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Praetorium Honoris

Monday, October 31, 2022

Stayin alive...Out of Control*

 So...There I was...Luke AFB Late '70's.  Been a 2LT for a little over a year, got my wings and managed to make it through Fighter Lead-In at Holloman AFB NM without any major issues.  (Good as Pilot Training was, they were more interested in getting you up and getting you down safely than employing the airplane.  Lead-In was to teach you the basics of flying a fighter with a sub-mission of ID'ing folks that really didn't have what IT took to be a fighter pilot. Fortunately I was not in that category.)

I've checked my logbook.  I've flown this particular aircraft. I don't recall her looking this nice. Source
 


 

In any case, I'm now at Luke and am in the briefing for my first ride in the Phantom C.  I've got an IP in the back seat, because AF rules say an IP has to qualify a pilot for landing.  IMHO, an IWSO who's got a couple of thousand hours in the back seat can better judge whether the dummy in the front seat is going to land or crash in time to decide what to do.  But...I ain't in charge.  All I want to do is pass this ride and the next and the next...

We've gone over the plan for the mission which includes advanced handling in the area.  In pilot training, this was called "Stalls and Falls", however, the Phantom's Emergency Procedures had two Bold Face procedures regarding Stalls and Out of Control procedures. They were a bit more serious than stalls and falls in the T-37/T-38 They go:

  1. Stick-Forward 
  2. Ailerons and Rudder-Neutral 
  3. If not recovered-Maintain Full Forward Stick and deploy drag chute

 If that did not work, things got a bit more serious.

  1.  Stick-Maintain Full Forward
  2. Aileron-Full with Spin (Turn Needle)
  3. Aircraft unloads- Ailerons Neutral 
  4. If Out of Control at 10,000 Feet AGL - EJECT

 The objective of Advanced Handling was to go through the first two steps in the first section and not need to continue from there.  If you got into the second section, odds of having to complete all 4 steps were significantly higher than winning in Vegas.

But, we're going to the area mostly to burn down gas to get to landing weight.  The mission's primary requirement is for me to learn how to land the beast.  So, we do the stalls and falls, kinda boring really as the IP told me when to "recover" which was WAY earlier than I expected and therefore no big deal. (Later on when I was a qualified Pilot on my second assignment in the Phantom and was fighting an Aggressor in an F-5 and pulled just a "tad" too hard, I had my own demonstration of  why he was reticent.  Suffice it to say I made a "No Chute" landing on that mission.)

So, after the Advanced Handling, we come back to Luke for touch and go's.  The IP is going to demo the first landing.  We come in very fast IMHO, very steep and didn't flare (slow the descent rate just before touch down).  I am a bit concerned.  We land, he goes around then gives me the airplane and says "Just like that, Lieutenant."

Hmmm!

I come around, am a little steep, cross over the overrun, creep the power back and add a little back pressure to the stick.  I then hear something unexpected. "Go around, Burners! Burners!"

I slam the airplane into Afterburner, see a positive rate of climb (meaning I'm not going to hit the ground...probably), retract the gear and flaps and wonder what in the world was going on, was there something I missed?

Suffice it to say, the next words out of the IP's mouth did not fit Sarge's acceptable vocabulary list so I'll clean them up a bit.  Something along the lines of  "What the #### were you doing, you ####ing idiot? ####ing trying to kill us? I've got the ####ing airplane, PAY ####ing attention this time."

He goes around and does a repeat of his kamikaze dive attack on the runway, goes around and says "Just like that you ####ing moron or you're gonna pink (flunk) this ride and I'll make sure  your ###ing #ss is ####ing washed out!"

OK, I'm just a 2LT, but...I do have a bit of a temper.  I think (also known as "Showed judgement and did not vocalize") "OK, #ss#ole, Hang on to your socks, cause here it comes."  Pull up to Downwind (Meaning, I do a climbing 180 turn and head back down to the approach end of the runway). Configure Gear and Flaps,  roll off into the final turn, get clearance for a touch and go, aim the jet at the very first brick and don't do anything with the throttles or stick from the time I rolled out on runway heading until touchdown.  

