Back in the day, VC-12 (later VFC-12), flying TA-4F's, had the unenviable duty of towing banners and targets for target practice for aircraft and ships. Needless to say, it was the LEAST desired mission on the flight schedule. For ships, we would tow the
TDU-34 utilizing the
AAU-47, which could hold 30,000+ feet of cable. If the ship was firing the Phalanx CIWS, we would stream 20,000 feet of cable, and if they were firing the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, we would stream 30,000 feet (had to get the target as FAR away from the jet as we could). SOP was to recover the TDU (reel it back in) for future use if no actual firing occurred (tracking runs only). If the CIWS was fired, we were to reel it back in till 1000' was streamed, and then cut the cable, as even a single bullet hole in the TDU made it too unstable to completely recover.
One day, after towing for a CIWS event, two of our crew (we always required 2 pilots for a TDU mission) thought they had cut the cable with 1000' of cable streamed, per SOP. What actually happened was the target had been completely severed during the firing exercise, the counter on the tow reel malfunctioned, as did the cable severing mechanism on the tow reel, and the jet actually had close to 5000' of cable streaming behind the aircraft when they came back to land on runway 23L at NTU. SOP was to utilize a straight-in approach after a tow-exercise so they drug the cable across the beach front, Atlantic Ave., Pacific Ave., 21st & 22nd Sts., Virginia Beach Blvd., Birdneck Rd., Oceana Blvd., and numerous other streets and alleys, and
never injured a single person nor did major damage to property, aside from severing several phone and power lines. After landing, they knew something was not right as they could feel the extra drag and when they went to turn off the runway at mid-field, they saw the cable streamed the length of the runway,
and then some! About that time, tower mentioned something about a wire trailing behind their aircraft. It was a miracle that no other damage occurred. From that day on, we always provided an escort aircraft to witness and verify that the cable was indeed severed.
Then there was the time Snively and I were towing down in JAX and we became a giant lightning rod..........but that story is for another day.
