On the subject of Tex Johnson and safety, there’s a story that he was asked which, of all the types of aircraft that he’d flown, is the safest. He said, something like: “The safest aircraft? That would have to be the Piper Cub.” When asked why, he said: “Because it can only just kill you.”
Procurement agents are not pilots, nor do they think like pilots. They are desk weasels and flim-flam artists. His demonstration was intended to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities in the hands of a skilled test pilot. Instead, it literally frightened these little nerds to think Boeing would employ such a wanton madman.
Tex was a great guy. His youngest daughter Barbara and I were very close friends in the late 50's early 60's. Tex and his wife Delores and my parents were also good friends so I spent a lot of time at their home. Being a young kid, I didn't realize what he did for a living, he was just my good friend's dad and a lot of fun.
It’s no different than a smaller plane. As long as the roll doesn’t overstress the aircraft which as he explains wasn’t any risk at all. Apparently it’s possible in a Cessna but il let you search for that
When Tex says '1 G maneuver' he's pointing out that if you do a barrel roll perfectly you don't even feel like you're upside down. That engineer could have been standing in the aisle taking the picture. Not to diminish the awesomeness of the photo. Tex was famous for putting a glass of water on the dash and doing a barrel roll without spilling a drop, that man knew his barrel rolls.
Tex was correct. If done right, it is a 1g maneuver. Bob Hoover used to demonstrate this by pouring a cup of tea into a glass sitting on the glare shield of his Shrike while rolling the aircraft with his other hand. You can see the video here on Y.T. and it shows the tea going into the glass just as if he were flying straight and level which is also 1g. These guys were great pilots.
Exactly- ‘controlled’. If he’d tried to swing a quick 1 he may have snapped a wing off. He knew what he was doing - in his hands it was a very safe maneuver.
Except it wasn't fine or capable or being done correctly, he damaged the airframe. Crews discovered one of the bulkheads had an entire row of rivet popped out. My grandfather was an engineer at Boeing back then and internally they were less than thrilled.
When UA-cam was two years old, this video was uploaded. Now here we are, thirteen years later enjoying it again thanks to the ever popular algorithm that brings things out from deep down at the bottom of the servers. I hope to enjoy this again in another thirteen years.
Yeah, but when he landed, he probably never be allowed to fly any plane again, even a Cessna, ultra light, a glider or PPC, aka powered parachute plane. Heck, they would probably put him on the “No Fly” list
Tex Johnson was a product of Boeing B47 test program. See video here of "Boeing B47 combat manuevers" shows the B47 doing the Barrel roll and immelmann manuvers,here on You Tube...good video too. Thats what happens when you put a WW II fighter pilot in a test program. Tex started out his jet flying on the Bell P59A, America's first jet. He is one Hell of a pilot...RIP Tex...
The Boeing 707 is used as the platform for the US Air Force AWACS and JSTARS, as well as other amazing surveillance platforms. This video here is a good explanation of why. Thank you, Tex. I wouldn't hate my job without you! 😁
A huge paradigm shift, brought by the 707. It’s actually a little spooky how good this plane was, compared to what came before. Prop liners flying in storms vs 610mph 7 miles up
@@whdbnrm3023well Howard was in bed with TWA and Douglas on the rival DC8 program so probably would’ve been telling Donald Douglas that now Boeing have rolled the 707, we’re just gonna have to loop the DC8!
This happened after the De Havilland Comet suffered several disastrous in-flight break-ups. People who saw that probably figured that the 707 could do that it would survive regular flight.
The breakups were due to metal fatigue after many flights - this one was new so that reasoning doesn't really work. The lessons learned by De Havilland (and the humans lives lost) benefited the whole of the industry. But it cost them dearly.
Boeing got their own lesson : multiple crashes due to metal fatigue around loading doors. Doors which had a very specific design to be able to make them bigger than previously was possible.
Well.. seems like 41.000 flights without any incidents were good enough for them... "After one year of service, 130 MAXs had been delivered to 28 customers, logging over 41,000 flights in 118,000 hours and flying over 6.5 million passengers." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_MAX#Introduction (And main source referenced on wiki)
@@romangeneral23 Too bad that there are people in the world who need to blame others by made up stories, because the actual topics are far beyond their horizon.
@@sirifail4499 With the significant training you have, I want to take advantage and ask a couple of things. 1) Because such a plane is not intended for maneuvers like this, was there any risk of the airframe coming apart altogether? And 2) do you know of any commercial aviation pilots that, given the chance and with only their own lives on the line, would attempt to do such a thing? Thanks.
