I just built this web site for the 3 photos.
http://home.earthlink.net/~basavage/id10.html
My sons father in-law, who flew a Navy jet during the
Korean Police Action said, "They're both idiots."
If I was one of them, I would rather go down with the
plane trying to get back to home base than punch out
and land in total disgrace.
But what do I know.....,
Bryan
Bryan Savage wrote:
>I don't know what to say.
>Bryan
>
>
>
>Good photos of a pair of F-18 Hornets at Top Gun which had a mid-air
>collision and then the pilots "John Wayned" them back to base.
>Anyone has got to be NUTS to be a Naval Aviator. Hook down - hydraulics
>gone - incredible... This truly is a miracle; two heavily damaged
>aircraft. The pilots would have been justified in "punching out" but
>instead, they chose to bring the jets in. This endangered their
>lives but saved the taxpayers about 80 million dollars. What is
>especially intriguing is in picture 03, notice the radome, radar and
>all of the avionics equipment, everything, in front is gone. This
>created several problems for the pilot: aerodynamics, eventual loss
>of hydraulics due to loss of fluid, navigation, and probably the
>most amazing, as the pieces fell away, some debris had to be
>ingested by the engines (F.O.D.) and he still was able to bring it
>home! The story behind them is: Two F/A-18 Hornets from Top Gun were
>Dogfighting and made a head on pass, just a bit too close. One got
>home with part of the left wing and left vertical fin and rudder
>missing, while the other jet is missing everything forward of the
>cockpit pressure bulkhead and is a flying convertible because the
>canopy is shattered too. These guys are lucky. It shows how rugged
>these aircraft are...Also shows how good our pilots are.
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