Kodiak P-3 Story

[A4sForever]

....I do remember my dad telling me about going into Kodiak and Adak with a P-3 in the 1980s and saying that those were the least favorite landings of his naval career.

Can you imagine the guys doin' it in the '40s ... w/ only ADFs and a VHF or HF ... ???

They 'proved' it can be done ... (and I've shot a B-747 ADF approach to minimums @ Peking when they 'opened' in the jet age) ... but still ... what STUDs those guys were ... !!!

 

[NavAir42]

Oh, I can imagine them doing it. I've never shot an ADF to mins, but the few approaches I have down to mins were enough for me. It would take some nerves to give it a shot. Then again, around there, the other option is hitting a mountain or into a North Pacific with a temperature somewhere around 32F. I'd take my chances with the runway given those options.

They may have proved it could be done, but at least from what I can find, there were also something like 47 crashes of military aircraft on or around Kodiak between 1942 and 1988. The majority being Maritime Patrol. I could see why you might have wanted to see Kodiak and Adak, etc. in VMC before having to do it "for real" on some God forsaken night in December, like Flugelman mentioned.

 

[rondebmar]

Is it really that hard to see without wipers?

In a wiper equipped (early model B) A4 it is IMPOSSIBLE to see directly ahead (even in only moderate rain) if wiper fails. Yankee Station (no bingo field)...no tankers up...I'm the last AC up, with inop wiper...and the boat is running constantly under a very widespread/persistent shower pattern. Made three passes to "final", aborted each one due to lack of ability to even discern the boat...never mind the Fresnel lens system. After bridge/LSO platform consultation, was offered two options...controlled ejection alongside, with subsequent (hopefully rapid) pick-up by plane guard chopper or destroyer, don't remember which...or accept a "talk-down" approach, with paddles direction relative to glide slope and line up. My squadron's LSO (LT Phil G and I were assigned to the same flight division, and very frequently flew together) had the honors. Minor corrections all the way down...as I peripherally discerned the round down flash by the sides of the canopy, Phil hollered out "land it, land it, land it"!! And so I did. Longest "Adrenalin dump" I ever suffered. LOL!! Was rewarded with an OK-3 for that one!!

This is for the "fates" for putting me into that position...:icon_tong (LOL!!)

 

[Treetop Flyer]

That's why I love this website

 

[H60Gunner]

Holy Sh!t. 50 kts behind you on 7500 ft of runway. I don't even know if that's possible. I geeked out and was curious what the landing ground roll for that would be. The best I could do was a 20 kt tailwind and that gave something like 3000 ft to stop the aircraft with hard wheel braking on a bone-dry runway. Make conditions a little more sporty, like a wet runway and you start running out of runway quick..

That was part of my point, we did not have enough runway and aborted, so you are right. Friggin' hairy.

The other point I was making is the P-3 has the performance to make the turn obviously, or I would not be sitting here drinking a beer right now.

This all makes me think the fish has gotten bigger over the years.

I'm retired I can do that now! The event was discussed at length by the crew and I'm positive of the details. There is more to the story but not for public consumption.

 

[A4sForever]

Many of the 'early' NOPAC guys that I flew w/ had done the Aleutians + Kodiak, etc. .... in a P-2 or if civvie-street, something less ...

According to 'them' ... try DUT (but not too often w/ 4000' of runway), a.k.a. Dutch Harbor sometime for a 'real experience'.




And then there was ADQ ... but how difficult COULD Kodiak be if Alaska Airlines goes in there all the time w/ PAX & freight ... ye-as ???



At least they're all around sea level ... so if you hit a mountain/hill ... you're just not payin' attention... ???

I landed the WHALE @ Shemya once 'cause of an emergency ... and once was enough.

 

[NavAir42]

I'm retired I can do that now! The event was discussed at length by the crew and I'm positive of the details. There is more to the story but not for public consumption.

Fair enough.

 

[Tex_Hill]

I will neither confirm nor deny whether rain-x may have been applied to any H-60 windshields once sufficient distance from homeguard was, uhh...

Why is rain-x a no no?

 

[Jim123]

Why is rain-x a no no?

Well, this was only Wal-Mart approved rain-x, not NAVAIR approved

Uh, I mean, it never happened. Not in a million years. Neither did the bobble-head/hula girl on top of the glareshield.