@@maxtew6521 as he said in the video it's a one G maneuvers, the airframe doesn't see the difference with level flight if realized perfectly. It's called a barrel roll and any aircraft could do it, given the good pilot at the control. Bob Hoover might have been the other one capable of doing it. Do it today and you would basically be fired instantly. It doesn't prove anything in termes of airplane capabilities but can quickly become a risky maneuver with overpeed and overstress risk if not well executed
It was actually a little more impressive than what Tex says here. First of all it was at the Safari hydroplane race in front of hundreds of thousands of fans. Secondly he came in at 100 feet over the barge with the airline execs on it, pulled up did a roll then turned around, buzzed them a second time and did a second roll! My parents were there for the race and dad, who was a pilot and would later fly the DC-8, had his movie camera with him but sadly was out of film by then. I do have film of the hydros racing however but that is all. I met Tex once just before he passed and got an autographed copy of his book Tex Johnson Jet-Age Test Pilot.
Hahaha I love the picture of the engine facing up and the lake below. Considering this was done in 1955 on a civilian aircraft... WOW! Tex got some big cajones!
It blew my mind when I saw him do it (as a kid) - The Gold cup Hydroplane race was in Seattle that year and that added to it. Putting it mind blowingly beyound belief.
Well, there's a case in Brazil in which the plane was being hijacked. The pilot turned it upside down trying to make the hijacker fall. They landed successfully. I've heard that Bin Laden planned the 9/11 bases on this case, attacking a government or important place from a country. Search for "Vasp 375". Interesting story.
@Te Amo Sorry for my mistake. But the general idea is: Who planned the 9/11 may have based the idea on this case. (As I've heard). Don't have to attack me. :)
The VERY FIRST TIME I sat in a small plane, an Extra 300L, we flew to an open uncontrolled airspace area. When we arrived, the FIRST THING WE DID, a roll, after the second demo, the instructor had me do it. It was epic. 18 hours of lessons later, I was snap rolling and doing more advanced maneuvers. BEST. FLYING. EVER.
@@codymoe4986 Dual, bruh. Yes, I had thousands of sim hours by then. I did not land and I wasn’t as crisp as I became with hours and hours of practice.
@@cmdmd So the first REAL flying, you were allowed to do, were risky aerobatic maneuvers, that have zero to do with the important ones, like takeoff ms, stalls, and landings? Smart choice.. P.S. I. Am. Not. Your. Brother.
There was a pilot who once inverted an out of control plane. The plane only just crashed but a couple of people died. The rest of the passengers survived and he was hailed as a hero. Later, he admitted to being an alcoholic and that not only was drunk at the time of the incident but also drunk during the inquest. He was jailed. I think he went on to protecting the innocent against violent injustices. You can contact him by email. I think he goes by the name “The Equalizer”.
And sell they did. The 707 is a terrific aircraft. Got about 3000 hours in the 707-320B. Enjoyed every hour. I recall visiting the graveyard in Arizona and got to see the Dash 80 for some time before they moved it to the Boeing museum.
Either they were saying "I'm in danger" and praying OR going "Yeeeeeeeeee Haaaaawwwww!!!!" CEO Bill Allen's biggest worry was watching Boeing get financially tanked if the Dash-80 crashed..
I met Tex one day, and he told me “I have rolled every product the Boeing Company makes”! I said you haven’t rolled a 747? He repeated, “I have rolled every product the Boeing Company makes”! Incidentally, I was friend’s with Jim Gannet, the first officer on the famous flight over Lake Washington. Jim told me Tex and he had been practicing the roll out at Tatoosh for a week prior to the big day. The morning of the seafair races, Tex says to Jim, I’m gonna do the roll today. Jim replied, it’s your job, not mine.
This is true a 1 G roll PERFORMED CORRECTLY is safe and will not damage the aircraft. I had a old navy pilot who was a corporate pilot at this time who rolled everything we had. Falcon jets roll good he would tell me. Everything in the galley never moved and not one drop spilled or bottle laid over.
"you know that, and now we know that. Just don't do it anymore." Totally different time. Tex woulda been fired, sued, tried and convicted if he did that in this day and age.
He was probably concidered a "Daredevil" in his own right, though Tex made a program in it's own existence, as a beneficial driver to a company like Boeing, not a mockery. He was as great a man that stood the time to prove to the world that, with the right preparations, a civilian jetliner like the 707, can do the inevitable. He certainly knew how to impress the airlines, and get them to buy some airplanes, one has to wonder.
This was the first 707 and is actually a very low hours plane. If I remember it was a freight carrier for a while and ended up stored out in the desert for years. Then it was scheduled Tobe scrapped. Boing employees knew about it and said why are we scrapping this plane ? The big wings finally came to their senses, cleaned it up and put it back to the original livery you see here. 1:02
He actually rolled it twice at that event. When he says, “…it’s a one-G maneuver” that means that the centrifugal force caused by the roll balances out the downward force of gravity. The instruments, the people on board, the engines, the entire plane itself never knew it was upside down.
Tex was bad ass, this is back when pilots had balls. Other pilots have had balls too, but they don't always survive. As the old saying goes, " there are old pilots, and bold pilots, but there are no old and bold pilots. " But like he said, the roll was absolutely non hazardous, but very impressive.
