Form landing??

[A4sForever]

**sigh**

Formation landings ... you know, the title of the thread??? ... are just that. Landing in Formation. In section. In parade.

"Speed splits" ... "short intervals" .... "split the duals" ... those ain't formation/section landings ... unless you boys have re-written the book.

Section parade all the way to touchdown = a section/formation landing. Anything less is .... not a section/formation landing.

Period.

 

[dingo155]

Just to clarify... we do section landings in the hornet, just not very often as they are a little more risky, but a lot of fun and they look sweet when done right.

as for the 4 legs coast to coast... we flew with the top gun bros one of those days, so it was only 3 legs coast to coast. and those legs were at 0.90+. sitting up in the mid 40's at max range is not a fun way to fly, especially when there are good FBOs to stop at.

 

[Harrier Dude]

Just out of curiosity, are you getting range limited due to the RVSM? I haven't flown coast to coast in a Harrier since that stuff went into effect (just got back in the cockpit). FL290 is pretty low to extend range.

 

[dingo155]

280 is a pretty good altitude to fly at, as you don't have to wear your mask, but range is limited compared to the 40s... You can get above the RVSM most of the time, especially west, but then you are at 430+ which is good for getting direct, but not much fun!!

On my way to tailhook now... Should be a blast

 

[pdx]

280 is a pretty good altitude to fly at, as you don't have to wear your mask, but range is limited compared to the 40s... You can get above the RVSM most of the time, especially west, but then you are at 430+ which is good for getting direct, but not much fun!!

On my way to tailhook now... Should be a blast

I thought you guys had to wear O2 from startup to shutdown. And since when can we fly above 10,000' without it? I know that I'm just a lowly helo stud, but I'm confused. (By lowly, I mean that I fly below 1000' most of the time)

 

[Brett327]

I thought you guys had to wear O2 from startup to shutdown. And since when can we fly above 10,000' without it? I know that I'm just a lowly helo stud, but I'm confused. (By lowly, I mean that I fly below 1000' most of the time)

Yeah, right. Our cabin alt doesn't get above 10K until we're into the 30s. I don't know anybody who wears their mask all the time. You use it when you have to.

Brett

 

[NavyLonghorn]

I thought you guys had to wear O2 from startup to shutdown. And since when can we fly above 10,000' without it? I know that I'm just a lowly helo stud, but I'm confused. (By lowly, I mean that I fly below 1000' most of the time)

Its called.. gasp.. pressurisation.

 

[pdx]

Its called.. gasp.. pressurisation.

No ... gasp ... it isn't. At least not here in America.

For the tacair guys, is your pressurization differential fixed, or can you change it? It seems like a large pressure difference would lead to greater risk of decompression in the unfortunate event of battle damage.

 

[Brett327]

No ... gasp ... it isn't. At least not here in America.

For the tacair guys, is your pressurization differential fixed, or can you change it? It seems like a large pressure difference would lead to greater risk of decompression in the unfortunate event of battle damage.

I think most of us (TACAIR) are fixed/Diff. In the Prowler, we're ambient through 8K, then maintain 8K inside until 23K outside, then ~5 PSI diff after that. I doubt if battle damage is a consideration in how an aircraft is pressurized. If you get hit by a missile, you've got bigger concerns than decompression.

Brett

 

[Harrier Dude]

I think that pressurization schedule is common throughout TACAIR. I know it's the same for the T-2, TA-4J, and AV-8B. We don't see 10K cabin altitude until somewhere in the 30's. Of course, I would never dream of violating 3710 by flying around without my mask on at all times. That would be just so wrong.

 

[FrankTheTank]

True for most... Except the T-45C... I think that POS sees 10K cabin at about 12K on the altimeter.. What a hunk of crap/waste of cash...

 

[wink]

Of course, I would never dream of violating 3710 by flying around without my mask on at all times. That would be just so wrong.

The S-3 had a wavier from the 3710 requirement because with a crew of four, at the lower altitides we frequently flew, we ran out of LOX well before planned recovery. It wasn't even until the mid 80's, I believe, we were required to wear the mask for launch and recovery. Then later we were required to wear it for inflight refueling too. Even the Blues had to get a 3710 waiver so they can use boom mics.

 

[HooverPilot]

The S-3 had a wavier from the 3710 requirement because with a crew of four, at the lower altitides we frequently flew, we ran out of LOX well before planned recovery. It wasn't even until the mid 80's, I believe, we were required to wear the mask for launch and recovery. Then later we were required to wear it for inflight refueling too. Even the Blues had to get a 3710 waiver so they can use boom mics.

The waiver evolved even more for the Viking. In the RAG you would wear it for tanking and low levels, but not in the fleet. We never wore the mask in the Hoov unless pressurization was lost.

 

[jg5343]

I guess I can put in one final word for Moody. We did formation landings for sure. It was a special syllabus requirement so every stud got at least one. Depending on the stud the instructor would take the controls on short final or let him land it. And yes, it was all about looking sweet!

 

[crateofthunder]

Coming out of VT-3 for A-Forms (T-38 lead in) we did section approaches to a stop and go on every flight in the T-34 at Duke and at Whiting. I don't know why they would be doing them in Texas...but it is deffinately legal, as I have done several. Maybe some VT-3 IPs went to Texas on XC to get A-Form upgrades???? Long shot!