Smacked that puppy on.  The Navy would've been impressed.  Luke AFB's field elevation had to be at least 6" lower.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to write the airplane up as I had to have broken several things.  Push the throttles up to Mil Power (full throttles, no afterburner) and go around.  Pull up to Downwind and as I roll out there, the IP says "Great Job...Do it again!"

That's when my mental conversion from Pilot to Fighter Pilot began. The lesson was "Don't be afraid to fly the airplane to the edge of the envelope if necessary".  That IP became my assigned IP and I flew most of my missions in F-4 school with him or "My" WSO (also an instructor but not a pilot.  He taught me how to fly and employ a "Crewed" fighter.  More to follow on that subject.)

So, juvat, what did this have to do with Sarge's post last week?  Well, in last Tuesday's post, "Tumultuous Tuesday", he made this comment. " In my later years of working on the Phantom, when I had attained the lofty rank of Staff Sergeant, I would have had an apoplectic fit had I beheld a cockpit in such foul condition. I was known to go completely bat-shit crazy at beholding cockpits far less dirty than that. I didn't want any pilot of mine to roll the bird and get a face-full of crap from the cockpit floor."

That reminded me of another lesson from my episode with the F-5.  Upon executing the bold face and deploying the drag chute, my F-4 pitched down (also known as negative G).  Dust, dirt, a couple of screws, an old lineup card and other assorted crap flew up into my face.  On review after landing, I interpreted this as the aircraft expressing her disappointment in my flying skills vis a vis the less capable F-5.  She was explaining that if this were real, there was a distinct possibility that my WSO and I would be eating pumpkin soup under the "kind care" of whomever we were fighting at the time, while she would be splattered over a couple of square miles of somewhere.  She wasn't happy about that and made her displeasure known by vomiting up what seemed like the several pounds of detritus spread on the cockpit floor.


There's something very special about this photo.  BITD, THIS was MY airplane!     Source

I got the message and took it to heart.  But...ever after that, as part of my "G Warmup" maneuvering at the start of a mission, I would be sure to unload the airplane to slightly negative G to see what might be hiding in the various spaces in the cockpit waiting to make their way into my eyes, ears, nose and throat.

To change the subject slightly and since we've been talking about being "out of control", I thought this little musical interlude would be in order..



Peace out y'ALL!

*Composed last Saturday since the Baby Shower for LJW/LJD was Sunday.  I'm going to make myself scarce in that estrogen rich environment.  LJD is doing well and is at 5.2 Lbs as of Saturday.  Mrs. J got her a Doctor Look alike pair of scrubs for Halloween.  Got quite a few chuckles from the staff.


 

 

50 comments:

  1. I finally 'got it' when the instructor said, don't be afraid to fly the aircraft.

    See, about me, I am known to break things. I know that so I had been holding back. That put me at risk of washing out. But now, with his 'permission', I showed who is boss. Since then, no looking back.

    Forget about the eyes full of dirt and the odd nuts and washers, I once had a pen fly up to lodge in my mask.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon,
      I think that was a common turning point for most of us going through upgrades in our first fighter. That was one of the reasons the AF started Lead-in. New guys knew how to fly the T-38, now they had to learn to employ it. As an IP, one of the things we looked for was that acknowledgement of reality. Those that didn't were "encouraged" to try other mission types.
      A pen? Ouch!

      Delete
  2. Really continued good news on LJD there juvat.

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  3. Great post, if you don't know what the edge of the envelope is, you might be a bomber pilot. Great news on LJD, she is looking very good.

    I like your airplane, I zoomed in.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Sarge. I think the picture was taken at Wendover Utah. The picture isn't of anything at Moody or Nellis and the jet had a TER on the wing pylon, meaning we were dropping bombs, so we had to be deployed somewhere. That's the only place we went, other than Nellis, where that was occurring. Or, at least that I remember.
      The picture is now one of my two rotating screen savers.

      Delete
    2. I wonder if that Phantom (a '63) was one of the ones we flew over to Korat in August of '65? Do you have any history of it? We picked a lot of them up at the factory in St. Louis in 64-65.

