Watches and G Forces?

[srqwho]

Buddy (Vince V) was command ejected out of a VAQ-139 Prowler circa 91 over the Olympics and was wearing a G-Shock on his left wrist. He was in ECMO 1 and his band caught on the centerline canopy bow and he ended up with a hand avulsion losing the four fingers on that hand.

Don't know if the watch is still working or not but he noted a leg restraint makes a poor tourniquet.

Do the FOs in the Prowler have a handle in between the leg? All of our seat briefs stress grabbing the handle with both hands (to mitigate against flail injuries). I heard a similar story about a guy who always flew with his wedding band. One day he lost his grip on the canopy rail while exiting a jet and his ring caught on something and he lost a finger in the process. I'm assuming he had cut the fingers off of his gloves.

 

[Alpha_Echo_606]

Do the FOs in the Prowler have a handle in between the leg? All of our seat briefs stress grabbing the handle with both hands (to mitigate against flail injuries). I heard a similar story about a guy who always flew with his wedding band. One day he lost his grip on the canopy rail while exiting a jet and his ring caught on something and he lost a finger in the process. I'm assuming he had cut the fingers off of his gloves.

Yes the ECMO's have handles between their legs. I personally don't know anyone that has ejected from a Prowler, but I only was in 4 years. I did witness a plane captain ride a seat into the rafters at VAQ129 back in 1985-1986.

 

[phrogpilot73]

^I think your altimeter is bent, because I know you would never be up that high.

XO was flying...

 

[jtmedli]

Never fly higher than you're willing to fall!

After 7 hours of helo aerodynamics. This ^ was about the only takeaway I got from it.

 

[jtmedli]

I recently purchased a Citizen Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Titanium watch because...

• I can't afford a Breitling
• I have the first generation watch and it's worked well for me thus far

HOWEVER, I'm about to start Primary in the T-6 and I was wondering if anyone has any idea how this particular watch or watches like it rate under G forces? I can't find any information online as to whether this particular watch has been tested for G forces, stress, etc. I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth my money to buy a simple G-shock watch strictly as a "flying watch" (since it's rated for G-forces) or if I should just stop worrying and fly with my Citizen anyway. Would hate to ruin an expensive watch so thanks for any insight.

Dude, the T6 has a clock in it. I never once tried to look at my wrist. Not to mention that the CFS handle is right under your left wrist so flying with your sleeves rolled up is a big no-no.

 

[HAL Pilot]

Dude, the T6 has a clock in it. I never once tried to look at my wrist. Not to mention that the CFS handle is right under your left wrist so flying with your sleeves rolled up is a big no-no.

So does every cockpit. I normally take my watch off when I get in the plane so I would bump it on the center console and scratch it.

 

[Picaroon]

After 7 hours of helo aerodynamics. This ^ was about the only takeaway I got from it.

Yeah man, after aero the only reason I actually believe they fly is because I've seen it.

 

[xj220]

On a side not, my Omega Seamaster has been through everything I could throw at it and then some and it's still going strong. Amazing watch and I love it. I need to get some band service done to it but other then that it's in great shape. The crystal bezel hasn't scratched once and I've had it nine years.

 

[wlawr005]

Do the FOs in the Prowler have a handle in between the leg? All of our seat briefs stress grabbing the handle with both hands (to mitigate against flail injuries). I heard a similar story about a guy who always flew with his wedding band. One day he lost his grip on the canopy rail while exiting a jet and his ring caught on something and he lost a finger in the process. I'm assuming he had cut the fingers off of his gloves.

Guy probably didn't have time to get into a good position considering he was command ejected.

 

[Pugs]

Do the FOs in the Prowler have a handle in between the leg? All of our seat briefs stress grabbing the handle with both hands (to mitigate against flail injuries). .

Bold face EP says "Spinning passing 10,000 agl eject" . I'm not going into causal factors of how they got into a spin but the pilot pulled the handle somewhere around 12K and Vince had his left hand on the center console leaning over in the spin trying to make sure they really were in a spin and that the pilot had the proper controls in and ASR was on (this was before the YRI in the Prowler and one of the reasons there is one). In the Prowler when command ejected the seats leave in sequence and his hand was still on the console when his seat left the jet so he never got his hands on either the upper or lower handle.

CG help out of Port Angeles found him and got him to Seattle pretty quickly.

 

[usmarinemike]

I wear the exact same watch you already have. You'll be ok. I'm more worried about it getting scratched during the preflight than anything.

 

[usmarinemike]

Buddy (Vince V) was command ejected out of a VAQ-139 Prowler circa 91 over the Olympics and was wearing a G-Shock on his left wrist. He was in ECMO 1 and his band caught on the centerline canopy bow and he ended up with a hand avulsion losing the four fingers on that hand.

Don't know if the watch is still working or not but he noted a leg restraint makes a poor tourniquet.

Sounds silly, but this is the reason when flying VSTOL in the TAV8 with the IP at the controls that I keep my hands in my lap. I prefer to keep my arms.

 

[revan1013]

Yeah man, after aero the only reason I actually believe they fly is because I've seen it.

The helo advanced aero book being the complicated disaster that it is even says there are 4 physical models for why we think helicopters fly. I think it called them theories too.

 

[helolumpy]

The helo advanced aero book being the complicated disaster that it is even says there are 4 physical models for why we think helicopters fly. I think it called them theories too.

Scientists still can not explain how either the bumblebee and the H-46 are able to fly...

 

[MIDNJAC]

Do the FOs in the Prowler have a handle in between the leg? All of our seat briefs stress grabbing the handle with both hands (to mitigate against flail injuries). I heard a similar story about a guy who always flew with his wedding band. One day he lost his grip on the canopy rail while exiting a jet and his ring caught on something and he lost a finger in the process. I'm assuming he had cut the fingers off of his gloves.

If it's the same mishap I'm thinking of, it was during a ground egress of an AV-8B, and the guy did as you said. The photo of his missing finger was in full blown form in an Approach issue several years ago. I wear mine when I fly, but I also fly with gloves so I feel like that mitigates the risk. I'm also not a guy that pops the mask off after fence out/prior to fence in FWIW