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The "Cornfield Bomber"
- Thread starter usmcecho4
- Start date
Good share, thanks
It's a near miracle that a high performance, delta-wing aircraft having spun out of control & pilotless, could manage to hit the ground with so little impact damage, that it could be repaired and flown again. I wouldn't want to have been the post-repair test pilot.
Unbelievable!
BzB
Unbelievable!BzB
Wow, good find. The jet just didn't want to die. It reminds me of that old Tomcat test vid where they flat spin, eject, and the plane recovers just above the water before eventually stalling and crashing.
It's a near miracle that a high performance, delta-wing aircraft having spun out of control & pilotless, could manage to hit the ground with so little impact damage, that it could be repaired and flown again. I wouldn't want to have been the post-repair test pilot.
BzB
While visiting a Sikorsky depot facility in Beeville, TX for an aircraft drop off a few years ago, we got a tour of the hangars. At one point, we came upon two brand spanking new HH-60G helicopters that were just tore up. It was obvious they had smacked something very hard. We were told they were Colombian and had crashed (more than likely the trouble came from the ground while they were flying). We were asked not to take any pictures or disclose their presence until DoS released their existence in a press release, which happened a few weeks later.
They said they were going to chop off the cockpit, chop off the cabin area, and then use the main spar that runs from behind the cockpit down the spine of the aircraft and rebuild off of that. Truly amazing what they're able to do nowadays.
I've mentioned this HC story before, but my DHs would tell tales of a Phrog at HC-6 that had been cobbled together from the remains of two or three crashed phrogs. The story went that it had parts from a UH, an HH, and a CH on it. Apparently the vibes would never come in either. Maybe PhrogLoop can add some "was there" truth to the story.
It's a near miracle that a high performance, delta-wing aircraft having spun out of control & pilotless, could manage to hit the ground with so little impact damage, that it could be repaired and flown again. I wouldn't want to have been the post-repair test pilot.
BzB
And then there is the S-3 from my squadron. Post Stall gyrations, handled in all the wrong ways, flew ever so gently into the water after the COTC punched them out. Proof that airplanes want to fly just as much pilots want to crash them.
Which is it, ham fisted pilots that try to crash planes that can fly themselves just fine, or stable aircraft?
Bam Bam
FTS AMDO
Gentlemen, I'm just a ground pounder but it seems to me that 8,000 AGL seems a bit early to eject. Of course, I can Monday moring quarterback the situation from my lazy boy but it seems a little early. Could the altitiude that he ejected be attributed to a combination of the delta wing configuration and the earlier model ejection seat in his Delta Dart? Of course he could have been trying to get wind over the wings for 20,000 feet before he ejected. I've had two pilots eject below that and walk away to buy the egress folks a keg of brew. One was a U-2 at 5,000 AGL or below and the other was a F-22A right after he rotated. I believe both had variants of the ACES II seat.
Incredible story!
Incredible story!
Spins in general (independent of a flat spin) yield a VERY high rate of descent, so that's why there are usually very high go-no go ejection/bail out altitudes. I'm not a jet/ejection guy, but for example, the T-34C had a bailout altitude of 5K' for OCF. While in a spin, the T-34 would generate a 9-12K ft/min descent rate. So even if you made the decision to go get out at 5K', you didn't have long (and some didn't survive in the past). I'm guessing that's probably why you're seeing the higher ejection altitude.
I think I'd had punched even hgher, if I had been spinning from a high altitude [20K+], without recovering.
Good guess. The F-106 delta wing in a spin, would have a huge rate of descent. That, coupled with a '50s model 'shotgun' seat, can be a fatal combination. Even 8K seems close to borderline to me!
I flew a delta wing (A-4s) my whole career. We practiced (simulated) flameout landings, at idle/speed brakes out ...180 kt. Resulted in an ROD of ~12K p/m, and that was in controlled flight. Even with modern "0-0" rocket seats, minimum safe ejection altitudes (AGL), increase in proportion to increases in ROD.
With a 0-0 seat: punch out parked (not in hangar) = OK. At 100' straight & level = OK, At 100' w/ 500' p/m ROD =
BzB
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Bam Bam
FTS AMDO
I think I'd had punched even hgher, if I had been spinning from a high altitude [20K+], without recovering.
Good guess. The F-106 delta wing in a spin, would have a huge rate of descent. That, coupled with a '50s model 'shotgun' seat, can be a fatal combination. Even 8K seems close to borderline to me!
I flew a delta wing (A-4s) my whole career. We practiced (simulated) flameout landings, at idle/speed brakes out ...180 kt. Resulted in an ROD of ~12K p/m, and that was in controlled flight. Even with modern "0-0" rocket seats, minimum safe ejection altitudes (AGL), increase in proportion to increases in ROD.
With a 0-0 seat: punch out parked (not in hangar) = OK. At 100' straight & level = OK, At 100' w/ 500' p/m ROD =
BzB
Got it! That makes more sense.
It’s incredible that he was able to fly the aircraft later on in his career. Great story!
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Step no. 6 in the NATOPS procedures for Out of Control Flight in the A-4 states:
"Check altitude, if out of control passing 10,000 feet AGL, EJECT."
Same was true in the A-7.