[Nobbc] Fw: F-16 Dead stick into Elizabeth City, N.C.

[Mike Gianandrea]

----- Original Message -----
From: John Dickey
To: undisclosed recipients:
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 8:22 AM
Subject: FW: F-16 Dead stick into Elizabeth City, N.C.




      --- On Thu, 1/27/11, Patrick Odooley <patrickodooley at hotmail.com>
wrote:


        From: Patrick Odooley <patrickodooley at hotmail.com>
        Subject: FW: F-16 Dead stick into Elizabeth City, N.C.
        To: ghabelt at aol.com
        Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011, 9:15 AM


        this guy lands better with no power than I do with power.

        Patrick O. Dooley
        Supreme Commander
        (214) 695-0223






------------------------------------------------------------------------
        From: Ghabelt at aol.com
        Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:47:20 -0500
        Subject: Fwd: FW: F-16 Dead stick into Elizabeth City, N.C.
        To: ghabelt at aol.com


        Who says you can't dead stick glide a fighter jet to a landing !
Hell, even the Air Force can !!




















          Here's the F-16 dead stick into Elizabeth City, NC: A fairly  short
RWY for jets, (about 6000 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 askes 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 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 9000 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 9000 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 at 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 askes anothe 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 flight 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.

          Plze scroll down for the link  + Enjoy.


          The pilot just  saved about $20+m at  his own risk.......Great job!
best,

          Note  the breathing rate on the hot mic and also the sink rate
(airspeed  tape on the left side of the heads up  display.



          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.

          Just  a reminder an F-16 has only one engine.

          When  it goes, you are coming down.

          It  is just a matter of figuring out where the airplane will come
to rest on terra firma.

          Nice  job....cool pilot!


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

          For  those not familiar, the EPU (Electrical Power Unit)

          provides  hydraulic and electrical power in event of failure of the
engine, electrical or hydraulics.

          The  EPU is powered by Hydrazine which decomposes into hot gasses
as it passes across a catalyst bed or engine bleed air (if  available).

          The  hot air passes through a turbine which drives the emergency
hydraulic pump and generator through a gear  box.






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