      Delete
    3. LtFuzz,
      Entirely possible. There were a couple of them on the line with red stars on the port intake, so they'd "Been there, Done that!"

      Delete
    4. I don't think this photo is from Wendover. Not that many trees in that area. Wendover water tower was/is a cylindrical type on top of a large rock outcropping, not a flying saucer on legs. Wendover AFB was mostly shut down in caretaker status, or engaged in missile testing type projects in the 1960s.
      Possibly Hill AFB, which owns and operates the Wendover ranges??

      Delete
    5. John Blackshoe made the Wendover comment

      Delete
    6. John,
      The 69 TFS deployed to Wendover for a Red Flag in probably '84 or '85. You're right the base WAS in caretaker status. But this was a Rapid Deployment Force Red Flag. We had a RED HORSE squadron deploy with us. Their mission in the exercise was to bring the base up to a usable status as quickly as possible. Ostensibly, all the RDF needed to operate was Water and a Runway. This exercise was to test that theory. We passed.
      That having been said. I think you're right. I think it might have been Ft Campbell KY. The squadron deployed an 8 ship to "play" with the Army and drop real bombs on their Artillery Range. I didn't get to go, but the guys who did said it was fun. I'd forgotten that deployment. We did deploy...a lot! (It was the Reagan Buildup.)

      Delete
    7. John,
      Oops, sorry missed the second question. I don't think it was Hill for the same reason. Green Trees. BITD, it was a convenient fuel stop so used a lot. I don't remember that much greenery and the nearby mountains aren't visible either. Could be wrong, but see above comment.

      Delete
  4. It was the Crew Chief's bird, he LOANED it to you.
    Tree Mike, Crew Chief '69-'73. F-105 Lead Sled

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    Replies
    1. One of my first models was the Thud. What a beautiful bird. One of my favorites of the century series. My sister had several paint by numbers sets. I used that to paint a subdued camo pattern on it. I thought it looked petty good. Like the ones on the news at night... Only I had to figure out the colors, the old black and white tv wasn't much help.

      Delete
    2. Tree Mike,
      True, but I was involved in scheduling all three of my flying assignments. When the airplane with My Name and the Crew Chief's Name was on the maintenance schedule, guess who's name I put on the flying schedule with it? I'd also go out regularly to check on her and see if the crew chief needed someone to polish the canopy. I was pretty much a stickler for having a clean canopy. Liked to see the bad guys, you know.
      Thud guy, huh? Now THAT was a cool hunk of iron! Most of my IP's had time in that jet. Pushing the envelope was pretty much the norm for them.

      Delete
    3. STxAR,
      The Thud was one of my first models also. I had a slight advantage over you on color though. Webb AFB would regularly have them stop by to refuel, usually flown by former students from there. Having a Dad who was an IP allowed a bit of leeway for a 10YO to get close. Maybe even sit in the cockpit...and dream.
      Dreams DO come true.

      Delete
    4. I had a ride in a F-105F one sunny afternoon at George AFB. It was solid as a rock at 450+K at 200 feet. Not so good however, at 30K'. A perfect design. The "Farmingdale Squat Bomber".

      Delete
    5. LtFuzz
      Ed Rasimus was my Instructor when I transitioned to Fighter Lead-In as an IP. He's featured as one of "These Lieutenants" in the Thud documentary "There is a way". Spent a lot of time with him in the 435TFTS bar learning what really is important about flying fighters, most of which he learned in that tour. (I had about 1000 hours fighter time at the time.) I remember him mentioning those characteristics also.
      Passed away a few years ago. He had a big impact on my life.

      Delete
    6. I hope that all those who were military pilots and others, had such senior fellows in their life. Mine was Jesse Locke. He flew F-86's in the Korean police action and brought some of the good stuff over to the Deuce and later, the Phantom. Knew him my entire "career".

      Delete
    7. LtFuzz,
      Might have to redo a post from long long ago about Ed. Taught me a lot about the reality of flying fighters.

      Delete
  5. Is it true that aircraft are like women - a new paint job makes their age mostly unnoticeable?

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    Replies
    1. BMG,
      Unfortunately, unnoticeable? yes. Not a factor? No!

