Aviation videos

[O'Dell]

http://imageevent.com/okbueno/mopic?...1&w=4&x=0&p=31

Here's something for you aviation buffs out there. There's even one of my favorite fighter that was never put into production, the F-20 Tigershark.

[OldLincoln]

Now that one takes ya back a ways! It was a bit melancholy to watch them test the escape capsule of the B-58. We called it them coffins cause it's where the bodies were after it crashed. We lost them mainly on landing because the pilot landed them blind, trying to gauge distance by looking at the side of the runway. We saw them hit off the runway, fall out of the sky over the runway (broke it's back), even saw one hit both main gear in the mud off the runway and actually pull the gear out of the mud and flew off to try again. The ruts were over a foot deep.

The B-58's were a mechanic's nightmare and our readiness was overstated by signoffs of the fault sheets. They had a saying that a pilot can refuse to fly any bird he believed wasn't safe. I witnessed a Captain's career end when he refused to fly a broken bird. The Wing Commander was ripping him up one side and down the other yelling at him that HE would fly it himself if the Captain didn't have the guts to climb up the ladder.

I was working B-47's as a ground crew and flew in them a lot as passenger. The pilots had decent ejection seats, the nav had that downward seat that smacked him into the ground if under 500', and I had a monkey bar to drop from out of the entry hatch. That is unless one of the pilots left before me then it would blow me out the top where I be cut in half on the vertical stabilizer.

one of the videos showed the JATO development. The B-47 could mount a rack of 18 bottles (if I recall correctly) and when it worked it was something. One of ours crashed when the fuel/air separator directly above the rack failed and fuel sloshed out the vent when the rockets ignited. Of course the only thing between the rockets and the fuel vent was the radio compartment so the radios went before anybody could get word to them they were burning. It was hard to watch people I knew take off only to have the tail burn off and it plunged into the ground at over 200 knots.

The F-4's were fun to be around. I swear if the wings were off the plane and sitting on a box you could stretch your arms and touch each tip. I don't know how Kelly J. did it but that sucker was quick. It was also deadly and our pilots had a tough time of it. So they sold them to Spain buy the boatloads because the Spaniards were worse, much worse. That's were I saw most of them either at Moron Air Base near Seville
or Torrejón Air Base. I spent some time at each and got to enjoy the country touring Seville, Madrid and a trip to Gibraltar.

I often wish I'd stayed in and made a career of it.

[O'Dell]

Now that one takes ya back a ways! It was a bit melancholy to watch them test the escape capsule of the B-58. We called it them coffins cause it's where the bodies were after it crashed. We lost them mainly on landing because the pilot landed them blind, trying to gauge distance by looking at the side of the runway. We saw them hit off the runway, fall out of the sky over the runway (broke it's back), even saw one hit both main gear in the mud off the runway and actually pull the gear out of the mud and flew off to try again. The ruts were over a foot deep.

The B-58's were a mechanic's nightmare and our readiness was overstated by signoffs of the fault sheets. They had a saying that a pilot can refuse to fly any bird he believed wasn't safe. I witnessed a Captain's career end when he refused to fly a broken bird. The Wing Commander was ripping him up one side and down the other yelling at him that HE would fly it himself if the Captain didn't have the guts to climb up the ladder.

I was working B-47's as a ground crew and flew in them a lot as passenger. The pilots had decent ejection seats, the nav had that downward seat that smacked him into the ground if under 500', and I had a monkey bar to drop from out of the entry hatch. That is unless one of the pilots left before me then it would blow me out the top where I be cut in half on the vertical stabilizer.

one of the videos showed the JATO development. The B-47 could mount a rack of 18 bottles (if I recall correctly) and when it worked it was something. One of ours crashed when the fuel/air separator directly above the rack failed and fuel sloshed out the vent when the rockets ignited. Of course the only thing between the rockets and the fuel vent was the radio compartment so the radios went before anybody could get word to them they were burning. It was hard to watch people I knew take off only to have the tail burn off and it plunged into the ground at over 200 knots.

The F-4's were fun to be around. I swear if the wings were off the plane and sitting on a box you could stretch your arms and touch each tip. I don't know how Kelly J. did it but that sucker was quick. It was also deadly and our pilots had a tough time of it. So they sold them to Spain buy the boatloads because the Spaniards were worse, much worse. That's were I saw most of them either at Moron Air Base near Seville
or Torrejón Air Base. I spent some time at each and got to enjoy the country touring Seville, Madrid and a trip to Gibraltar.