I had friends at work that flew In the Air Force.They flew on the weekends In rented planes with friends to cover expenses for fun.They flew small,and large planes like the 707 part time delivering planes for buyers.The scary stuff(weather, equipment failure)stories still give me the chills.This Pilot here Is at a level normal people don't understand.Its Air force pilots like this that protect our country.Most of our brave pilots would jump at the chance to show their skills.Tex Is one of many BMFERS.
Poor man, imagine if he did it today! Suspended, demoted, dismissed, trialed, losing his Licence and dying bankrupt with all compensations demanded. Deplorable world.
@duartesimoes508 Did you really just get upset at the world, and sad about a hypothetical situation that never happened, that you made up? My friend, go find the positive things life offers, and stop choosing to be so negative. You are actively making the world a worse place to be for everyone around you by leaving comments like that.
@Thomas Jefferson I am saying the negative votes are likely down to Boeings recent failings; unrelated to this video. The pilots in this video are phenomenal and I am sure Boeing back then weren’t the shady under pressure Boeing of today. They rushed the 737 Max, cutting corners and to keep it within the constraints of its common type certificate. This fundamentally was the problem, MCAS was not only flawed but the pilots weren’t even fully aware of it - this all lies with Boeing. The FAA aren’t squeaky clean with all this either.
Tex was buddies with bob Hoover - another top test pilot of the times…… they could fly on the edge and knew their aircraft through and through. Bob ended up selling airplanes for a company called Rockwell. Bob sold aircraft the same way Tex did…… Legends of their time !
My boss in the navy was a flight instructor. It was news to me when he told me that the barrel roll is a one maneuver. He said " you put your coffee cup on the dashboard, do the roll and pick up your coffee cup after"
Once you realize you can maneuver the plane so it's upside-down but you're still feeling 1G "down", it becomes much easier to understand how pilots can become disoriented and lose spatial awareness while flying IFR.
If you think that feat is impressive, don't forget that there was a guy who was able to perform a steep barrel roll descent in a 757 to perfectly level out for his final approach into the side of the Pentagon.
the trouble happens when idiots try to do it with no aerobatic experience. if you've got skills the whole thing takes place at 1G and the only trouble you MIGHT have is with the gyros getting weird once you pass through 180 degrees of roll. he is totally correct, it really is a non event. when amateurs do it though, you get overspeeds and severe damage.
His son tells this story. When the maneuver was done, he recalls saying "That's my dad". AWESOME proud moment for son. Tex needed a plane that big to carry his balls!
A barrel roll is quite easy on an airplane. You could put a cup of coffee on the instrument panel and if properly performed the cup would stay put and the coffee would remain in the cup, neither shaken nor stirred.
“Just don’t do it any more.” One of the most famous anecdotes in commercial aviation caught on film. The Boeing 707 is arguably the most significant civilian aircraft ever built, certainly the most significant jet.
Arguably, the most significant was the British De Havilland Comet. The industry learned all the important lessons. The American airliners the followed (DC-8 and 707) took advantage of the lessons learned.
Johnson did this maneuver in Aug of 1955. The 707 prototype first flew in July of 1954, several months before it was known that the Comet had design issues (the second Comet crash happened in April 1954 and was still being investigated). It accumulated about 2000 test flight hours (hard hours) before being retired in the 1990"s. The 707 design was frozen years before the Comet disasters. @@StarHorseLover2012
This is Tex Johnson, your captain for this flight.
"Oh shit."
XD
* sounds of everybody buckling seatbelts without being asked *
My thoughts exactly.
@@AlecArmbruster And a hail mary.
Can I get off the plane now, captain
"What the hell were you doing?"
"Selling Airplanes"
Balls of steel.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
No, crappy pilot with an ego
@@Derek-b8q read up on Tex, he was in no way whatsoever a crappy pilot.
Null - spend a lot of time thinking about other mens' testicles, do you?
Mark Fox - You and D should hang out together.
"I was selling an airplane."
Damn good answer
Boeing didnt like it cause they didnt want people thinking this is what the plane would be doing when airlines flew it
And at the right time, too... with the DHC 106 coming apart in mid air
Clients probably came running to buy after seeing this.
On the subject of Tex Johnson and safety, there’s a story that he was asked which, of all the types of aircraft that he’d flown, is the safest.
He said, something like: “The safest aircraft? That would have to be the Piper Cub.”
When asked why, he said: “Because it can only just kill you.”
Thats funny, the piper cub is an amazing airplane
Dude I love piper cubs, their short take off and landings are awesome.
"On the subject of Tex Johnson..."
* *Johnston.*
Like the Renault Zoe is safest car.
@@joecool8315 Cubs are great but, Aronica Champions are better.
What a boss”I’m selling airplanes” He needed to be his boss’s boss.
Uhm, I think by that answer, he was.
Procurement agents are not pilots, nor do they think like pilots. They are desk weasels and flim-flam artists. His demonstration was intended to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities in the hands of a skilled test pilot. Instead, it literally frightened these little nerds to think Boeing would employ such a wanton madman.
