The Bo-105’s rigid rotor system makes it suitable for aerobatic stunt work. Other choppers have hinged rotors and just can’t do the loops and rolls thing. That plus it is quite a small airframe with two engines, which gives it a great power-to-weight ratio.
You could ask the same of their F1 team, or tons of other things, and the answer is: Rule of cool.
Essentially there is a section of their marketing department that is paired up with a corporate vision and culture that says: So what cool shit could we get up to if we had infinite money?
And since they basically do have infinite money, they get up to that shit because it's cool and someone wants to try it.
My fiends and I used to do this when we were teenagers. We got together and found a shitty little aluminum boat with a big ass outboard, I think it was an old Evinrude 75, and we'd tow eachother around doing this. I'm surprised we all managed to survive. My buddy pulled me so fast that it made my feet swell up and blister. That shitty little boat would do like 45 wide open.
Plus that plane is notoriously difficult to fly even with the engine working. Tiny little wings. Dreamt about buying and building one when it was still sold as a kit. Fortunately something that was never going to be possible.
Kit planes are perfectly safe as long as you follow the instructions and have training in how to operate them. Major kit makers include Vans, Rans, Bearcat, Sling, and others.
That said, general aviation as a whole is about as safe as riding a motorcycle so not super safe, but it’s per similar as far as safety between home builts and certified.
He’s from the flight training capital of the world and he’s kind of a prominent figure in the community. It’s not a stretch. Everyone from there knows him. 🤷♂️
Probably yes. There have been several times redbull applied for a permit to do something unhinged, got denied, did it anyway, and the pilots involved lost their liscences permanently. I think one was a guy jumping out of a plane in a wingsuit and landing in another plane or something like that.
If you don't want to fly weapons of war then the way to do it in the US is to start an LLC focused on a product or service that requires you to fly helos, and put in the effort to build a client base so that you have steady work flying. You obviously will need at minimum your VFR, a commercial rating, and a type rating. Your operations costs will be tax deductions, and it may take longer than the military but you will get to fly on your own terms.
I am truly curious about the pilots behind these stunts. I am a fellow pilot, and I just can’t imagine risking my ratings and my time built on such potentially litigious behavior.
Already, most of these stunts tread the line of FAA legality, but if something went wrong and someone got hurt or killed, you can kiss your licenses goodbye along with your career. Insanity. Not a mentor worth idolizing.
Level at like 15 knots over the water with a great visual reference to the boat? Seems pretty easy for the heli too? (I mean easy for a Red Bull heli pilot)
at least this person is out on a lake and not putting anyone in harms way whereas the 18 year old kid who opened fire into a crowd at 2 different locations in Orlando sure was trying to kill others.......
LoneStarGeneral@reddit
What model of helicopter is this?
Player142@reddit
Looks to be the Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm BO-105, Looks like the one we had at my school. If not the BO-105, then some varation of it.
Pvt_Haggard_610@reddit
Looks like you are right. They covered up the registration for the video though. https://www.flyingbulls.at/en/fleet/bo105-c
Kotukunui@reddit
The Bo-105’s rigid rotor system makes it suitable for aerobatic stunt work. Other choppers have hinged rotors and just can’t do the loops and rolls thing. That plus it is quite a small airframe with two engines, which gives it a great power-to-weight ratio.
Environmental-Fee872@reddit
That’s pretty cool, but was that what they were going for?
graspedbythehusk@reddit
Yeah but why?
XenoRyet@reddit
You could ask the same of their F1 team, or tons of other things, and the answer is: Rule of cool.
Essentially there is a section of their marketing department that is paired up with a corporate vision and culture that says: So what cool shit could we get up to if we had infinite money?
And since they basically do have infinite money, they get up to that shit because it's cool and someone wants to try it.
hughk@reddit
F1 is highly regulated though. The cars, the tracks and the teams. It isn't risk free but in no way can it be compared to the average Red-Bull stunt.
GayRacoon69@reddit
For fun and marketing. It's a cool stunt
graspedbythehusk@reddit
Meh
SALOHCINOLAS@reddit
Cuz it's cool as shit
ParrotyParityParody@reddit
Didn’t realize you could waterski on just your feet…
wiltony@reddit
Yeah you have to go really fast and have really smooth water, but "going barefoot" has indeed been around a while.
crooks4hire@reddit
Helps to have long, flat feet too
Packin_Penguin@reddit
Helps yes, but anyone can do it (theoretically speaking)
crooks4hire@reddit
I was trying to make a skin joke 😂
Dr5TRANG3L0VE@reddit
W8
Zavier13@reddit
Been a thing for a long time.
JoshS1@reddit
What came first the feetski or the waterski?
