Despite military aircraft carriers plying the world’s oceans for more than a century, no pilot has ever landed a plane on a moving train before last Sunday. Italian stunt pilot Dario Costa landed and took off from a freight train in Turkey with his Zivko Edge 540. The former national aerobatic champion added the distinction to numerous world records and the first-ever flight through a tunnel. However, this Red Bull-backed feat wouldn’t have been possible without practicing with a pair of electric hypercars.
Considering that the makeshift deck on top of the shipping container is a fraction of the size of a carrier deck, this is a significantly more difficult task. There is also no stop cable to slow the landing plane. The train had to travel at a top speed of 120.5 kilometers per hour over a 2.5 kilometer stretch of straight track to make the stunt possible. Costa flew his plane at a speed of 90 kilometers per hour, almost stalling speed, as he aligned the plane for landing. The Italian was confronted with turbulence from the train while carefully descending. Once Costa landed, he quickly rose back into the air in celebration.
During practice, a Rimac hypercar backed down a runway
The Nevera R is far from the typical aerobatic training instrument. The hypercar’s four electric motors delivered 2,107 hp, allowing the Rimac to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 1.74 seconds. The EV’s remarkable acceleration made it ideal for multiple practice runs where it continually accelerated backwards at the speed of the train. However, there is a huge price difference between the plane and the electric hypercar. A base Nevera R starts at over $2 million, while a Zivko Edge 540 costs around $249,000.
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