Tex was a great guy. His youngest daughter Barbara and I were very close friends in the late 50's early 60's. Tex and his wife Delores and my parents were also good friends so I spent a lot of time at their home. Being a young kid, I didn't realize what he did for a living, he was just my good friend's dad and a lot of fun.
Nancy Johnson wow, you knew a famous guy!
Don't care
Chris Smith I do
Wow, lucky you!
Yeah, no proof, might take this with a grain of salt.
I had no idea planes that size could do those things. Amazing, and he says it like it's nothing, lol
Mantirig 41 - at no point is the aircraft undergoing more than 1g.
Imagine a380
@@markfox1545 Is what he did would be considered a zero g roll? I have heard that planes can take a very large number of G's before they break apart
@@RemixedVoice - it's not zero g, it's simply 1g. The aircraft is effectively experiencing level flight.
It’s no different than a smaller plane. As long as the roll doesn’t overstress the aircraft which as he explains wasn’t any risk at all. Apparently it’s possible in a Cessna but il let you search for that
My dad told me half the CEOs and Presidents of Boeing had heart attacks when this stunt was pulled.
The other half had strokes
Very impressive and skilled pilot.I am on my 3rd airplane and would never try that. Mr Johnson must be related to Bob Hover.
Paul H Bob hover was a legend !
Your dad bullshitted you.
When one of the CEO’s was retiring who was around during Tex’s stunt he left a note for the nearly complete 777 *“NO ROLLS”*
See you guys in another 14 years when this is recommended again
I look forward to it.
Yuuupp, see ya
See you when china will spread another virus
I hope im alive to see it!
Lol
Thank God for people like Tex who knew their job and understood their machine intimately. Big respect from me.
Just imagine how the flight engineer was feeling lol and the fact that he managed to snap a picture of it while being upside down is just amazing
Plus all the drama of film developing issues we don't even think about now...
@@JTA1961I’m sure he took more than one photo
@@DonFelixGallardostill though, all of those photos could go wrong
@@Iden_in_the_Rain "Hey Tex, the film came out blank, we need to roll a 707 again".
When Tex says '1 G maneuver' he's pointing out that if you do a barrel roll perfectly you don't even feel like you're upside down. That engineer could have been standing in the aisle taking the picture. Not to diminish the awesomeness of the photo. Tex was famous for putting a glass of water on the dash and doing a barrel roll without spilling a drop, that man knew his barrel rolls.
Tex was correct. If done right, it is a 1g maneuver. Bob Hoover used to demonstrate this by pouring a cup of tea into a glass sitting on the glare shield of his Shrike while rolling the aircraft with his other hand. You can see the video here on Y.T. and it shows the tea going into the glass just as if he were flying straight and level which is also 1g. These guys were great pilots.
Exactly- ‘controlled’. If he’d tried to swing a quick 1 he may have snapped a wing off. He knew what he was doing - in his hands it was a very safe maneuver.
Except it wasn't fine or capable or being done correctly, he damaged the airframe. Crews discovered one of the bulkheads had an entire row of rivet popped out. My grandfather was an engineer at Boeing back then and internally they were less than thrilled.
@@cup_and_cone Damn, so I guess nothing has changed about Boeings reliability
@@cup_and_cone Weird that there's no record of that even though it was flown quite a bit after this
@@cup_and_coneDon’t worry, Boeing has done a lot to make up for those damages since then. 😂
I like this guy, he had absolute confidence in what he was doing, but not from ego, I love that at 1:40 'It was fine'
He said --> “ I was flying “
"You know that now we know that, but just don't do it anymore." 😂
100% badassery.
When UA-cam was two years old, this video was uploaded. Now here we are, thirteen years later enjoying it again thanks to the ever popular algorithm that brings things out from deep down at the bottom of the servers. I hope to enjoy this again in another thirteen years.
Good point.
Glad they are not using the bottom of Coke bottles for lenses any more.
I searched for this! I heard the story but never saw the video. I love his answer so much, "I was selling planes" lmao what a boss
Its really awesome.
17 years now
I would love to be on a commercial flight and hear the pilot say, "okay everybody buckle up, we're going for a loop de loop." Yes, just for fun.
it's just a 1g maneuver so you should be fine
He would be fired on the spot!
Yeah, but when he landed, he probably never be allowed to fly any plane again, even a Cessna, ultra light, a glider or PPC, aka powered parachute plane. Heck, they would probably put him on the “No Fly” list
@@MurrayJoe I would hope anybody doesn't try any maneuvers like that in a glider!
LOL Dang I nearly peed in my pants reading your comment.
In his case de 1 in 1G refers to him, and the G means Gangsta.
No.
69 likes.. I'll leave one here. 👍
"I told him, it was one G maneuver"
Underrated
😂
Tex Johnson was a product of Boeing B47 test program. See video here of "Boeing B47 combat manuevers" shows the B47 doing the Barrel roll and immelmann manuvers,here on You Tube...good video too. Thats what happens when you put a WW II fighter pilot in a test program. Tex started out his jet flying on the Bell P59A, America's first jet. He is one Hell of a pilot...RIP Tex...