Conch-Republic@reddit
My fiends and I used to do this when we were teenagers. We got together and found a shitty little aluminum boat with a big ass outboard, I think it was an old Evinrude 75, and we'd tow eachother around doing this. I'm surprised we all managed to survive. My buddy pulled me so fast that it made my feet swell up and blister. That shitty little boat would do like 45 wide open.
iltfs@reddit
Look up Banana George if you get some time.
TLDR: Famous for barefoot skiing while holding the rope in his teeth, and he did it into his 90s.
Fidget08@reddit
You can even waterski on your butt.
FujitsuPolycom@reddit
Cleanse toxins with this one easy trick!
agha0013@reddit
It is an x games event (if x games still exist)
It's rough on the feet even in glass smooth water. They'd coat their feet with something like superglue as a form of ablative armor.
For x games they'd use 200hp speed boats for it.
Timtam1225@reddit
average redbull office lunch break
PDXGuy33333@reddit
Has Redbull ever killed anyone? If not, how come?
beastpilot@reddit
Yes, both the stunts and the consumer product.
Stunt wise, at least one Red Bull Air race pilot, and as of 2013 there were already 7 related deaths:
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/red-bull-stunt-marketing-extreme-sports-death-464619
Embarrassed-Term-965@reddit
The most surprising thing about that article is that he died from an engine failure on landing, and it had nothing to do with the stunt.
IWasGregInTokyo@reddit
Plus that plane is notoriously difficult to fly even with the engine working. Tiny little wings. Dreamt about buying and building one when it was still sold as a kit. Fortunately something that was never going to be possible.
Embarrassed-Term-965@reddit
People will say "oh you shouldn't do your own home electrical wiring, just call an electrician to be safe" and then do shit like this.
bowling128@reddit
Kit planes are perfectly safe as long as you follow the instructions and have training in how to operate them. Major kit makers include Vans, Rans, Bearcat, Sling, and others.
That said, general aviation as a whole is about as safe as riding a motorcycle so not super safe, but it’s per similar as far as safety between home builts and certified.
IWasGregInTokyo@reddit
Funnily enough I did end up replacing all the knob-and-tube wiring in my house by myself.
Did get it inspected of course.
Capt-Soliman@reddit
I had the privilege to be able to lead the restoration of a BD-5 this spring and put in on display at a museum. Beautiful little plane!
IWasGregInTokyo@reddit
Richard Bach’s BD-5J was the coolest thing.
Capt-Soliman@reddit
Man that thing is so cool
OVERWEIGHT_DROPOUT@reddit
Are you saying Redbull drinks aren’t a thing anymore?
tothemoonandback01@reddit
Redbull drinks give you angel wings.
AmazingFlightLizard@reddit
But that's not... oh.
janerbabi@reddit
Wait a sec.. I thought liquid death was secretly water not Redbull 🥸
eatmydeck@reddit
Idk if this is serious, but I think he means the people drinking them.
DaYooper@reddit
With the extreme shit they pull... not a bad track record.
Pastill@reddit
Should have drank a Red Bull, could have used those wings.
Sgt-Tibbs@reddit
Omg Parks Bonifay! Used to know the guy doing the bare footing
Atfhatesdogs@reddit
Did you ever wakeboard with him? He inspired me to wakeboard and I’ve been doing that shit for awhile now
Sgt-Tibbs@reddit
I attempted it but stuck to the photography side
Atfhatesdogs@reddit
Ever photograph any wakeboarding events? And if you have, have you done any in NC?
Peregrine7710@reddit
I didn’t realize that was Parks. Definitely looks like Florida. Wow it’s been so long since I was familiar with that world.
OVERWEIGHT_DROPOUT@reddit
Sure pal.
hay-gfkys@reddit
He’s from the flight training capital of the world and he’s kind of a prominent figure in the community. It’s not a stretch. Everyone from there knows him. 🤷♂️
Sgt-Tibbs@reddit
You did anything with water sports in central Florida and you knew the Bonifay’s
Packin_Penguin@reddit
I grew up on Lake Weir. I know the Bonifay name.
iupvotefood@reddit
I had a subscription to Wakeboarding Magazine and I know the Bonifay bros
OVERWEIGHT_DROPOUT@reddit
Parks Bonifay is a professional wake boarder. Try again.
chaseinger@reddit
that's right. you don't.
Bradjuju2@reddit
Does the FAA hate redbull?
IAMAHobbitAMA@reddit
Probably yes. There have been several times redbull applied for a permit to do something unhinged, got denied, did it anyway, and the pilots involved lost their liscences permanently. I think one was a guy jumping out of a plane in a wingsuit and landing in another plane or something like that.
