Incredible video shows a replica Spitfire perform a perfect gear-up landing

A pilot landed his 80% replica Spitfire without landing gear.

On Jul. 19, a pilot carried out a perfect emergency landing of his replica Spitfire without landing gear.

The aircraft was flying at Sibson airfield, UK, when the pilot radioed that he could not extend the aircraft’s landing gear.

While emergency services arrived at the scene, the pilot circled nearby for about 20 minutes to burn fuel before attempting a belly landing.

The pilot managed to land the Spitfire on the grass runway and walked away unharmed. The replica plane appears to be little damaged.

 

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

9 Comments

  1. Actually, it was not perfect. He should have shut down his engine and glided in at a steeper glide slope and then pulled up for the belly landing. Hitting the ground with a running engine, he will now have a full tear down and rebuild of that as well. A huge mistake.

Comments are closed.