The Boeing 707 is used as the platform for the US Air Force AWACS and JSTARS, as well as other amazing surveillance platforms. This video here is a good explanation of why. Thank you, Tex. I wouldn't hate my job without you! 😁
A huge paradigm shift, brought by the 707. It’s actually a little spooky how good this plane was, compared to what came before. Prop liners flying in storms vs 610mph 7 miles up
Alien tech
Pencils, papers, and slide rules!
@@Silly_Illidan”It was aliens” -people too weak minded to remember shit that was taught in elementary school
would love to know what Howard Hughes thought about that stunt
@@whdbnrm3023well Howard was in bed with TWA and Douglas on the rival DC8 program so probably would’ve been telling Donald Douglas that now Boeing have rolled the 707, we’re just gonna have to loop the DC8!
pilots like tex and chuck yeager had balls bigger than the planes they flew
Rob W You only hear about the ones that managed to survive.
Don’t forget Bob Hoover.
I don't think the planes had balls at all?
@@unclerojelio6320 yeah remember that crazy guy that killed himself and the copilots on that military plane on a show flight.
Paraskevas Psarrakis This one? ua-cam.com/video/0HJ4z1jGEcA/v-deo.html
This happened after the De Havilland Comet suffered several disastrous in-flight break-ups. People who saw that probably figured that the 707 could do that it would survive regular flight.
The breakups were due to metal fatigue after many flights - this one was new so that reasoning doesn't really work.
The lessons learned by De Havilland (and the humans lives lost) benefited the whole of the industry. But it cost them dearly.
@@StarHorseLover2012 It sure as hell worked for the regular people that were buying airline tickets because the airline had 707s.
@@StarHorseLover2012 Metal fatigue and the square windows.
Don’t forget the Tupolev, was a “peer” of this plane.
Boeing got their own lesson : multiple crashes due to metal fatigue around loading doors.
Doors which had a very specific design to be able to make them bigger than previously was possible.
Looks like Wilford Brimley. Sounds like Jimmy Stewart. Flies like Tom Cruise. #Legend
***** Yeah man! And He almost got away with it too until you brought him to task on a UA-cam Video's comment section! #REALLegend
Flies like Tom Cruise wishes he could fly, but I take your point!
How does he not sound like Sean Connery in The Rock?
Haha, Jimmy Stewart flew for reals!
Because he was inverted!
Props to the people who made the plane, they managed to produce a passenger airplane capable of flying with this mans balls on it
When he was the pilot for the 777 in the 90s one of the last things he was told before the first flight was "no barrel rolls"
Johnston was 80 years old in 1994, and he was _not_ a test pilot for the 777. According to Wikipedia, the first flight was made by John E. Cashman.
The 777 like all airliners now have systems that stop this even if you wanted to
Dale Steel huh I didn’t know that
@@alexspalding4945 yes. Unless your rudder falls off you ain't barrel rolling lol
I wonder how hard it is to disable that "feature". Like, can air force one do a barrel roll?
My dad told me about this guy years ago and the story has always stuck with me. I love this guy. Definitely a bad ass!!
Copilot: TEX, WHATS THAT CLANKING SOUND?! SOMETHING BROKE IN THE ROLL???????
Tex: nahhh, just my BALLS that hit against each other, plane is fine
hahahahahahahaha, Tex is BOSS
To bad they didn’t test the 737 Max for 3 years before they sold them...
Too bad they sold it to third world airlines and hired idiots that didn't provide redundancy on a safety of flight system.
@@lewisparker4488 too bad they hid small details like _THIS PLANE WILL DELIBERATELY TRY TO CRASH_ from the pilots of those "third world" countries
Well.. seems like 41.000 flights without any incidents were good enough for them...
"After one year of service, 130 MAXs had been delivered to 28 customers, logging over 41,000 flights in 118,000 hours and flying over 6.5 million passengers."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_MAX#Introduction
(And main source referenced on wiki)
Too bad they out sourced the software coding to programmers who had no experience or knowledge in aviation coding.
@@romangeneral23 Too bad that there are people in the world who need to blame others by made up stories, because the actual topics are far beyond their horizon.
This was actually the prototype Boeing 367-80 (more commonly known as the Dash 80). Basis for KC-135 tanker and 707 airliner
He seems like the coolest guy, very wholesome.
This plane is now in smithsonian air n space at Washington Dulles airport
I must go there. Thank you for the info.
I didn't realize that was the same plane. Thanks.
Right side up?
Alan Hartmann upside down
wow! i was there and i didn’t know this bit of history, i don’t even remember it, was too fascinated by the Space Shuttle
Absolute legend.
Check out how much altitude he loses in the roll too!
Yep. When a wing slices into the air sideways like that, you're pretty much eliminating lift for that span of time. Gutsy.
@@sirifail4499 With the significant training you have, I want to take advantage and ask a couple of things. 1) Because such a plane is not intended for maneuvers like this, was there any risk of the airframe coming apart altogether? And 2) do you know of any commercial aviation pilots that, given the chance and with only their own lives on the line, would attempt to do such a thing? Thanks.
