How Brand New Aircraft are Cruelly Tested During Vertical Takeoff Before Being Sold

You have to commend these test/pilots for their skill, but most of all their 'extreme' courage knowing that if a test maneuver goes wrong, they just can't eject themselves from that flight cabin as if they were in a fighter jet. Total respect!.

Seeing a commercial airliner doing a near-vertical takeoff has to be one of the most badass things ever😮

As a plane I can confirm we are afraid of these tests

Back in the 80s, I was taking off from the Denver airport (Stapleton at the time) in a Continental Airlines DC 9 when the starboard engine ingested parts of a tire that blew after their abort point. After a loud pop, the man sitting next to me, who happened to be a pilot on a different airline, explained to me that we probably blew a rear tire, and bits of it were ingested into the engine (on that plane, the engines were located not on the wing but on the fuselage behind the rear landing gear), causing it to shut down. He calmly explained to me that the plane was totally capable of flying with only one engine, and that we would circle back and land at the same airport. No problem. I wasn't so calm, nor were the other passengers that also heard the loud pop. The take off, now with only one engine, seemed perfectly normal to me. When it was time to land, the pilot expertly put the plane down first on the side with the good tires, then the nose wheel touched down, then the damaged wheels were ever so gently put down. Fire trucks followed us as we landed; when the plane went to turn off the runway, the other tire on the damaged side popped and went flat. That stopped the plane in its tracks. A bus came to offload the passengers, and as we deplaned the pilot greeted us all. I asked if he would be the pilot on our replacement aircraft; he said he would be. I told him I was glad that he would be flying the next aircraft and praised him and his crew for their expert handling of the situation. We would all be late getting to our destinations, but we'd still be alive. Long story short - modern jet aircraft can certainly take off and fly with only one engine!

Thank you to all pilots, engineers and everyone involved doing their jobs, such a huge and important responsibility

Massive respect for the test pilots

A like for all these test pilots and hats off to them.

Anyone here after Boeing fell apart?

I remember when they tested a 747 at Dublin airport years ago with vertical climbs, dives, and all round crazy maneuvers. It was some time after the El Al Flight 1862 disaster in Holland. They where testing out new pins (the cause of the crash in Holland) on the engines and pushing that 747 to its limits. A friend worked in the airport at the time and had heard it was going to happen, and what time. He let us know, and we all got as close as we could to the airport when the time came. Jaw dropping stuff, and i was blown away that a 747 could actually fly the way it did.

Note - Airbus is not a French company. It's multinational, with many countries taking part as well as France. Germany, the UK and Spain are the other three major members.

Great cameraman filming from mid air!

Gotta correct you on something. The tires on aircraft undergoing rejected takeoff testing are not deflated by ground crews, they automatically deflate by way of 'blowout plugs' on the wheels that are designed to release the pressure in an overheated tire to prevent the TIRE from blowing out. Just wanted to clarify that.

I think it’s impressive how maneuverable such a large bird is

Gotta give the test pilots such huge props for doing what they gotta do.

Amazing machines.

Can't imagine a world without planes,amazing tech experience, respect 👏 🙏

I don't think I'll ever get over my fear of flying sadly. I've only flown once and it was a horrible experience with extreme turbulence and an odd event that freaked us out. We apparently hit an airstream (??) from another airplane that was in front of us I think (I don't remember exact details or what the pilot said; I just remember something about an airstream). Anyways, the plane kind of dropped down a little bit (maybe like 10 feet?) but it happened in a split second. Think of a quick bunny hill on a rollercoaster. I remember seeing everyone lift up in their seats and women's hair flying upward. It happened SO quickly. It felt like we hit a giant wall of air that knocked the plane downward. It was terrifying. I know planes are safe. Just like rollercoasters are safe. Accidents are exceedingly rare. But my fear is rooted in fear of heights. And having an anxiety disorder doesn't help LOL

Also bare in mind these vertical climbs in commercial aircraft are with no pax, baggage and often minimum fuel, so they’re far lighter. Much more difficult to achieve when weighed down but that doesn’t mean they aren’t stable or safe, they absolutely are. It’s just far more difficult to vertically climb aircraft when it’s bogged down with everything. Military aircraft are a completely different breed though. They can do a lot more when weighed down.

The most exciting part, the ending at US Military lab was the shortest part. WHY?

This guy wins the award for the amount of times he can say ‘test the aircraft before use’ in different ways. Get. On. With. It.