LAST FLYING SEA VIXEN - GEAR UP LANDING

[Phil Perry]

VERY SAD. . . But no injuries. ( Apart from to the aircraft. . .)

 

 

Last Sea Vixen plane does an emergency landing after show | Daily Mail Online

 

 

[Love to fly]

And love the statement in the media

 

Pilot was unharmed but it is not yet clear if the aircraft, which retired from active service in 1971, is damaged

 

Read more: Last Sea Vixen plane does an emergency landing after show | Daily Mail Online

 

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[Marty_d]

The drop tanks were obviously empty, otherwise it'd be a bit hairy to land on them... wonder if that was a conscious decision to keep them on (maybe to keep the wingtips away from the ground...)

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Gotta luv the way the cameraman loses it right at the critical stage, often see that!!

Too true,. . . mind you, if it had happened at an actual Air Show,. . . no doubt there would have been much and varied multidirectional footage down to the molecular level . . .as there were just a handful of aviation enthusiasts hanging around the base, the photographic / vid results weren't too bad I guess. . . .

 

 

[Phil Perry]

And love the statement in the mediaPilot was unharmed but it is not yet clear if the aircraft, which retired from active service in 1971, is damaged

Read more: Last Sea Vixen plane does an emergency landing after show | Daily Mail Online

 

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Just LUUURVE media reporters. . . .every time there's an aviation incident of any kind, you can guarantee that they'll commit a couple of 'Howler' comments. . . .sometimes very silly and mostly bordering upon the inane. . .

 

Oh well,. . .at least it gives the '#WOKE' folks like us something to giggle about eh ?

 

Media : " And how did you FEEL when the wing fell off your Dreamliner and your Wife was sucked out of the window .? " . .

 

 

[Phil Perry]

And love the statement in the mediaPilot was unharmed but it is not yet clear if the aircraft, which retired from active service in 1971, is damaged

Read more: Last Sea Vixen plane does an emergency landing after show | Daily Mail Online

 

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Yeah, . .. well,. . .hey, it's a bit scratched along the bottom like you know, bit of tarmac burning, like when you fall off your motorbike at 190 KmH at the TT races, , but it should buff out OK. . . . .

 

 

[pylon500]

New tanks, new canopy, bit of a buff, no problems...

 

 

[M61A1]

The drop tanks were obviously empty, otherwise it'd be a bit hairy to land on them... wonder if that was a conscious decision to keep them on (maybe to keep the wingtips away from the ground...)

A Singaporean Hawker Hunter had a gear failure and conducted a gear up landing at Amberley in the 80's. I heard two loud bangs and looked out the door to see a Hunter sliding a long at a fair rate along 33 and two wing tanks cart wheeling in the air quite above and behind the aircraft. I can only assume they weren't jettisoned intentionally and that the fuel dregs and vapour ignited.

 

 

[Frankus1aust]

I often wonder with these gear up landings why you wouldn't land on the grass? The tarmac is a spark generator.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

I often wonder with these gear up landings why you wouldn't land on the grass? The tarmac is a spark generator.

I've asked that question of three retired RAF pilots. two said that you don't know solid the ground beneath the grass might be. . . and if a major part of the airframe 'Digs in'. . . you're likely to flip / cartwheel and this would obviously make the landing less survivable. A hard runway is much less likely to produce that effect.

 

Not much of a survey, but there it is.

 

An ex- Lightning jockey said that he wouldn't even have attempted landing gear up, it would be bang out time.

 

 

[Frankus1aust]

I've asked that question of three retired RAF pilots. two said that you don't know solid the ground beneath the grass might be. . . and if a major part of the airframe 'Digs in'. . . you're likely to flip / cartwheel and this would obviously make the landing less survivable. A hard runway is much less likely to produce that effect.Not much of a survey, but there it is.

 

An ex- Lightning jockey said that he wouldn't even have attempted landing gear up, it would be bang out time.

A pretty good answer.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

A pretty good answer.

Well . . .his ethos for that was that the landing speed of a lightning was somewhere around 180 Knots indicated.. . HE said. . .".Imagine the amount of kinetic energy needed to slow it down to a reasonably survivable speed AND, keep it straight along the runway". He said, "I'd tell 'em what I intended to do, wait around fifteen minutes to get the search helo into the air, then point it along the coast about half a mile off, and then eject parallel to the airfield. . . . He never had to actually DO this, so I dunno whether it was bar room talk or not. I wonder if it would affect his insurance No Claims bonus ?