@@maxtew6521 as he said in the video it's a one G maneuvers, the airframe doesn't see the difference with level flight if realized perfectly. It's called a barrel roll and any aircraft could do it, given the good pilot at the control. Bob Hoover might have been the other one capable of doing it.
Do it today and you would basically be fired instantly. It doesn't prove anything in termes of airplane capabilities but can quickly become a risky maneuver with overpeed and overstress risk if not well executed
@@MaximEck96 "if"...
2 meters and 5 centimeters
It was actually a little more impressive than what Tex says here. First of all it was at the Safari hydroplane race in front of hundreds of thousands of fans. Secondly he came in at 100 feet over the barge with the airline execs on it, pulled up did a roll then turned around, buzzed them a second time and did a second roll! My parents were there for the race and dad, who was a pilot and would later fly the DC-8, had his movie camera with him but sadly was out of film by then. I do have film of the hydros racing however but that is all. I met Tex once just before he passed and got an autographed copy of his book Tex Johnson Jet-Age Test Pilot.
Hahaha I love the picture of the engine facing up and the lake below. Considering this was done in 1955 on a civilian aircraft... WOW! Tex got some big cajones!
Hi are you still alive?? That coment is 10 years old bro
@@joaquinltaif5744 are you?
It blew my mind when I saw him do it (as a kid) - The Gold cup Hydroplane race was in Seattle that year and that added to it. Putting it mind blowingly beyound belief.
This maneuver coupled with the aircrafts capabilities made it a must have for all airlines .......
Tex - your the shit man.
Wow. I love how he explains it like he was doing a backflip on a trampoline in front of his mom and dad. Amazing
Mentour pilot is pulling off a roll in a Boeing 737 simulator, if you want to see the trampoline in action :-D
ua-cam.com/video/JhzaogGQNFU/v-deo.html
Mama mama mama mama look what I can do! Mama mama mama
Title: "Boeing 707 roll by Test Pilot Tex Johnson"
* Tex *Johnston.*
He was the only one to ever have one upside down and not crash.
haha not recorded anyway
Well, there's a case in Brazil in which the plane was being hijacked. The pilot turned it upside down trying to make the hijacker fall.
They landed successfully.
I've heard that Bin Laden planned the 9/11 bases on this case, attacking a government or important place from a country.
Search for "Vasp 375".
Interesting story.
Don't forget that guy who stole a dash 800 in Seattle
@Te Amo Sorry for my mistake. But the general idea is: Who planned the 9/11 may have based the idea on this case. (As I've heard).
Don't have to attack me. :)
Astro Filmes ^^
The VERY FIRST TIME I sat in a small plane, an Extra 300L, we flew to an open uncontrolled airspace area. When we arrived, the FIRST THING WE DID, a roll, after the second demo, the instructor had me do it. It was epic. 18 hours of lessons later, I was snap rolling and doing more advanced maneuvers.
BEST.
FLYING.
EVER.
Your first flying lessons, ever, were an introduction to aerobatic maneuvers?
Are either of you, still alive, by chance?
@@codymoe4986
Dual, bruh. Yes, I had thousands of sim hours by then. I did not land and I wasn’t as crisp as I became with hours and hours of practice.
@@cmdmd So the first REAL flying, you were allowed to do, were risky aerobatic maneuvers, that have zero to do with the important ones, like takeoff ms, stalls, and landings?
Smart choice..
P.S. I. Am. Not. Your. Brother.
@@codymoe4986
Dual Hours are with an instructor in the command seat. Extra 300L has two seats.
@@codymoe4986
Whatever.
Brother.
“It was fine.” Best way to summarize showing off with a multimillion dollar toy 😎👍🏼
There was a pilot who once inverted an out of control plane. The plane only just crashed but a couple of people died. The rest of the passengers survived and he was hailed as a hero. Later, he admitted to being an alcoholic and that not only was drunk at the time of the incident but also drunk during the inquest. He was jailed. I think he went on to protecting the innocent against violent injustices. You can contact him by email. I think he goes by the name “The Equalizer”.
And sell they did. The 707 is a terrific aircraft. Got about 3000 hours in the 707-320B. Enjoyed every hour. I recall visiting the graveyard in Arizona and got to see the Dash 80 for some time before they moved it to the Boeing museum.
I remember seeing it at Davis-Monthan when we flew the last active duty Navy Phantoms there in 1986.
"We know that, but just don't do it anymore". They clearly didn't know.
"You know that, now we know that" yea they clearly didnt know that xD
"You know that, *now* we know that..."
Think I'd ask the question. How did you know that before? He's clearly done it prior to this. Haha
"..just don't do it anymore." "Okay" *Does a looping instead*
He's talked to him AFTER the flight lol. We know that, as in everyone on the ground watching, you know that.
