Polish pilot Luc Cipela (39 years) succeeded in landing his plane on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, in a historic achievement by the standards of the world of aviation, as part of an experience that is the first of its kind in the world, despite the great difficulty involved in the attempt to land due to its being A two-winged plane on a platform for helicopter landings, at an altitude of 212 meters, while the 56-storey hotel building adjoins it.
What increases the importance of this successful attempt today, Tuesday, is the extent of its difficulty, as the plane is prepared to land on the flight runway, which is usually equipped with visual signals to guide the pilot to land, while those planes need a long distance to land, while Chipilla was not in front of him. He is a former champion in the “Challenge” category of the “Red Bull” air race, with only 27 meters to stop his “Cap Crafters Stull” (Carbon Cab model / short takeoff and landing) after landing at a speed of 43 kilometers per hour, adding a new achievement to his record. He recorded his outstanding achievements, through which he sought to prove his superiority and exceptional skills in the field of aviation.
The Polish pilot has continued to prepare for this experience since 2021, as he completed about 650 test landings in Poland, the United States and Dubai, to gain confidence and the ability to achieve this achievement on a helipad without visible reference points, but all of these experiments were conducted on the ground level, which is Which is completely different from what happens when landing on a very high surface.
On this occasion, Luc Chipilla, Airbus A320 Pilot Captain, expressed his happiness at achieving this achievement in Dubai, stressing that the experience was not easy and required great effort to prepare for it and said: “The biggest challenge was the lack of external reference points, which are Which you usually find in airports and on the runway that extends to hundreds of meters.”
He added, “When I usually approach the runway, I can see the plane’s height above the ground, and thus easily control the landing path. Today, the land was more than 212 meters below me, and the helipad disappeared from the front of the plane, coinciding with the shrinking of everything that was surrounding it.” With the last reference points in front of me gone, I had to rely on my experiments and my senses to stop the plane before I ran out of space.”
The hardest ever
About his exceptional experiences in the field of aviation, Cibyla said: “My greatest passion is aerobatics. I have performed many unconventional flight shows of varying degrees of difficulty, flying my plane under the bridges of Warsaw, and this was with a difficulty level of 5 out of 10; and landed on the pier of Sopot, The longest wooden pier in Europe, in 2019, with a difficulty score of 7 out of 10. However, the descent on the Burj Al Arab was 11 out of 10. We needed the right wind speed and direction: a little wind to stop me, and a lot of it It would generate such turbulence that it would sway my plane like a leaf in the fall.”
The Polish pilot, Luc Chipiela, concluded his speech by expressing his thanks to everyone who supported him in this unique experience, including people and destinations, through whose support he was able to achieve this dream that he had, stressing his deep appreciation for the Emirate of Dubai, which gave him the opportunity to accomplish this historical experience, and its vision that supports creators. All innovative ideas.
Geometric adjustments
The famous American aeronautical engineer, inventor and aircraft manufacturer, Mike Patty, provided support to the Chibiella team, as he made a number of modifications to the plane, most notably reducing its weight to 400 kilograms, moving the main fuel tank to the back to enhance brake action, adding nitrous tanks to enhance energy and the success of the second challenge of take-off. From the helipad.
“The biggest challenge we had was reducing the weight of the plane,” Patty said. “Any moving mass cannot be stopped easily, and if we didn’t stop the plane, Luke would have jumped it off the other side of the building. Flying a lighter plane meant that the wind would manipulate it more easily, and that “The control is going to get weaker. Given that, with a tall building right next to the helipad, there’s weird air currents going over and around it. So we were hoping for some nice headwinds to help with the descent, but not much.”
Regarding the second challenge of taking off from an area the size of a tennis court, which means the need for small weight and high energy, Bate said: “We added nitrous tanks to obtain high energy without much weight, as this fuel accelerates combustion in the engine, which drives its cylinders to accelerate more.”
He continued, “We made the perfect plane for this project, but we needed the right person to fly it. There are only two people I feel comfortable doing this attempt with. Luke is definitely the right person.”
It is noteworthy that this unique and exceptional experience is not the only one, and it was not the first witnessed by the helicopter landing pad of the Burj Al Arab Hotel, which has a unique design inspired by the shape of the sail, and is considered one of the most important landmarks of Dubai and is classified among the most luxurious in the world. In 2005, a match was organized on the same platform that brought together world tennis stars Roger Federer and Andre Agassi, to be the first tennis match to be held at such a high altitude. And in 2013, David Coulthard gave great performances by spinning a Formula 1 car around itself at the top of the podium, which also witnessed in 2019 a jump performed by cyclist Chris Kyle from a helicopter to land with his bike on the Burj Al Arab helipad.
