Red Bull is certainly associated with some pretty spectacular achievements when it comes to flying. Two years ago, Dario Costa flew a plane through Turkey’s dual Catalca Tunnels – known as the Tunnel Pass – and back in March of this year, Lukasz Czepiela landed a Carbon Cub on the helipad of Dubai’s Burj Al Arab Jumeriah hotel – known as the Bullseye Landing.
Well, for us that enjoy time in a flight simulator, the fun doesn’t end there! Microsoft Flight Simulator released a free update that Brings Czepiela’s Achievement to the sim. The Red Bull Bullseye Landing Challenge puts pilots in the modified Red Bull CubCrafters XCub with the opportunity to recreate the achievement of landing on the helipad.
Throughout my years of playing Microsoft Flight Simulator I’ve certainly attempted some challenging features“…some may call it something other than challenging though….But hey, sims give us the opportunity to teach us what we can shouldn’t do and what we can’t definitely shouldn’t do. So when I saw they created an official challenge for the Red Bull Bullseye Challenge, I was immediately excited to give it a run!
As I began my first few attempts at recreating this achievement, I quickly encountered a number of ways on how not to do it. When I finally nailed the landing, I still ended up braking too heavy and placing my nose on the deck“…a failed landing. But I eventually landed it successfully with a straight on approach, teetering on the balance of just enough power without stalling out. I also found an approach from below the deck that stalls out the aircraft right as I get over the helipad that worked.
Overall, the Bullseye Challenge was very enjoyable to attempt and successfully complete. I also had fun finding a variety of ways to approach a successful landing while also learning what not to do at the same time. For those thinking about checking it out, it’s an easy challenge to recommend but certainly a hard one to master! Let me know if you do end up giving it a try on social!
Here’s a few looks at my successes!