The test engineer who took the picture while upside down: I'm in danger
Delete this
@@MrBsvc why
@@ohhellothere3775 its cringe and not funny
@@MrBsvc and i dont give a shit about your opinion
Either they were saying "I'm in danger" and praying OR going "Yeeeeeeeeee Haaaaawwwww!!!!" CEO Bill Allen's biggest worry was watching Boeing get financially tanked if the Dash-80 crashed..
"One of my test engineers happened to have his camera with him and snapped a picture while at the same time shitting his pants...."
Nice to hear Robert Vaughn as the narrator. He was great in Bullitt.
If you've never watched the television series Hustle, I highly recommend it. Robert Vaughan plays a central character and is in nearly all episodes.
@@cdhilton7124 Thanks, I'll check it out!
“It was fine.” - Tex Johnson
I met Tex one day, and he told me “I have rolled every product the Boeing Company makes”! I said you haven’t rolled a 747? He repeated, “I have rolled every product the Boeing Company makes”! Incidentally, I was friend’s with Jim Gannet, the first officer on the famous flight over Lake Washington. Jim told me Tex and he had been practicing the roll out at Tatoosh for a week prior to the big day. The morning of the seafair races, Tex says to Jim, I’m gonna do the roll today. Jim replied, it’s your job, not mine.
This is true a 1 G roll PERFORMED CORRECTLY is safe and will not damage the aircraft. I had a old navy pilot who was a corporate pilot at this time who rolled everything we had. Falcon jets roll good he would tell me. Everything in the galley never moved and not one drop spilled or bottle laid over.
Flew overseas on the 707 a few times in the 70s. Awesome aircraft. She look like she was flapping her wings sometimes.
now thats how you sale airplanes
of course you role them to lol
That doesn't work for selling boats. It also doesn't work for sailing boats.
Tex Johnson is about as American a name as you can get. What a absolute mad-lad rolling a commercial Boeing like it's nothing lol
Tex you were a badass and thank you to all test pilots out there. You are brave men and women.
This is why Boeing is flown all over the world! Well done Tex well done.....
That's the type of pilot I want in the cockpit if something goes wrong.
I love the old America!! Not worried about what people think all the time!! Great Pilot!! True American Icon!!💯👊🏽
"you know that, and now we know that. Just don't do it anymore." Totally different time. Tex woulda been fired, sued, tried and convicted if he did that in this day and age.
"Tex Jonhson convicted of terrorism and sexual assault as plane comes forward after years of abuse"
@@asasasasa3739 😂 I'm dead 😂
In this day & age some baggage handler steals the plane for an aerobatic joyride suicide.
Awesome, I didn't know footage and that photo existed. Thanks for the interview clip.
Does Tex sound like Jimmy Stewart?
Merrrry Christmass everbodahh!!!!!
Stewart was a pilot during ww2
He was probably concidered a "Daredevil" in his own right, though Tex made a program in it's own existence, as a beneficial driver to a company like Boeing, not a mockery. He was as great a man that stood the time to prove to the world that, with the right preparations, a civilian jetliner like the 707, can do the inevitable. He certainly knew how to impress the airlines, and get them to buy some airplanes, one has to wonder.
This was the first 707 and is actually a very low hours plane. If I remember it was a freight carrier for a while and ended up stored out in the desert for years. Then it was scheduled Tobe scrapped. Boing employees knew about it and said why are we scrapping this plane ? The big wings finally came to their senses, cleaned it up and put it back to the original livery you see here. 1:02
Best airplane video of all time. There will never be another Tex.
He actually rolled it twice at that event.
When he says, “…it’s a one-G maneuver” that means that the centrifugal force caused by the roll balances out the downward force of gravity.
The instruments, the people on board, the engines, the entire plane itself never knew it was upside down.
Thats a Great pilot right there. Made me smile.😎👍
"Selling airplanes"
1 g maneuver is key ❤ Confident pilot 👌
This interview doesn't include the fact he was just about to retire.... Tex you are a legend...thank you
It’s all fun and games until the sky is below you...
...and then you realize you’re in a 707 flown by Tex Johnston.
Tex was bad ass, this is back when pilots had balls. Other pilots have had balls too, but they don't always survive. As the old saying goes, " there are old pilots, and bold pilots, but there are no old and bold pilots. " But like he said, the roll was absolutely non hazardous, but very impressive.
Love that video! TEX was a real good pilot and a real man!
That was a righteous “Called me into the office Monday morning...” move. Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
Perfect example of
1) Do First
2) Ask Later
I had friends at work that flew In the Air Force.They flew on the weekends In rented planes with friends to cover expenses for fun.They flew small,and large planes like the 707 part time delivering planes for buyers.The scary stuff(weather, equipment failure)stories still give me the chills.This Pilot here Is at a level normal people don't understand.Its Air force pilots like this that protect our country.Most of our brave pilots would jump at the chance to show their skills.Tex Is one of many BMFERS.
Poor man, imagine if he did it today! Suspended, demoted, dismissed, trialed, losing his Licence and dying bankrupt with all compensations demanded.
Deplorable world.
