIELD gaming system, NVIDIA dropped professional skydiver Jeff Provenzano from a C-130 Hercules transporter while playing games in his living room. They want us to question whether it’s real or fake, but we’re thinking it’s real, given Jeff’s credentials.

Daredevils Yves Rossy and Vincent Reffet want to remind us that while we may not have hoverboards, we do have jetpacks. Watch as the two Jetmen fly in formation with an Emirates Airlines’ Airbus A380 over Dubai. Go behind the scenes of the impressive stunt here.

While performing a stunt, a seaplane was coming in for a touch-and-go landing on a lake, when it hit an unidentified object in the water, forcing the plane to spin out as it touched down. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but the plane required some repairs.

While most people install dashcams in their cars in order to record accidents, they’ve also been known to capture other events. For instance, this small plane made an emergency landing in Irvine, California, and taxied down the street along with the rest of traffic.

An incredibly detailed model of a GE turbofan engine from a Boeing 787 airplane, made using 3D printed parts, and capable of pushing out an impressive amount of thrust. Its builder, Harcoreta, plans on flying it on an RC plane soon. Build log here.

2012 footage of a Lockheed SP-2H Neptune making a nail-biting emergency landing. Not only did the pilot have to deal without landing gear on one side, but with strong crosswinds. Had the moving propeller hit the ground at speed, it could have been disasterous.

This KLM jumbo jet had to contend with strong crosswinds while landing at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. It looks funny now, like a gigantic drunk bird, but we bet the passengers and flight crew had a different opinion.

Photographer darwinfish105 turned Tokyo International Airport into a calming sight by miniaturizing and speeding up the hustle and bustle in and around it. I Am Robot and Proud’s Summer Colour also helped set the tone.

Amazing footage of an F-35 Lightning II fighter jet as it takes off from an insanely short runway that works like a ski jump to angle the plane into the air. Stick around, and you’ll be treated to a vertical landing too.

This video taken from one of the Endeavour’s F/A-18 escorts shows the shuttle flying over some of Los Angeles’ landmarks before touching down at LAX for its 2013 parade. You can visit her at the California Space Center.

U.S. Marine Corps Captain William Mahoney recounts the harrowing experience of landing an AV-8B Harrier jet on the USS Bataan without his nose gear. The VTOL aircraft and its pilot were saved by what amounts to a simple hack.

YouTuber Sebb Stratta is training to be an aerobatic pilot at Take Flight Aviation. He’s also a good friend. Here he is alternately delighting and frightening the crap out of his friends on a Slingsby T67 Firefly.

The international airport in Saint Martin is known for having its runway insanely close to the beach. Here, world traveler Paul Luning captured one of the landings in slow-motion, and it’s visual that’s so unreal that you’d think it was a VFX shot.

This flyover of Russia’s Central Air Force Museum provides a unique perspective on these retired Russian airplanes and helicopters parked in the snow. The Concorde’s cousin Tupolev Tu-144 on the far left side is our favorite.

Etsy shop Plane Pieces makes lamps, sculptures, tables and other furniture and accessories out of pistons, propellers and other parts from World War II-era aircraft. Items are limited and can be customized with different colors.

You can’t fly a real jet plane indoors, but watch Martin Müller’s 1:22 scale R/C model of the Airbus A310-200, flown impeccably around this German airshow a few years back. Its inflatable fuselage gives it that dreamy feel as it flies.

When you’re flying around in a stunt plane during an air race, you’re not supposed to hit the pylons. But that doesn’t mean it’s not part of the fun for spectators. Here are a few of the best pylon hits from the Red Bull Air Race season.

A rare appearance of the Antonov 225 Mriya as it takes off from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. This massive airplane has a 290ft. wingspan, 32 landing wheels, and six engines to help it lift over 1.4 million pounds.

We’ve seen how the Airbus A350 jumbo jet is made. Now watch in awe, as the French aircraft maker shows off the agility of their massive widebodied jetliners by flying five of them in a synchronized drill. Skip to 3:35 for the action.

Airbus took MinutePhysics on a multi-country tour of its facilities to show how thousands of minds and millions of parts come together to design, build and test its new A350 airliner. Worth watching just to see the Beluga in action.