F-16 pilot saves U.S. taxpayers about $20 million. Nice job, at risk of own life.

[trof]

http://www.patricksaviation.com/videos/SUPERGT/3384/

Here's the F-16 dead stick into Elizabeth City, NC: A fairly short RWY for jets, (about 6,000 ft long), but qualifies for an “Emergency landing field" in the grand scheme of US aviation.

You'll probably have to watch the video several times to appreciate how intense the situation and how busy the pilot was all the way to stopping on the runway. Very apparently, the pilot was one-of-four F-16s in a flight returning to their base, (most probably from the Navy Dare bombing range south of Manteo), and the F-16 in question had already reported a "Ruff-Running Engine" to his flight leader before the start of the video.

A few comments not readily apparent are:

- The whole episode, from start-to-finish only takes about 3 1/2 minutes!

- The video begins as the flight is being followed on radar. The flight leader asks for the Elizabeth City tower UHF freq which is repeated as 355.6 and the entire flight switches to that freq: Just one-more-task for the pilot to execute in the cockpit as he reports that his engine has QUIT. He has to activate the Emergency Unit (EPU) to maintain electric and hydraulic power. This unit is powered by Hydrazine: (the caustic fuel that Germany created in WW II to power their V-2 Rockets and their ME-163 rocket fighters among others.) Thus, the last call about requesting fire support after the jet is safe on deck, and pilot breathing easy.

- Meanwhile, back in the cockpit, the pilot is busily attempting to "Re-light" his engine: (Unsuccessfully, of course) while tending to everything else.

- The video is taken using the Head-Up-Display (HUD) camera which also has a voice recorder.

- The HUD is a very busy instrument, but among things to notice are the 'circle' in the middle which represents the nose of the aircraft and where it is 'pointed': "The velocity Vector".

- The flight leader reports they are 7-miles out from the airport and at 9,000 ft altitude. Since the weather is clear and the airport is in sight, this allows for adequate "Gliding distance" to reach a runway with the engine OFF. Rest assured, jet fighters glide sorta like a rock. They don't enjoy the higher lift design of an airliner like that which allowed Sullenburger to land in the NY river.

- Coming down 9,000 ft in only 7-miles requires a helluva rate of descent, so the pilot's nose remains well below the "Horizon" until just prior to touching down on the runway. The HUD horizon is a solid, lateral bar, and below the horizon, the horizontal lines appear as dashes. You'll see a "10" on the second dashed line below the horizon which = 10-degrees nose low.

- Radio chatter includes the flight leader calling the tower and the tower stating runway 10 with wind 070@5MPH + altimeter setting of 30.13: yet another step for the pilot to consider.

- The flight leader calls for the pilot to jettison his external fuel tanks and asks another pilot in the flight to "Mark" where they dropped.. The tower later tells the pilot to land on any rwy he chooses.

- Pilot reports "Three in the green" indicating all three gear indicate down and locked which the fligh t leader acknowledges.

- You will hear the computer voice of "Bitchin'-Betty" calling out "Warnings". More confusing chatter when none is welcome or even necessary. (That's "Hi-Tech" for ya.)

- The pilot has only ONE CHANCE to get this right and must also slow to an acceptable landing speed in order to stop on the short runway. You'll see Black rubber on the rwy where "The rubber meets the road" in the touchdown area. Note that during rollout, he gets all the way to the far end which you can see by all the black skid marks where planes have landed heading in the opposite direction.

OK: That's more than ya probably wanted to know, but you have to appreciate the fine job this guy did in calmly managing this emergency situation. He is a "USAF Reserve" pilot and those guys generally have plenty of experience. That really pays off.

The pilot just saved about $20+m at his own risk.......Great job!
Note the breathing rate on the hot mic.
See if you can keep all of the radio transmissions straight.

Probably the coolest sounding voice in the whole mix is the pilot of the engine out aircraft.

[A HERETIC I AM]

1. Very cool.

Reminds me of the joke about the F-16 pilot who radio's in to the tower with a rough running engine and asks for a priority landing. The tower tells him he is number two behind a B-52 with one engine out.

The ever-so-cool Fighter driver says "Ah yes. The dreaded 7 engine approach"


Thank for posting, Trof.

Best post currently up in the lounge.

[krispos42]

7. LOL

[UnrepentantLiberal]

2. That was cool.

[pa28]

3. Wow. He was dropping like a brick to make that runway.

Nice job of saving the taxpayers some money and maybe even the life of somebody on the ground who might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[flying rabbit]

4. Wow that was intense

thanks for the write up!OK that was exactly what I wanted to know.
THX

[pokerfan]

5. I believe the F-16 has a glide ration comparable to a brick thrown out of a window

That was intense. Thanks for the write-up!

[bluedigger]

6. Nice job, alright.

Speaking of the ME-163, I met one of the original test pilots from the program. He'd moved to the US after the war to work for Sikorsky. Very, very few test pilots survived the ME-163.

[krispos42]

8. Fighters should have two engines and two crewmembers.

Modern aerial combat is way too complex to try to relive Guadalcanal.

[Angleae]

10. Single engine planes cost less.

The F-16C/D costs about 60% of what a F-18C/D does yet it can do the same job ($19 mil vs $29 mil). Also the Air Forces doesn't expect it's F-16s to fight enemy aircraft, that's what they have F-15s for.

[PuffedMica]

13. yet it can do the same job

Yup, F-16 can do the same job as an F-18,

except take off and land on a 1000 foot runway that moves.

[trof]

14. If there's more than 1 engine and 1 pilot, it ain't a fighter.

I HATE single engine aircraft.
Won't fly in one.
Lose an engine and you're a 'glider'.
Actually a brick, as has been pointed out.

The ONLY single engine I ever flew was the RF-84/F.


However...I was wearing a parachute and sitting on a rocket ejection seat.
I was 'relatively' comfortable in that situation.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Pretty cool. Thanks for the re-cap, Capn'.

[Old Troop]

11. Thanks Trof. Absolutely amazing.

Your commentary really helped me understand what was going on.

[MrCoffee]

12. I will never in my life be as cool as that pilot was