@duartesimoes508 Did you really just get upset at the world, and sad about a hypothetical situation that never happened, that you made up?
My friend, go find the positive things life offers, and stop choosing to be so negative. You are actively making the world a worse place to be for everyone around you by leaving comments like that.
That was pure ability and craziness as well, had to be going really fast to do that, unbelievable!
Hi, still alive after Coronavirus??
@@joaquinltaif5744 oh yeah!
The dislikes are from people who failed to attain their pilots licence
Or from people who now realise what shady barsteds Boeing are allowing their planes to fly when they know they're unsafe
Thomas Jefferson seriously? The 737 Max, it’s absolutely horrendous what Boeing did
@Thomas Jefferson I am saying the negative votes are likely down to Boeings recent failings; unrelated to this video. The pilots in this video are phenomenal and I am sure Boeing back then weren’t the shady under pressure Boeing of today. They rushed the 737 Max, cutting corners and to keep it within the constraints of its common type certificate. This fundamentally was the problem, MCAS was not only flawed but the pilots weren’t even fully aware of it - this all lies with Boeing. The FAA aren’t squeaky clean with all this either.
@Thomas Jefferson You think a system that can malfunction and the pilots knowing little of what it is or what it does doesn’t make a plane unsafe?
That near tail strike, yaw right and near wing strike on take off was just as scary as the roll.
Tex was buddies with bob Hoover - another top test pilot of the times…… they could fly on the edge and knew their aircraft through and through. Bob ended up selling airplanes for a company called Rockwell.
Bob sold aircraft the same way Tex did……
Legends of their time !
My boss in the navy was a flight instructor. It was news to me when he told me that the barrel roll is a one maneuver. He said " you put your coffee cup on the dashboard, do the roll and pick up your coffee cup after"
Once you realize you can maneuver the plane so it's upside-down but you're still feeling 1G "down", it becomes much easier to understand how pilots can become disoriented and lose spatial awareness while flying IFR.
+What this plane can do?
-Well, bring some people, cargoes, high speed, and a barrel roll
+Barrel what?!
His second name was JOHNSTON.
Of course it's a fella called Tex doing crazy sh@#🤣🤣legend.
If you think that feat is impressive, don't forget that there was a guy who was able to perform a steep barrel roll descent in a 757 to perfectly level out for his final approach into the side of the Pentagon.
The best pilots are a little suicidal. Praise Allah 😎
He did the maneuver so mtfast too that none of
The cameras could catch it!
And that plane disapeared without a trace.@@Hug_life
And hide it from the cameras
the trouble happens when idiots try to do it with no aerobatic experience.
if you've got skills the whole thing takes place at 1G and the only trouble you MIGHT have is with the gyros getting weird once you pass through 180 degrees of roll. he is totally correct, it really is a non event.
when amateurs do it though, you get overspeeds and severe damage.
Keep going... you're on a roll...📉😁📈
These are the same cameras used in current times to capture UFO's
You know there real
His son tells this story. When the maneuver was done, he recalls saying "That's my dad". AWESOME proud moment for son.
Tex needed a plane that big to carry his balls!
I heard about this when I was in maintenance school 30 years ago. I’ve read about it from his book but to see it is inspiring.
What a real G!!! "I'm selling airplanes"
Seriously, someone needs to digitally enhance this video. Something this awesome needs to be seen clearly.
True that
There's probably better quality original film footage out there somewhere.
ua-cam.com/video/AaA7kPfC5Hk/v-deo.html this is a bit better
BALLS OF STEEL
A barrel roll is quite easy on an airplane. You could put a cup of coffee on the instrument panel and if properly performed the cup would stay put and the coffee would remain in the cup, neither shaken nor stirred.
I was a teen ager at the gold cup hydro races in seattle and saw it with a million others. Tex was everyones hero.
TO BARREL ROLL PRESS Z OR R TWICE!!!!
I use left thumb sticks, they got analog signal
Or F for respects, anyhow.
Use the boost to get ahead
When Boeing was still a reputable company which had customer's safety as their priority no 1. These days it's just profits.
God bless you Tex Johnson.the world needs more people like Tex
It's so rare but so nice when UA-cam sends such old videos
Well this man's 5 heart attacks of badassery with a bit of comedy in it and then some. 😂
“Just don’t do it any more.” One of the most famous anecdotes in commercial aviation caught on film. The Boeing 707 is arguably the most significant civilian aircraft ever built, certainly the most significant jet.
Arguably, the most significant was the British De Havilland Comet. The industry learned all the important lessons. The American airliners the followed (DC-8 and 707) took advantage of the lessons learned.
Johnson did this maneuver in Aug of 1955. The 707 prototype first flew in July of 1954, several months before it was known that the Comet had design issues (the second Comet crash happened in April 1954 and was still being investigated). It accumulated about 2000 test flight hours (hard hours) before being retired in the 1990"s. The 707 design was frozen years before the Comet disasters. @@StarHorseLover2012
Douglas DC-3: "Am I a joke to you?!"