      Delete
  6. Thanks for sharing Juvat. This is a world completely unknown to me. I do enjoy your descriptions of the, well, "colorful metaphors".

    Based on your description, any nascent career I would have had as pilot would have been a short one.

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    Replies
    1. THBB,
      Thanks, I try (and, as to the metaphors,I learned from the Best, Sarge being one).

      Like my Mom always said "You can do anything, you just got to put your mind to it, try hard and NEVER give up!"

      Delete
  7. Crusty Old TV Tech here. Same with the Shuttle. Zero-G, and all the crap that had accumulated in the OPF and VAB started levitating. The one that used to tickle my funny bone most was when the crew would report a TV monitor malfunction a couple days into a mission, and it was a sock sucked into the filters behind the monitor. Just like on Earth in 1-G, those socks that go missing in the dryer!

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    Replies
    1. COTVT,
      Now that's funny! I don't care who you are. That having been said, FOD in the cockpit when your traveling a bazillion MPH headed straight for the Earth could be a touch problematic, I would think.

      Delete
    2. And FOD can be quite insidious. I think it was Apollo 14 or 15 during LEM checkout that the crew noticed that the Abort switch was off and the corresponding Abort light was on. Tapping the panel turned the light off, then it would occur again. Apparently, a little solder ball was floating inside the switch and shorting it. If other breakers had been closed, the LEM descent stage would have immediately jettisoned, and the ascent engine would have fired. The problem might reoccur at any time, but they needed the abort capacity (breakers closed) to be able to rapidly abort during the actual landing. Much sweating and reprogramming done in a short time in the back room...

      Delete
    3. Don,
      I'm not sure I understood all that, but...it was pretty clear that things could go VERY BAD, VERY QUICK. Glad there were good and smart people involved to solve the problem. Thanks.

      Delete
  8. Good news on the youngster! I went to a baby shower once. Wasn't mine...

    I looked at the fighter and tried to figure out how it was yours.... Then it came to me. The one at Luke... BITD: Beaten It To Death!!!
    Looks like the disgronificator fell out and was drug by its umbilical.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. STxAR,
      Apparently, the Shower went well. I helped Mrs J get all the goodies out and said hello to the Ladies, then headed straight to Lowes to get my manhood card stamped.

      Disgronificator? Is that Swahili for Boarding Ladder?

      BITD (Your definition) Built in 1968, which meant 4-5 years of festivities in Vietnam, yeah, would've had a pretty good wringing out. I flew her '81-83, so 13-15 YO. In people years, that's even older than Old AF Sarge is now. I tried (and failed occasionally) to treat her like the Lady she was.

      Delete
  9. Thank you Juvat. An enjoyable lesson in Phantoming!

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  10. So was he screaming at you because you didn't do it perfectly? I don't quite yet what you did wrong, crossing the overrun meaning you overshot?

    And didn't you know you can attend those estrogen-filled events now, today's manly men go to bridal showers and baby showers as an example of their neo-masculinity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tuna,
      The C and D model F-4's didn't have leading edge slats like the E's and later models did. To go all Aeronautical Engineer here, those slats kept the boundary layer air flow on the top of the wing longer when at higher angle of attack. The C's and D's would tend to stall earlier and slip into a spin quicker if there was any yaw at all. Either of which can be quite deadly a few feet above the ground. So, flying the airplane all the way onto the runway was the proper way to land the early F-4s. Other aircraft (T-38 or F-15) had better slow speed handling ability, so you could land at a slower speed and thereby use less runway to stop. The early F-4's compensated by dissipating their airspeed with a "firm" landing. Much the same reason for the Navy's style of landing given that their "runways" tend to be quite a bit shorter.
      As to estrogen/masculinity, I fall into the neanderthal category there.

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    2. That makes sense, and sounds like his screaming was quite justified! I prefer the neanderthal category also. I was invited to a baby shower and it was a hard pass for me.

      Delete
    3. Tuna,
      Well, I did learn a few lessons there. One I discussed in the article. Another I have mentioned in other posts, but..."Not everyone who yells at you is your enemy, nor everyone who smiles at you, your friend."

