The Most BADASS Aircraft in the World

it's red it's big it has a 102 inch propeller connected to a 680 horsepower engine that can take off and land in less than 100 feet on top of that it holds several records and mike the owner was inducted into the sport air racing league hall of fame when you look at this plane the first thing you notice after that glossy hot red exterior is that it's massive but that's all thanks to the wilga 2000 the original plane that was modified by mike and transformed from a 260 horsepower plane into a 680 horsepower monster of the skies to achieve this they changed the engine to the pratt whitney pt6a-28 engines and the plane could reach a max speed of 205 miles per hour while the crew speed remains at 180 miles per hour even though it consumes about 28 gallons per hour at air cruising speed you don't have to worry about jet fuel which can be replaced with diesel or other fuel mixes in case they don't have jet fuel it also has a tank that can carry 160 gallons on a full tank of gas the plane has a range of 1000 miles but the most important feature is the distance the plane needs for takeoff is 78 feet with the landing distance being slightly longer standing at 97 feet thanks to his work ethic and commitment to the project mike was able to build the plane in just five months and three weeks he says he can get by on just three to four hours of sleep per night and aside from spending time with his family mike liked to spend about eight to ten hours in the garage building his giant airplane during the weekends it was not unusual for him to spend anywhere between 20 to 22 hours on the plane and then as soon as it was built draco got strapped and flown out to air venture in oshkosh in 2018. as soon as people saw the plane they lost their minds draco became insanely popular and was even featured on the cover of plane and pilot's march 2019 issue but that's not all you see mike has become a flying enthusiast he has a private helicopter a private jet and a land care legacy he used the last one to win numerous land speed records draco won the 2018 stole drag race trophy for that insanely short takeoff and landing but it didn't start with the trophies and the records it all started with a wish sure this 2008 plz-104 wilga got transformed into draco by one man working in his garage in about five months time but it didn't start there mike and mark patty are twin brothers their love for aircraft blossomed pretty recently before that they were serious entrepreneurs the company they own is called best tugs and they founded another company that does environmental cleanup for the oil industry but they weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouths even though mike was diagnosed as dyslexic he didn't let this define him instead he smashed that like button just like you should if you haven't done so already no but in all seriousness he actually used his special skill of problem solving to achieve unbelievable success the first company he started along with his brother was a decking business the other company they started was a healthcare records company by this point mike had to attend a lot of speaking engagements across the country and this meant a lot of flying sooner or later he realized that he should take up flying lessons it all started when mike went to an airshow with his in-laws who were both pilots by the way after flying to the air show and spending the entire day with the flying enthusiast there mike was convinced that he needed to learn how to fly a plane however he didn't know anything about airplanes and didn't even know where to start while still pondering on his flying lessons his brother called him the same day and said that he had something he wanted to tell him little did he know mike had something to tell mark as well letting him go first mark revealed to mike that he wanted both of them to take up flying lessons even without knowing that his brother had just attended an air show and was thinking the exact same thing mark then said that he found an instructor as well as a plane that they could buy to practice flying while they got their licenses their first cessna 172 was how mike learned to fly and since then he managed to build this beast that we now call the monster bush plane the inspiration behind it is simple mike lives in a high mountain desert there it's not uncommon to find mountains at an elevation of 14 000 feet still he wanted to take his family into the back country but at a staggering elevation so the plane mike was looking for needed to have a density altitude of 17 000 feet have enough room for four people and also be capable of carrying some camping gear however there was a problem all of the planes mike found were either way too small they couldn't reach the required altitude or both then a little light bulb went off in mike's head as he remembered that about 10 years earlier he flew a wilga the first one in production then after looking for the plane for almost two years the scavenger hunt ended mike got the last unit ever built from wilga in other words he had the first and the last wilga planes ever built they were big they were durable and they ticked both of mike's boxes for altitude and capacity but he still wasn't satisfied with the plane mike knew he wanted to change and modify something that's why he took the plane placed it in his garage put in excruciating work and in just under six months time he built a record-breaking airplane so what are some of the changes mike made on the draco well for starters the engine makes 715 horsepower but the gearbox limits him to 680. the propeller is a 102 inch four blade propeller that has an astonishing biting cord on it this is why during flight time the draco starts more like a drag car than it does a plane the entire suspension system had a remake he then fabricated his very own wheel axles the reason for this was that he wanted to fit 35-inch tires on that wilga and the original plane could only support small tires the slight change meant that the plane needed a new braking system and new hub assemblies because the pt6 produces a lot of power it also requires a lot of fuel to operate but when you take into account the speed and height ceiling these engines are even more fuel efficient than some smaller engines on some smaller planes and this is one of the reasons that he had to make a specialized fuel tank for this he transformed one of draco's legs into a fuel tank and still the wink tank feeds into the leg tank through a large line speaking of fuel tanks in the wings this is one of the other things mike had to remake for the draco since it was a big heavy plane it needed a lot of space for takeoff and landing and that's not convenient when flying in the back country the powerful engine took care of the takeoff but the landing was still a problem that's why mike redesigned the wings himself for this he added a foot of cord to the wing he changed the airfoil from end to end and then he added another six inches of length to each side of the wings the flaps became bigger and the ailerons as well all of this was done with one goal in mind reduced the stall speed by 10 miles per hour during testing he realized that the stall speed was reduced by over 20 miles per hour the tail wheel and the tail were modified as well he added some of the brightest lights on each of the wings so his friends could find each other easily when flying at night this modified wilga was a lot of fun to fly but then on september 16 2019 the draco experienced the unspeakable after the national championship air races in reno nevada mike chandra his wife and a friend all hopped on the plane and they were supposed to head home however the conditions were windy and there were strong wind gusts the plane started to wobble as it was taking off and before you knew it it crashed on the side of the runway the accident report stated a pzl 104 draco turbine wilga crashed during takeoff from reno stead airport nevada krts the pilot was departing before a weather front arrived at the airport winds were picking up and there was a strong gusting crosswind at the time of takeoff the left wing lifted during takeoff the aircraft banked to the right side of the runway coming down hard and causing a wing and landing gear to collapse the occupants were not injured talking to mike immediately after the crash he revealed that he made two mistakes the first one came when he tried to beat the weather and not try to wait a little longer for the wind to subside the second mistake came when he felt the crosswind trying to lift up his wing and for all those wondering what happened to the pile of scrap metal that they once called draco well we're proud to inform you that it lives that's what mike titled one of his youtube videos where he shows us how he repaired and flew the plane once again bye for now

Channel: Beyond Facts

Views: 80,411

Keywords: aero, aircraft, airplane, airplane crash, beyond facts, beyond facts planes, bush flying, bush plane, bush plane alaska, bush plane crash, bush plane flying, bush plane landing, bush plane short landing, bush plane short takeoff, bush plane stol, bush plane take off, draco, draco crash, fastest aircraft, flight, horizon, mike patey, pilot, stol, the most badass aircraft in the world, top 10, top 10 aircraft, turblulance

Id: fCRlqwDS8o4

Length: 8min 51sec (531 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 19 2022