Which is why I asked him what kind of gear emergencies he had in New River. I was wondering if he had any stories.
-
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
Wheels-up Harrier landing
- Thread starter FastMover
- Start date
Which is why I asked him what kind of gear emergencies he had in New River. I was wondering if he had any stories.
sorry, thought you meant more along the lines of "how can you have a gear emergency with fixed gear".
Well, in the last picture there is a Marine looking under the aircraft ... looks like a VMAT-203 two seat trainer? HarrierDude?
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
This comes under the heading "truth is sometimes stranger than fiction".
That is a TAV-8B assigned to VMAT-203 in Cherry Point. They experienced hung landing gear (repeat gripe on that jet) and contacted base for troubleshooting. The EP involves cycling some circuit breakers, cycling the gear, and requesting visual inspection. If none of that works (which it didn't), you blow down the gear.
At some point, the squadron let the MAG CO what was going on (for what reason, I have no idea). He was worried that if they blew the gear down and the nose gear still hung up, it would crack the frame of one of the scarce T-birds. He directed that the pilot do a gear up vertical landing. It would crush the strakes and probably FOD the motor, but it's better than cracking the frame. He directed the mattresses to be placed under the nose.
When the pilot heard about all of this, he refused to do it unless he heard it directly from the MAG CO. The MAG CO got on the radio and told him to do it. The landing was pretty unremarkable, despite the photos. The damage was limited to the engine (Fodded), and the strakes (crushed). Expensive, but not the end of the world. When they jacked it up, they we able to blow the gear down with no problems.
This is when the story gets even weirder. Once the jet was in the hangar, relatively undamaged, an EZ-go golf cart came flying into the hangar and smashed into the jet, causing some D-level repair damage.
It turns out that LCpl. Schmuckatelli was huffing keyboard cleaner before making his parts run in the EZ-go. He got really dizzy, lost consiousness, and the cart went out of control. It drove directly into the hangar at full speed through a gap in the hangar doors and smashed the jet. Like I said, the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. You couldn't make up something that bizarre.
By the way, the Harrier CAN land on asphalt (or dirt, or grass, etc). It just can't do a vertical landing on anything except concrete, steel, or AM2 matting. It will melt right through it. A Harrier at idle, with the nozzles in the hoverstop (down), will make a nice large pool of molten asphalt on a runway.
That is a TAV-8B assigned to VMAT-203 in Cherry Point. They experienced hung landing gear (repeat gripe on that jet) and contacted base for troubleshooting. The EP involves cycling some circuit breakers, cycling the gear, and requesting visual inspection. If none of that works (which it didn't), you blow down the gear.
At some point, the squadron let the MAG CO what was going on (for what reason, I have no idea). He was worried that if they blew the gear down and the nose gear still hung up, it would crack the frame of one of the scarce T-birds. He directed that the pilot do a gear up vertical landing. It would crush the strakes and probably FOD the motor, but it's better than cracking the frame. He directed the mattresses to be placed under the nose.
When the pilot heard about all of this, he refused to do it unless he heard it directly from the MAG CO. The MAG CO got on the radio and told him to do it. The landing was pretty unremarkable, despite the photos. The damage was limited to the engine (Fodded), and the strakes (crushed). Expensive, but not the end of the world. When they jacked it up, they we able to blow the gear down with no problems.
This is when the story gets even weirder. Once the jet was in the hangar, relatively undamaged, an EZ-go golf cart came flying into the hangar and smashed into the jet, causing some D-level repair damage.
It turns out that LCpl. Schmuckatelli was huffing keyboard cleaner before making his parts run in the EZ-go. He got really dizzy, lost consiousness, and the cart went out of control. It drove directly into the hangar at full speed through a gap in the hangar doors and smashed the jet. Like I said, the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. You couldn't make up something that bizarre.
