I agree with everything you said, except....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil bastard
At that altitude, the engine could not make max power, so there would be little chance of keeping it in a prop-up attitude. It would have suddenly become so nose heavy that it would auger-in before the pilot had time to react.
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Why wouldn't the engine be making max power? He was at most a couple of hundred feet in the air. There isn't much of a decrease in air density at those kinds of altitudes. You are right, it's not making max power, but the reduction in power due to air density is nil.
I would not necessarily be nose heavy. It all depends on where the center of gravity of the plane lies before and after. Assuming it had a rearward CG to maximize maneuverability, the CG would have still been in front of the center of lift or very, very close to it. Therefore, the loss of the wing would not necessarily move the CG outside of the CG envelope. I may have moved it forward, but it may not have. The leading edge of the wing is bigger, and therefore heavier than the rear. However, the rear has the control surfaces and controls, which would also add weight. So the loss of the wing could have very little impact on the CG.
It sounds like an Extra 300 to me. I suspect that the plane was flown normally and the video edited to make it look like the wing was missing. When the plane "landed" the camera suddenly bounced all over to make it impossible to see the picture clearly. I suspect there's a little bit of photochopping in there combining a knife-edge flight with another, normal landing to get the effect.