Mimshot@reddit
I’ve got 350hrs and don’t want to be a CFI. How do I get a job doing this to build to 1500?
Cosmotronia@reddit
If you don't want to fly weapons of war then the way to do it in the US is to start an LLC focused on a product or service that requires you to fly helos, and put in the effort to build a client base so that you have steady work flying. You obviously will need at minimum your VFR, a commercial rating, and a type rating. Your operations costs will be tax deductions, and it may take longer than the military but you will get to fly on your own terms.
RobertWilliamBarker@reddit
Military
Mimshot@reddit
lol you’re not wrong
ZC205@reddit
“Doesn’t get much crazier than that!”
Red Bull: “Hold my….Red Bull”
hellswaters@reddit
I would probably say this isn't even the craziest thing they have done/tried.
ZC205@reddit
Catching the guy flying in the squirrel suit through the side door of a prop plane was always the one that blew my mind.
mpg111@reddit
sensiblechuckle.gif
flyboy1964@reddit
Too many Redbulls gives you wings to totally fuck you up. 🫣🤣
Significant-Royal283@reddit
Nice job to the camera drone pilot
Rezolution134@reddit
I am truly curious about the pilots behind these stunts. I am a fellow pilot, and I just can’t imagine risking my ratings and my time built on such potentially litigious behavior.
Already, most of these stunts tread the line of FAA legality, but if something went wrong and someone got hurt or killed, you can kiss your licenses goodbye along with your career. Insanity. Not a mentor worth idolizing.
Dirty_Casual_@reddit
IIRC they do these stunts in countries with more lax flight rules
Rezolution134@reddit
Thanks for the reply. That actually does make sense.
FakeSafeWord@reddit
I want to fly helicopters. How do I get to do that?
TxManBearPig@reddit
Military
FakeSafeWord@reddit
I'm 37. I think my options are learning in VR and then stealing a helicopter.
PastyPilot@reddit
Average redbull employee on a tuesday afternoon
HeadlineINeed@reddit
Hey boss, gonna be late. Foot water skiing from the helicopter.
Ok_Feature_9772@reddit
Lunch break
Bob70533457973917@reddit
One person's crazy is another's thrilling.
NaiveChoiceMaker@reddit
Someday, Redbull is going to stop doing crazy stunts and we are going to kick ourselves for not appreciating it in the moment.
TeamBleuCheese@reddit
Am I the only one who thought they were about to be swallowed by a leviathan from the deep at the end
JoshS1@reddit
Average day in Florida
Zabuza-ofthe-Mist@reddit
Is this all that impressive?
ComicOzzy@reddit
Try it.
shniken@reddit
Coach would have put me in 4th quarter. we'd have been state champions. no doubt. no doubt
wstsidhome@reddit
How much you wanna bet I could throw this football over them mountains?
New-Resolution9735@reddit
The person on the water? I suppose, but nothing insane
The pilots? Absolutely cooking
beastpilot@reddit
Level at like 15 knots over the water with a great visual reference to the boat? Seems pretty easy for the heli too? (I mean easy for a Red Bull heli pilot)
XenoRyet@reddit
That's kind of the thing though, isn't it?
That's a little bit like saying that driving around Monaco in a minute twelve on a clear dry day seems easy. (I mean easy for an F1 driver).
That qualifier is pretty fucking important.
Mercury1600@reddit
No it's not. Any person decent at bare footing could pull this off and much more impressive stunts
GayRacoon69@reddit
Okay then you do better then
wstsidhome@reddit
That Red Bull choppah’ gave him wiiiings!
(Get to zee choppahhhhhh) - who gets it?!?
Intheswing@reddit
Another reason our health insurance is getting higher - how many of these goofballs get injured before they get the video
jumpy_finale@reddit
James Bond water skiing behind a floatplane:
https://youtu.be/9GAmE2KkCQY
pnxstwnyphlcnnrs@reddit
was thinking oh it'd be cooler if he skied from the chopper... Aaaaand it was
Embarrassed-Term-965@reddit
That wasn't actually part of the stunt, he just drank too much redbull.
Julius-Prime@reddit
Stupid
NoResult486@reddit
White people tryna kill themselves…
lothcent@reddit
at least this person is out on a lake and not putting anyone in harms way whereas the 18 year old kid who opened fire into a crowd at 2 different locations in Orlando sure was trying to kill others.......
InTheSky57@reddit
That looks like so much fun…even with a broken leg
RowAwayJim91@reddit
At first I thought the helicopter was skiing lol
Razgriz008@reddit
This doesn't look that crazy tbh
EnlightenedBuddah@reddit
(yawwwwn)