There’s a simple reason why this Boeing 737 wasn’t destroyed this week at Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport, China, and instead destroyed this concrete runway using its landing gear: it’s neither a runway nor concrete. At least, not in the traditional sense.
This plane, built by a dad and son from Virginia, can land in five metres and take off and start flying with only three metres of room. It’s part of a competition called STOL, short take-off and landing, that focuses on, well, how little runway you need to get a plane to start flying. In the video, the landing is decently cool but seeing a plane take off with so little room is amazing. Watch it! [Wired]