 

He used to operate from a base in the far North East of Scotland, their usual work was the interception of Russian 'Bear' aircraft prodding UK airspace. They did this 24/7 in all weathers. . . .one of these guys wrote a good book about it but I regret that I cannot remember the title, nor the author. . . .was a crackin' read though. . .especially returnng to base in the kind of $hit weather condx. that the place is famous for. . .Mid 1960s if I remember correctly. . . might be able to track it using GOGGLE ?

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Another Ex RAF mate,. Sqn Leader Graham Taylor, was a Vulcan pilot / Instructor. His speciality was 'Fuel Management'. . .and he trained other pilots in this rather important part of flying the Vulcan.. He said that throttle setting accuracy was vital to any safe operations, as one would assume with any aeroplane, but that the Vulcan, if not setup correctly, with those four Olympus engines ( Like Concord ) consumed so much Kero ( Jet A1 ) that it became a critical part of the pilot training regime.

 

He was sitting in the tower watching a pilot doing 'Circuits for his final signoff, when the pilot reported a flameout on two of his engines whilst on a long base leg.

 

He then watched the aircraft bellyflop onto the runway, out of fuel altogether . . .collapsing the undercarriage and it finally slid to a halt with no fire, nor any injuries to the crew.

 

The crew had NOT managed the fuel correctly OR, had not conducted fuel transfer properly, and trashed a Brand sponfire new Vulcan.. . . he had to give evidence at the Court Martial of the crew, and when asked what his speciality was, he replied "Fuel Management Sir. . .BUT I was not on borad the aircraft at the time. . ."

 

Incidentally, Graham was a serivng instructor pilot during the Falklands war when a Vulcan was sent there to bomb the runway at Port Stanely to deny the Srgentinians the use of it. The Vulcan was refuelled in the air severla times during the trio down to the South Atlantic.

 

The story about the one which landed in Chile, is a little more clouded in bullcrap and other obfuscation, One story is that it was impounded on the ground, refused refuelling and only allowed to leave when the captain told ATC that it was carrying Nuclear weapons, which 'Might' accidentally go off if they didn't leave. . . .I have heard / read several versions of this story and I still do not know what is true and what is BS. . .

 

I asked Vulcanologist Graham, but he refused to comment. . .'Official Secrets Act - 30 years before I can discuss. . . '

 

Precious stuff ! ! !

 

Graham Taylor RAF Retd' R.I P. He and I were the ONLY two mad pilots to fly that bloody horrible little black Tiger Cub bipane sitting next to the AN2 in my avatar.

 

It had been designed by some twat who sold several kits before a prototype had even flown. . .this was in the very early days of Microlight Flying, when you could get away with such stuff. I Flew it first, and told him what a blooody bitch of a death trap it was, it frightened the living bejayzus out of me. . .( Stupid Boy - You WERE NOT QUALIFIED TO TEST FLY AN AEROPLANE OF ANY KIND ! )

 

And he flew it after I did and agreed implicitly with my recommendations, and biriefing on how it didn't do what the controls were meant to do. It was fourteen inches too short in the fuselage, this was corrected in later models, producing far more stability in pitch. . and the roll control was spongy and horrible, with single ailerons on the bottom surface only. . .This was corrected with a FOUR aileron setup and folding wings in later models, although only seven were ever sold and there are none currently on the register. . . .

 

It was also underpowered, with a Rotax 337 - 2 stroke engine, the cowlings being made from KEN HOM Chinese Woks, with a bit cut out at the bottom. I trusted Graham to fly it,. . . as he had around 3,500 hours on DH82A. . .far more than I. . . ( and some. . . he retired with over 19,000 hours on all sorts of RAF stuff. . .respek )

 

Fortunately, the designs are now a lot better, and there are people out there who test fly them before selling them on to an unsuspecting proletariat. . . .

 

All Hail TEST PILOTS !

 

 

[Litespeed]

Another reason not to gear up land a lightning is the fuel is in a ventral tank, so fire is a massive risk.