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Russian Helicopter asks for directions

Max the Mad Russian

Hands off Ukraine! Feet too
Saw that today, and wondered if it was real or fake. There are some lucky people walking around somewhere.

Sure the case is real. Wonder if it is crew mistake or equip failure. The flight leader was LtCol, a wingman 1st Lt. It is wingman's CPG (also 1st Lt) who's charge is Master Arm On/Off. But it is doubtful we will let to know the truth.

Lucky it wasn't flechette

Indeed. Black smoke around - maybe just HE warheads
 

Max the Mad Russian

Hands off Ukraine! Feet too
Funny holywar is unfolding in RUnet. In theory, the sign ПР for "Пуск Разрешён" (Ready to Launch/Drop) shouldn't have been appeared on the screen automatically after the Master Arm has been switched on, since in addition the sight mark should have been placed on a selected target and fixed on it, only then "ПР" should appear. If that was crew fault, then not only the "Launch/Drop" button should have been pressed at the very moment when the Master Arm position became On, but the Target Mark should also have been fixed on the some selected target. Then it seems to be anything but occasional launch. Or, if that was tech failure, the Ka-52 has still unreliable targeting system.
 

Max the Mad Russian

Hands off Ukraine! Feet too
A Backfire crash landing last week:


No sight of a strip, no radio warning from the Approach. Here involved people chattering it is almost the same that Polish Tu-154 when all their top brass went gone off Smolensk. There is something wrong with Tupolev airplanes...
 
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Max the Mad Russian

Hands off Ukraine! Feet too
Epic fail by this TU-22M crew - high sink rate in crap weather. Sad to see the outcome.

Yeah, childish mistake as it had been said. Note that bird is old enough and was transferred to Air Force from the Naval Aviation about 15 years ago, when all naval guided missile bomber units were disbanded. What is unclear is who ordered the crew to land on this already closed strip whatever the weather - there was this Regiment's CO (O-6) on a tower during this flight. A sole survivor of this crew - WSO (Navigator) - this time was Regiment's WTI, a LtCol. Maybe CO counted on his experience or this O-5 decided to prove himself advising a plane commander, an O-4, to land in such dirty weather... Relationships within military is so funny thing...
 

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
So did this TU-22 not have vertical/glide scope guidance? A HUD? A RADALT? IR imagery of runway - so many sensor queues to help judge sink rate.
 

Max the Mad Russian

Hands off Ukraine! Feet too
IR imagery of runway - so many sensor queues to help judge sink rate.

I'm afraid there's no FLIR on those old naval Backfires cast away somewhere in Air Force as a stepchildren. Their mission profile in essence did not include the safe way back...


one of my favorite books!

Does it contain Kamov co-axial models? Once in 1990s a Ka-27 from some DD of North Fleet had ditched and turned upside down showing all four gears over the waves... and remained afloat for hours. That DD's skipper eventually fixed the hawser ropes over that gears and thus bound the swiming helicopter to a ship, towing it alongside with the slow speed to a base. Rumors were that the Kamov plant had later restored this airframe and transferred it to a Pacific Fleet with the other side number:cool:
 

Max the Mad Russian

Hands off Ukraine! Feet too
Yesterday another Backfire-related crap, this time very stupid one. Plane commander, an O-4, ejected all three others before starting engines. The ejection seat of a Backfire M3, marked KT-1M, is not Zero-Zero and it takes at least 130 km\h of airspeed to work properly. Net result: a co-pilot and both WSOs dead, hitting concrete with empty chutes. Plane commander on Backfire can eject all crew minus himself by single switch, his own ejection knob is separate one. Plane commander was squadron XO, co-pilot - Regimental CO O-6, Nav was Regimental NAV O-4, ECMO seat occupied staff officer from CBP (something akin to USN FRS), O-5 WSO. So everyone of them was senior to plane commander by post, silly enough. Rumors are that just seconds before accident the plane commander said to tower "I ain't gonna fly with these mother*uckers". If so - I'm scared. After all Backfire fleet went to Air Force from Navy, it became utterly unreliable both technically and humanly...
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
Yesterday another Backfire-related crap, this time very stupid one. Plane commander, an O-4, ejected all three others before starting engines. The ejection seat of a Backfire M3, marked KT-1M, is not Zero-Zero and it takes at least 130 km\h of airspeed to work properly. Net result: a co-pilot and both WSOs dead, hitting concrete with empty chutes. Plane commander on Backfire can eject all crew minus himself by single switch, his own ejection knob is separate one. Plane commander was squadron XO, co-pilot - Regimental CO O-6, Nav was Regimental NAV O-4, ECMO seat occupied staff officer from CBP (something akin to USN FRS), O-5 WSO. So everyone of them was senior to plane commander by post, silly enough. Rumors are that just seconds before accident the plane commander said to tower "I ain't gonna fly with these mother*uckers". If so - I'm scared. After all Backfire fleet went to Air Force from Navy, it became utterly unreliable both technically and humanly...
Was a glass or two of Sterno-Vodka involved?
 
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