      The Lowe's trip was highly successful. A couple of Christmas projects have made it past the design stage and been sufficiently supplied so as to start construction. The streets in Texas are safe from wandering Juvats.

      Delete
    4. Well, yeah! The F4, originally F4H-1 under the Navy numbering convention, was designed for the Navy. Me thinks, from something that I read long ago, that the F-4C was only slightly de-Navalized and that the F-4E was the first fully AF version of the aircraft.

      Delete
    5. BillB,
      You're right about the Navy origins of the Phantom and the E Model flew decidedly differently than the C & D. I'm not positive the the stick in the C/D could even be moved sideways at all. I knew that the WSO's legs were wired to the Angle of Attack gauge and audible alarm. Their knees would automatically snap together as soon as the alarm started beeping. Stick movement from that point on was limited to fore and aft (how's that for Navy Lingo?). Took a bit of getting used to ailerons again when I transitioned to the E.
      Thanks for the memories (as someone used to sing).

      Delete
  11. LJD is lookin' good! Praise the Lord!
    I'm glad you mentioned BLC to Tuna. It was the magic ingredient for the Phantom. I had a student who pulled the power to idle about 100 feet in the air. No more boundary layer control. Burner and a bounce required before I allowed as how I had seen better technique! I was complacent as an IP 'cuz he was about to graduate from the program with 80+ hours. He said he had a lapse of memory.
    When I got all shot up, but not shot down, there was no BLC. The airplane flew fast, no flap, over the boundary!
    It seems to me that we used to set the power at 82% and left it there in the pattern until after crash down. Remember landing it smootherly by a slight pull on the stick when you got into ground effect. Something about the height being the square root of the mean chord of the wing (?). Maybe it was better to just let it settle hard.

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    Replies
    1. LtFuzz,
      The BLC thing you explained was exactly what my IP was expressing his dissatisfaction about. The Go Around, Burners order was to minimize the impact velocity should we happen to impact the runway. I'd had BLC explained to me in Academics. Learned and understood it quite a bit more in that 5 or 6 second episode I described. I had to make a no flap landing in the E model once as I had a split flap episode on downwind . Airplane started to roll as soon as I put the flap lever down. Fortunately, flap retraction was successful. That was my first approach end barrier engagement. Very exciting (Unless you're a Navy type, then it's ho hum I suppose.)
      Later on in RTU when I was flying almost exclusively with the IWSO, he alluded to a technique about adding a bit of power and a little back pressure just prior to landing. He said it helped ease the stress on the hemorrhoids. Took me a while, but I eventually understood what he was talking about.

      Delete
    2. I was definitely on "roids" for some of my career. These were not the performance enhancing kind though.

      Delete
    3. Tuna,
      Yes, well...let's not discuss that too much more. Sarge's sensitive ears, doncha' know.

      Delete
  12. Did you ever wonder why all of the approach end engagement training was in the bar, sometime after four pm? Your first one was your first one.

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    Replies
    1. D4,
      Well...a lot of inhibitions were lowered over time and questions that should not have been asked could be asked. So...we had that going for us. ;-)

      Delete
  13. Glad LJD is doing well. I understand the weight thing because of my great niece.

    I do understand spot landings for energy dissipation. I first learned them at 14 when I soloed in sailplanes; if you didn't learn to do that as you moved up to higher performance sailplanes you could overshoot the runway especially if it was Farmer Jones corn field when you ran out of thermals to soar. In the Herk, that is what we did for short field landings. We could have a 130,000 pound aircraft stop in 1500' from the approach end of the runway. Normally, we tried to be a little more gentle to preserve aircraft life. Fighters though are designed to take a little bit more of a beating.

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    Replies
    1. I took a ride in a Herk once when they were practicing that. Was quite uncomfortable from the back. Was slightly less when they let me up front to watch. I had to promise not to puke if they'd let me up there. Was pretty impressive watching them from Mobile Control at the end of the runway also.

      Delete
  14. Some things you just have to learn the hard way... And good news for LJD too!

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    Replies
    1. Old NFO,
      Lessons learned hard are lessons learned well.
      Thanks, we're grateful.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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