• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Stupid questions about Naval Aviation (Pt 2)

Status
Not open for further replies.

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
In the T-34, I knew where the shroud cutter and radio was, but the other stuff I couldn't tell you w/out having the gear on.

Kind of what I was thinking....obviously if you bailed out at 1200 ft and had a jacked up chute, you would need to know pretty quick where to get the cutter.
 

insanebikerboy

Internet killed the television star
pilot
None
Contributor
Kind of what I was thinking....obviously if you bailed out at 1200 ft and had a jacked up chute, you would need to know pretty quick where to get the cutter.

I would think if you bail out at 1200 feet and have a jacked up chute, you've just become a 200 pound lawn dart.
 

Xtndr50boom

Voted 8.9 average on the Hot-or-Not scale
I would think if you bail out at 1200 feet and have a jacked up chute, you've just become a 200 pound lawn dart.

Maybe, maybe not; A buddy of mine had to cut away his main at ~ 900 feet and had enough time/altitude to deploy his reserve. Drop zone elevation was ~ 40 feet MSL. Granted this was sport jumping, not mil chutes
 

HighDimension

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Maybe, maybe not; A buddy of mine had to cut away his main at ~ 900 feet and had enough time/altitude to deploy his reserve. Drop zone elevation was ~ 40 feet MSL. Granted this was sport jumping, not mil chutes

You're in for a nasty surprise if you cut away your main chute to deploy your reserve in the T-34. :D
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
You know, I have flown with that PRC-90 almost a hundred times now and have never opened that little black pouch....

Then you missed out. We used to take our PRC-90's (pronounced "prick"-90 :)) up on the hill @ CUBI and chat w/ one another across the bar on 282.2 MHz voice. :D

I've still got mine (again, don't ask why) in my parachute bag ... don't know if it works ... but I shudder to look into the battery compartment. :D

I've got a lotta' "treasure" in that parachute bag. :)

We even considered the "prick"-90 an airborne NORDO backup ...
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
I think, for the most part, that the "gear" you wear in the TRACOM is mostly just for "training". I'd be curious to know how many mishaps have occurred where the aircrew were required to actually use survival gear? It seems like most of the Class A mishaps (as rare as they are, thank god) end in fatalities, but if someone could confirm this, I'm curious. If you're dead, gear don't matter.

If your plane is going down and you decide to bail out, then a safe bailout in and of itself is a miracle and worthy of prayer. If you make it safely on deck after a bailout, I doubt INCONUS you'd be waiting very long for help, especially in the local area.

I mean, how likely is it that you'd need to but out flares/mirrors/compass/knife around the local area of Corpus or whiting? You'd probably be able to muster someone on your PRC-90 immediately.

Am I wrong?

@A4s: In primary (at least in VT-27), I remember being briefed that, worst case, you can use your PRC 90 to raise someone if you go NORDO.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
We even considered the "prick"-90 an airborne NORDO backup ...

We had a couple of guys go NORDO in primary and they tried to use it in the mighty turbo-weenie, apparently they either couldn't hear it or by the time they got it all figured out the instructors were on final anyways and got cleared to land by the Aldis lamp.
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
....Am I wrong?

Yes; of course you are ... :D

Train how you fight; fight how you train.

Which items are you gonna' cherry pick for applicability in the TRACOM ??? Take EVERYTHING with you that you can; whatever makes sense. You just don't know what you're gonna' need. See my point ... ??

When I stepped out ... all I really "needed" was a pack of smokes, a bottle or two of H2O, a new set of U-Trou, and a new ankle. But I'm glad I had the rest of the stuff.

A flask of brandy would have been nice, however ... :)
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
We had a couple of guys go NORDO in primary and they tried to use it in the mighty turbo-weenie, apparently they either couldn't hear it...

We used to carry a little locally manufactured, home-grown "earbud" -- first generation, to be sure -- that would allow us to hear the radio through the cockpit noise w/ a helmet on ...

But one time when we had a Ready Room check w/ EVERYONE's Prick-90's lit up ... there was about a 40% NORDO/failure rate ...

That's why you can't just "leave 'em in the little pocket" ... check 'em EVERY FLIGHT. :)
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Yes; of course you are ... :D

Train how you fight; fight how you train.

Which items are you gonna' cherry pick for applicability in the TRACOM ??? Take EVERYTHING with you that you can; whatever makes sense. You just don't know what you're gonna' need. See my point ... ??

When I stepped out ... all I really "needed" was a pack of smokes, a bottle or two of H2O, a new set of U-Trou, and a new ankle. But I'm glad I had the rest of the stuff.

A flask of brandy would have been nice, however ... :)

Which is why I said that the vest is mostly just preparing for the fleet/training. I'm glad I have the vest, but if I have problems and have to set down somewhere, I'll just walk 300 feet to the nearest trailer and ask for help. And flares are cool, especially with impressing the ladies... it's just those pesky cops who show up after that are the problem....

Although... I guess in some places, I'd have to evade local, hostile rednecks... say.... why don't we go to SERE before flight school again? :icon_tong

I can agree about the flask. I guess if your plane is a smoking hole in the ground, it's assumed that you have at least 12 hours before planning your next flight. Time for a drink! :D
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
....if I have problems and have to set down somewhere, I'll just walk 300 feet to the nearest trailer and ask for help...
You never know, younger Bruddah ... I had one Amigo buy the farm just off the end of RW 25 @ Mainside in a bayou ... you just never know.
 

insanebikerboy

Internet killed the television star
pilot
None
Contributor
It seems like most of the Class A mishaps (as rare as they are, thank god) end in fatalities, but if someone could confirm this, I'm curious. If you're dead, gear don't matter.

If your plane is going down and you decide to bail out, then a safe bailout in and of itself is a miracle and worthy of prayer. If you make it safely on deck after a bailout, I doubt INCONUS you'd be waiting very long for help, especially in the local area.

I mean, how likely is it that you'd need to but out flares/mirrors/compass/knife around the local area of Corpus or whiting?

If you can get ahold of it, read the mishap report for the -57 that went down a few years ago. Class A that required survival gear in Milton.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
You know, I have flown with that PRC-90 almost a hundred times now and have never opened that little black pouch. I always figured it was pretty easy. Just snap it onto the radio and put it in your ear. I am going to look at it next time.

DON'T OPEN THE POUCH! You'll never get it closed again, at least not w/out ripping the pouch or taking an inordinate amount of time. Ask the PRs for the training "dongle" and they'll hand it to you. It's the same cord setup that's in the pouch, but unwrapped for you. Much easier to learn how to use it.

@A4s: There's still an earplug in the pouch, which is why it confuses people. The cord is setup to utilize your helmet's speakers, but everyone sees the earplug and fuses start to blow. I remember demo-ing it for my first set of onwings and it had been 6 months since I had seen it. Took me a few seconds for the light bulb to come back on on how to plug it in.

Otto said:
If your plane is going down and you decide to bail out, then a safe bailout in and of itself is a miracle and worthy of prayer. If you make it safely on deck after a bailout, I doubt INCONUS you'd be waiting very long for help, especially in the local area.

The mishap that IBB refers to (if it's the same one, which I think it is) was very close to your trailers you think you're going to walk to but the site couldn't be reached for quite some time. The single most important item I would want would be a working radio. Cell phones don't work in LA and it can be a long walk to the nearest farm house.

Also, personally, I would much rather ditch a T-34 from 1200 feet than bailout from any altitude, but that was just my technique.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top