By the way, the Harrier CAN land on asphalt (or dirt, or grass, etc). It just can't do a vertical landing on anything except concrete, steel, or AM2 matting. It will melt right through it. A Harrier at idle, with the nozzles in the hoverstop (down), will make a nice large pool of molten asphalt on a runway.
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
Personally, I've had ZERO. During my time in the River, the only emergencies that I've seen on a Phrog was a nose wheel that wouldn't caster. Elevated nosewheel taxi, and they're done. Saw at least one shitter with a nosewheel that wouldn't extend (or was broken off, unsure of which), and I've seen Photos of a Phrog with it's gear (mainmounts) retracted (a.k.a. broken) landing on mattresses...
No worries. I can see how that might have been lost in (internet) translation.
phrogpilot73 said:
OUCH.
hmm, follow NATOPS (blow the gear down) or listen to the MAG CO (an O-6)? that's a tough position to be in, I'm sure. So are you screwed if you gaff the MAG CO off and follow NATOPS? Or are you screwed if you listen to the MAG CO and end up f*ck'n the jet up (like in this case)?
S/F
S/F
I stand corrected.
Yet another reason to brief the handling of emergencies "IAW NATOPS and good, sound judgment"...
Unless the guy giving orders is a flag, eligible for command at sea, and actually in the a/c...the AC doesn't have to obey the orders. What would happen to your career at the hands of the MAG CO you just gaffed at might be a different story. But leagally, and as the AC, you don't HAVE to listen to him.
When confronted by a conflict between a "heavy" and prescribed procedures ...
You do the right thing. Repeat: you do the right thing.
I waved the Admiral off once at the ship ... he was LIG (long-in-the-groove for you non-tailhookers) ... he didn't like it and my presence was requested in his quarters for the debrief.
He said: "Why in the hell did you wave ME off ... ??!!"
I said: "'Cause you were LIG, Admiral. You were screwing up the pattern and the guy behind you would have gotten a WOFD (wave-off fouled deck)".
He said: "You are right ... and you should have waved me off. I was wrong. I owe you a beer at the Club next time we put into port."
And he paid up.
You do the right thing. Repeat: you do the right thing.
I waved the Admiral off once at the ship ... he was LIG (long-in-the-groove for you non-tailhookers) ... he didn't like it and my presence was requested in his quarters for the debrief.
He said: "Why in the hell did you wave ME off ... ??!!"
I said: "'Cause you were LIG, Admiral. You were screwing up the pattern and the guy behind you would have gotten a WOFD (wave-off fouled deck)".
He said: "You are right ... and you should have waved me off. I was wrong. I owe you a beer at the Club next time we put into port."
And he paid up.
Just an addendum to "going against the grain" ... or disagreeing with the "heavies" ...
Just make sure you're right ... THEN go ahead.
If you KNOW your stuff ... you WILL prevail. THEN .... it doesn't matter WHAT the heavies say .... trust me, I've been there ... even got written up in Approach for doing the "right" thing after the C.O. interfered and subsequently covered his butt .... he didn't give a damn about the guys in the aircraft.
Bottom line: you will still be able to look at the guy in the mirror in the morning and be O.K. with what you're seeing ....
.... but plan on a career in the airlines instead of the Navy.
Just make sure you're right ... THEN go ahead.
If you KNOW your stuff ... you WILL prevail. THEN .... it doesn't matter WHAT the heavies say .... trust me, I've been there ... even got written up in Approach for doing the "right" thing after the C.O. interfered and subsequently covered his butt .... he didn't give a damn about the guys in the aircraft.
Bottom line: you will still be able to look at the guy in the mirror in the morning and be O.K. with what you're seeing ....
.... but plan on a career in the airlines instead of the Navy.
Just curious
I spent my career in VP's and VR's. Just wondering how common was it to see an Admiral in the cockpit of a single seat jet?
Not common .... I once fought a USMC BG in his F-4 (me in my A-4) ... but in this case -- the WO --- it was an A-6 ... the Admiral wanted to have SOMEONE cover his A-"6" .... thank God for Navy B/N's ....
