And I was lucky enough to have arrived at the private strip 20 minutes earlier. The plane had a 75' wingspan, note the wing tip clearance to the observer standing on the fence, where I WAS standing until my eyeball told me maybe not a good idea? Nothing like reverse/BETA thrust for the short strips, and they used it with gusto. The guys doing the flying were the youngest people there, go figure, they were having a great amount of fun and "working" both, always a good trick. The Polish built plane is favored for special ops activities, and apparently this short field training was part of that, note the rear doors that allow your SEAL team or whomever to cleanly egress the aircraft. It is really good knowing these guys are on our side!
The strip, one way, short but narrow.
The plane on short final, with less then 1000' left of the runway. Look at the hangar in the background, and the aerial view of the strip, to get an idea of runway remaining. Figure they were going about 60 or 70, maybe 80 mph still, note tall trees at end. This was ballsy stuff!
The plane would be handy for all kinds of things, a UPS van with wings.
