I think I figured out how they did it. First watch the original video again. A couple more things to note:
1. No fuel vapor at separation. Most aircraft wings are wet; that means they hold fuel. Even if the video aircraft was operating on an internal tank the residue in the tank and lines would have caused a puff of vapor.
2. The bounce on landing. To light not right for an aircraft that weighs thousands of pounds.
3. The control input rate vs acceleration of aircraft in beta and alpha axis. In English too jerky in pitch and yaw.
4. Thrust to weight ratio was very close to, or at 1 to 1. It appeared at times to be in a pure hover, again not realistic.
OK now watch this video I found.
Did it look familiar? You bet, the KillaThrill video was done with a radio controlled aircraft. It explains all four of the unusual flight characteristics above. A real nice job editing in the canopy scene. But; once compared to the second video there is no doubt it is an RC aircraft.
November 27th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
In watching your videos several times and agreeing with it all,.. I noticed what looked like a major change of the panes colors at the 44 second mark in the replay of the video. It blurs at that second and at 45 seconds, you can see the actual plane with the duller paint colors emerges.
Good detective work.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Dan; you are correct also look at the white border stripe. One has it one does not. Thanks for the comment.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:18 am
If you’d like to get more information on the Air Racer, James Andersson and the dissolution of the case please visit the following blog: http://tinyurl.com/76u8ja
January 15th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Christina;
Great blog thanks for the tip.
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:58 am
Small, sports aircraft don’t weigh “thousands of pounds”.
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 am
Don;
Here are the weights for some of the most popular small sports aircraft:
-YAK 52 MTOW (max take off weight) 2,877#
-SU 29 MTOW 2,654#
-Extra 300 MTOW 2,095#
-Pitts S-2C MTOW 1,700#
With the exception of the Pitts all are “thousands of pounds”. The aircraft used in the video appears to be an Extra 300 which is 2,095#.