That article says that on Aug 24 a couple of guys had to bailout of the T-34 near Corpus. Was that a typo on the year? I didn't hear anything about that.
Nope, that did indeed happen. Both guys were okay after bailing out successfully over the water.
Were they orange and white with teeth, or dark blue?
....Another I read recently, was a 'legendary' incident way back in the day, where a USAF F-102 ?? pilot ejected at high altitude, slowly spiraled down and landed at a decent attitude/rate of descent, receiving repairable damage. Returned to service, it was assigned to several Squadrons before ending it's service life. Being by then famous, it was retired to and is still on display at the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton OH.
BzB
I can't speak for the Corpus birds, but the tradition at Whiting was that the aircraft with teeth were gear up landings.
I think if you have a gear up landing in a Cobra, there's a whole new level of fail to be obtained.
Yet, aircraft with non-retractable gear still have to report "down and locked" at *ahem* certain airfields.
Every Chair Force field?
Me: "Tinker tower, Gooch 69 10 miles out ILS 35, three down and locked, full stop."
Tinker tower: "Gooch 69, check wheels down, blah blah blah we suck at our jobs."
Me: Facepalm....
I know it has something to do with getting it on tape, but it's annoying nonetheless.
When I was at North Whiting in 04-05 there were NO T-34s with teeth. There were pictures of them around, but none on the line. I had also heard the "teeth=gear up" story.I can't speak for the Corpus birds, but the tradition at Whiting was that the aircraft with teeth were gear up landings. However, that seemed to be dieing when I was leaving around 2008. Maintenance wasn't very happy with losing that tradition, at least the couple I talked to. Maybe that got turned back on later.
When I was at North Whiting in 04-05 there were NO T-34s with teeth. There were pictures of them around, but none on the line. I had also heard the "teeth=gear up" story.
I could have sworn we had a couple, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. Or maybe I just buyed into the above and figured one was out there in that mass of orange and white somewhere. I certainly never flew one.When I was at North Whiting in 04-05 there were NO T-34s with teeth. There were pictures of them around, but none on the line. I had also heard the "teeth=gear up" story.