I often wish I'd stayed in and made a career of it.

Don't knock the F-4's. I spent six years flying the B and J models for the Navy, and they were the best we had for a fleet defense fighter. The F-8 would have been more fun, but it had a lot shorter legs. Too much refueling to take the attack guys to Hanoi and back. I did envy them those Mk 12 20 mm's though.

[Planedude]

Thanks for the link. I did final check-out and trouble shooting on every one of the F-16I that are shown there. It is amazing how much wire we stuffed into those birds...

[Bill K]

Thanks, I'll save the link for a rainy day.

Served in the Marine Corp 1962-66. Served with VMFA-542 (F4 Phantoms), as a fire control technician, during its first Vietnam deployment.

[OldLincoln]

Don't knock the F-4's. I spent six years flying the B and J models for the Navy, and they were the best we had for a fleet defense fighter. The F-8 would have been more fun, but it had a lot shorter legs. Too much refueling to take the attack guys to Hanoi and back. I did envy them those Mk 12 20 mm's though.

My mind skipped a track... I meant to say F-104's. The F-4's were good for their time although limited by their armaments. They had a lot of kinks to work out in their air to air missiles loosing track. The gun pod was a welcome addition. I was in SAC and they came to the AF at the end of my tour so I didn't see a lot of them. Well actually I saw a few as you hear them and can't miss them when you look up - just follow the smoke. Did they ever fix that?

[O'Dell]

My mind skipped a track... I meant to say F-104's. The F-4's were good for their time although limited by their armaments. They had a lot of kinks to work out in their air to air missiles loosing track. The gun pod was a welcome addition. I was in SAC and they came to the AF at the end of my tour so I didn't see a lot of them. Well actually I saw a few as you hear them and can't miss them when you look up - just follow the smoke. Did they ever fix that?

The AIM 9 and AIM 7 were a problem back then because as you said, they didn't track well. We would usually ripple fire two missiles and hope one would hit. There was a reason the Sparrow was nicknamed "the great white hope". The Navy never had an F-4 with a gun, but the AF put an internal M61 in the E model. There were, of course, the SUU16 and SUU23 pods, but the center line pylon wasn't strong enough and the pods vibrated a lot. The Marines used them some for air to ground, but they were too inaccurate for air to air, and that was my job. I understand the electrically powered SUU23 was better, but I never saw one.

The only way to stop the smoke in the J79 engine was to use reheat. Of course even zone one used a lot of JP8. The Brits put RR Spey engines in their F-4 so I guess that eliminated the smoke. Nearly every country in the free world used the F-4's. The last I heard Japan was retiring theirs this year, but the Germans had no set date.

[wyntrout]

While I was on vacation from SAC and in the command post at Zweibruecken AB in West Germany... mid '80's... I got a radio call from an F-16 pilot saying he had lost an engine. My enlisted cohort and I looked at each other and said "He's only got ONE engine!"

We relayed that to our Wing Commander as we went through our checklist and notifications. The Wing King repeated that he only has one engine and I said, Yes, sir. That's the one he lost."

I met the pilot later that evening in the Officers' Club. He said it hadn't been a big problem, but that he had to declare an emergency and planned landing at our base if he got a restart on the engine... which he did... he had plenty of altitude for attempting restarts.

The F-16s are great airplanes, but I hated to see them picking up the A-10's ground attack role. The USAF tried to get rid of the A-10's several times, but they were built as armor killers and close air support. That's why there are two engines mounted the way they are and the pilot sits in an armored "titanium bathtub". Then there's that great Gatling cannon that they built the plane around.

Hey! I DID mention the GUN!

Wynn

[OldLincoln]

Ah... it's just a 7 shot revolver..... OMG!!!!!

[wyntrout]

It does "revolve" and fires at 3,900 rounds a minute... 30MM depleted uranium armor-piercers, among other types.

Wynn

[Bawanna]

Must be hell to reload that thing. It does spit em out right quick though. 3900 a minute, I don't imagine it's good for too many minutes, but those few minutes would for sure be exciting long as your not on the receiving end I reckon.

[Tinman507]

We were camping once at a Boy Scout camp a few years ago. The Air National Guard live fire range was just over the mountain from the camp. One day there were A-10's doing strafing runs. All you could hear was RIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP. Almost like someone tearing a heavy piece of canvas. Scary stuff. Can't imagine being on the ugly end of those rounds.

[Longitude Zero]

Having stood to the side and slightly downrange of an A-10 when it is firing, the term "Death Moan" comes to mind.