Plane lands on moving Mack truck at New York air show
A Piper J-3 Cub plane landed atop a moving Mack Granite garbage truck at the Wings Over Batavia Air Show in a precision stunt arranged by a local family-owned business.
48–50 mph
8 ft × 22 ft
6 in on each side
What Happened
At the third annual Wings Over Batavia Air Show in Batavia, New York, pilot Eric Tucker landed his Piper J-3 Cub on a platform mounted on a moving 2024 Mack Granite garbage truck. The truck was driven by Tucker's partner while Bruce Scofield, owner of Scofield Transfer & Recycling, rode in the passenger seat. The landing required both the plane and truck to travel at precisely 48 to 50 mph, with only six inches of clearance on each side of the 8-foot-wide, 22-foot-long platform.
“It's a lot. They make it look easy, but it's a work of art how they did it.”
Bruce Scofield, a longtime Mack Trucks customer, chose the Mack Granite for the stunt because it is the pride of his fleet. The truck features the automatic mDRIVE transmission, which made it easier for the driver to maintain precise speed. Scofield Transfer & Recycling operates 20 Mack trucks out of its 30-vehicle fleet.
Why this matters
The stunt highlighted Mack truck reliability and provided invaluable free publicity for Scofield Transfer & Recycling, a small family business.
Terms in This Story
- Mack Granite
- A heavy-duty vocational truck model by Mack Trucks, used for construction, waste, and other demanding applications.
- Piper J-3 Cub
- A small, two-seat, high-wing light aircraft, popular for training and recreational flying.
- Roll-off truck
- A truck equipped with a hydraulic system to load, unload, and transport roll-off containers.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.