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Wing and a Prayer
We are in a new age of aviation.
Because we now have more power in our engines, we can get out of trouble
(like spins) that we couldn't do before. This incident showed
how a fighter was able to land without a wing by keeping up his speed
and becoming a guided missle, in effect. As long as you have
a long enough runway and/or stopping devices, the higher speed can help
you maintain control.
From:
George McCarthy:
Wednesday, October 12, 2005 2:51 PM
To: Greg Hoch; John Wirth
Subject: F-15 midair-one
wing flight back F15 landing w/o a wing A simulated dogfight training
took place between two F-15D's and four A-4N. Skyhawks over the skies
of the Negev, Israel..."At some point I collided with one of the Skyhawks,
at first I didn't realize it. I felt a big strike, and I thought we passed
through the jet stream of one of the other aircraft.
Before I could react, I saw
the big fire ball created by the explosion of the Skyhawk. The radio started
to deliver calls saying that the Skyhawk pilot has ejected, and I understood
that the fireball was the Skyhawk that exploded, and the pilot was ejected
automatically.There was a tremendous fuel stream going out of my wing,
and I understood it was badly damaged. The aircraft flew without control
in a strange Spiral. I reconnected the electric control to the control
surfaces, and slowly gained control of the aircraft until I was straight
and level again. It was clear to me that I had to eject. When I gained
control I said: "Hey, wait, don't eject yet!" No warning light was on
and the navigation computer worked as usual; (I just needed a warning
light in my panel to indicate that I missed a wing...)." My instructor
pilot ordered me to eject. The wing is a fuel tank, and the fuel indicator
showed 0.000 so I assumed that the jet stream sucked all the fuel out
of the other tanks. However, I remembered that the valves operate only
in one direction, so that I might have enough fuel to get to the nearest
airfield and land.
I worked like a machine, I wasn't
scared and didn't worry. All I knew was as long as the sucker flies, I'm
gonna stay inside. I started to decrease the airspeed, but at that point
one wing was not enough. So I went into a spin down and to the right.
A second before I decided to eject, I pushed the throttle and lit the
afterburner. I gained speed and thus got control of the aircraft again.
Next thing I did was lower the arresting hook. A few seconds later I touched
the runway at 260 knots, about twice the recommended speed, and called
the tower to erect the emergency recovery net. The hook was torn away
from the fuselage because of the high speed, but I managed to stop 10
meters before the net. I turned back to shake the hand of my instructor,
who had urged me to eject, and then I saw it for the first time - no wing!"
SEEING IS BELIEVING !!
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