Joe Yates
A video depicting the pilot in the cockpit of a firefighting jet picking up water to help distinguish a blaze has been described as one of the 'most insane s*** humans do'.
You'd have to agree with the sentiment, but the 'absurd' point-of-view recording has left people absolutely 'terrified', as well as completely mystified as to how the plane could pick up water from the sea without the trajectory of the aircraft nosediving into the ocean.
The video is believed to have been taken over the Malaga, Spain, with the promenade the jet darts over being the Palmeral de Las Sorpresas.
Taking to Reddit, users were rightfully amazed.
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One person wrote: "All things considered? This is some of the most insane s*** humans do. The amount of force the water going in, the speed of the plane, the line between f***ed and success….cool s***."
Another typed: "That looks both awesome and terrifying."
With a third penning: "Lol this is actually absurd lmfao."
Even fellow pilots were in awe at what they had just witnessed.
"Ive [sic] not got a license but I have about a dozen hours in small air craft. Flying those [aircrafts] never really appealed to be but holy hell this does," one typed.
While another stated: "The ammount of yoke movement it takes to get the airplane to react is a little crazy. Specially [sic] since I fly with finger tips in my current airplane."
But exactly how is it possible for these aircrafts to catch water at such speed and not crash?
Asking the important question, one person asked: "Can someone ELI5 [explain like I'm five] why dropping a large bucket or 'net' to grab water doesn't instantly scrub the plane's velocity and pull it into the water?
"On ships we use drogues or 'sea anchors' which are pretty much parachutes for the water, they do a surprisingly good job stopping you and keeping you from drifting. Wouldn't this work the same way, grabbing the plane in place?"
I previously thought they loaded the water up at an airport or somewhere, so I was definitely wrong!
Explaining how it's done, one helpful social media user on Reddit detailed: "Because these guys likely don’t use a giant bucket (like some helicopters do) but instead 'skim' from the top of the water.
"Imagine a water plane landing, but instead of landing you just keep skimming water in your tank through an inlet and then take off.
"Of course there’s a huge weight increase which they should account for with their power settings and adjusting the control surfaces, but it’s not one big parachute pull, but instead more gradual."
While someone else qualified those sentiments: "I think you nailed it, pics and videos of the plane dropping their payload show that it's not a bucket, it's a tank. They're siphoning water into the tank by skimming."