Reaching For The Loud Handle

[Schnugg]

My rule of thumb has always been and still is.."If I see actual fire, or obvious sparks from fire on my jet...I'm outta there."

Time to give it back to the taxpayers.

My rule of thumb does not apply to minor CB fires in the cockpit which can be put out with a gloved hand...or of course the occasional helmet fire....

Cheers,
G

 

[beau]

yeah, I'll trust MB over a ditching attempt anyday. Talked to someone today that said they would try and Dead stick a T-45 in if in configuration......nope...im out....not in T-34 land anymore and gliding performance is pretty much nada.

 

[Fly Navy]

Gliding performance is not bad in the T-45 actually. However, the person is an idiot and can expect to lose their wings or spot as an SNA if they try it.

 

[Lawman]

Gliding performance is not bad in the T-45 actually. However, the person is an idiot and can expect to lose their wings or spot as an SNA if they try it.

Is that a universal rule of thumb? I could see somebody that had a runway made at an urban encroached airport trying to bring it it. Id hate to be the guy that gets his ticked yanked because he didnt want to dump a jet on somebodys house when he knew he could bring it in.

 

[nittany03]

T-45 NATOPS states that with engine faliure below a certain altitude/airspeed combination, you eject. So if it doesn't relight, you punch.

With regard to saving John Q. Public's house and possibly life, I suppose that may be a situation where good judgement trumps NATOPS.

 

[A4sForever]

What ??? Idiot ??? Did someone call ?? Did someone ask for the "idiot" ???

PMCF test hop --- auto-manual fuel control check @ 41K --- flame out --- RAT out --- no big deal - happened before --- no relight --- no relight --- no relight --- multiple attempts ( post mortem was fuel control linkage ate itself) --- drifting down back to field --- talking to tower all the way --- could I "deadstick" it in ??? ... hmmmmm .... everything lookin' good --- all the way back from 41K feet --- looking good --- tower has me --- crash is out --- SAR helo on the way ---- OOOOpps ...... slats coming out ---- Uh-oh --- coming down faster --- well, there goes that idea --- and my chance to be legend.

"God help me" --- last conscious thought --- then OUT .... and the Oshkosh almost ran over me ....

 

[Lawman]

Hey, Im not there yet so thats why I ask. Great info guys.

 

[A4sForever]

Oh, yeah ... lest anyone misunderstand --- we used to practice power-off PPEL's in the TRACOM as STUDs and in the Fleet, maybe a hold-over from the prop days. At least as late as the early '80's it was in the A-4 pocket Natops .... had it on my my last NATOPS check years later --- so a potential deadstick landing ??? It wasn't just something I just pulled out of my ass on the spur of the moment.

Another thing going through my head at the time --- a friend and former shipmate --- "Joe" was his first name --- had experienced nearly the same scenario 5-6 months earlier. PMCF flight --- nothing worked right except the RAT and radio --- Joe tried to get out much earlier than I --- the seat didn't work -- even the CANOPY wouldn't come off so he coudn't jump --- but it was too late --- he tried to deadstick it to Mainside but he didn't make it. Ditched it and the seat was thrown clear of the aircraft, but Joe broke an arm and couldn't release his lower Koch fittings on one side (the broken arm side, of course) . He was stuck in the seat.

My buddy Joe drowned in 10 feet of water in a bayou looking up at the sunlight .... Joe was a good man.

Those were the kinds of things going through my head when I made my ... "maybe I can" --- turn to the field and subsequent play for the runway after the flame out.

 

[Fly Navy]

Dangerous business, even in peacetime homeside operations. Sorry to hear that A4s... thanks for sharing.

 

[AllAmerican75]

Wow, thanks for sharing, and enlightening me. Sounds like any ejection is going to be a pretty wild ride.

 

[Fly Navy]

Wow, thanks for sharing, and enlightening me. Sounds like any ejection is going to be a pretty wild ride.

Never know when it'll happen either. We have a student here who has ejected. A few of the instructors ejected as students as well.

 

[feddoc]

Two of my friends have punched out twice each. One guy was from VF-41...can't remember if he did it when he was with them. Both pulls were from a turkey.

The other guy....is now a flight surgeon...I was giving his tour around the FTB at NSAWC...lots of plane pictures on the wall...and he said...Hey, that A-4 doesn't exist anymore because I dumped it near Cubi Point. That was his second and final pull from an A-4. He woke up underwater...spent a year recovering...then went to med school. The best and most aviator friendly flight surgeon I have ever met.

Another note...he and I (ASO) were working a mishap just north of Fallon...flat spin in an F-14...May of 98. Both guys punched out and walked away. Odd thing was the pilots seat landed on a bird. Didn't smash it, just killed it. Turns out it was an endangered species. The doc sent it away to be stuffed as the pilot's first kill.

 

[Brett327]

Wow, thanks for sharing, and enlightening me. Sounds like any ejection is going to be a pretty wild ride.

They say the odds are 1 in 7 over a 20 year career.

Brett

 

[Scab]

They say the odds are 1 in 7 over a 20 year career.

Brett

I hope the odds of having to do it twice are a lot worse than that over 20 years.

scab

 

[JIMC5499]

BTW: That was my first class A. Here is a pic of the second (tailpipe came apart while in tension on the cat).
[/IMG]

Steve. If I may ask where and when did the tailpipe come apart?