Flying Lions

[sapper740]

We,ve all heard the old saw, "There are bold pilots and there are old pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." right? Well, here are the exceptions to that rule. Get a load of what these crazy South Africans are doing. I've included a blurb from the internet.



Water-Skiing on Wheels

Rand Airport, South Africa – March 1, 2006 – Imagne seeing four North American T-6s flying in formation. Maybe you’ve seen that at an air show. But what if you saw four T-6s “water ski”?

Well if you wwere in SouthbAfrica recently you might have seen it live. Thanks to digital photography and the Internet, you can see this incredible feat.

The Flying Lions Aerobatic Team was practicing for the upcoming air show season and decided to demonstrate their precision flying by water skiing across the Klipdrift Dam near Johannesburg, South Africa. The team, made up of ten pilots, is featured on the new television program “Aviation Action Africa” which began airing on SuperSport and CSN on February 13.

This display team, made up of Arnie Meneghelli, Stewart Lithgow, Ellis Levin and lead by Scully Levin, took to the skies – and the water – to prepare the sequence they would later perform in front of the cameras.

“My team members have given me the feeling of safety. The discipline and level of professional skill that is practiced allows a sense of complete trust to engulf my senses, from our first briefing of the morning, to our de-brief after shows,” says Meneghelli on the Team’s Web site.

The show they will be featured on is a 26-minute monthly program focusing on aviation in South Africa and all over the world. It gives insight on all aspects of the Air Show South Africa (ASSA), including pilots, teams, personalities and the Air Show events.

[Keith Webb]

I've seen the video of this - when I first saw the stills last year I thought it was a photoshop trick, but it is real - and quite amazing too.