Author Topic: B1B down off Diego Garcia (Read 1750 times)

AKDejaVu · « **Reply #15 on:** December 12, 2001, 11:56:00 PM »

Ahh.. it HAD a pod setup funkedup

Give some people that have been out of the biz for 15years some credit too

AKDejaVu

eagl · « **Reply #16 on:** December 13, 2001, 08:50:00 PM »

You're right Deja, "had"

If you look closely at some B-1B's, you can see a little triangle shaped bulge aft of the canopy where the pod stabilization fins used to be recessed. I'm not sure if they all have this or just a couple of converted ones...

I've talked to guys who survived F-111 ejections... That darn pod fell like a ton of bricks and quite often resulted in spine compression fractures even when everything worked properly. One poor sucker landed on the tippy top of a tree that penetrated the pod and his leg. The pod slid down the tree like a grape on a toothpick trapping them inside until they could be cut free.

F-111 pod trivia - The control stick worked as a bilge pump when pumped forward and aft, so the standard procedure following an ejection over water was to open your hatch, unbolt your control stick, and toss it out the window so the other crewmember had to do all the pumping

AKDejaVu · « **Reply #17 on:** December 13, 2001, 10:13:00 PM »

Hehehe.. yep.. I knew that about the 111 "bilge pump". The Other problem was the use of multiple chutes and relying on cushion/floatation bag deployments on the bottom of the capsule to soften the impact. A base commander had compressed his spine the year before I had arrived because the air cushion didn't deploy on an ejection. All 111's were later grounded when another had problems with 1 chute not deploying causing another spinal injury.

Of course, we had more spinal injuries in one single helecopter incident than in all F-111 ejections combined... but nevermind that

AKDejaVu

AKDejaVu · « **Reply #18 on:** December 13, 2001, 10:14:00 PM »

BTW... one of the leading causes of spinal injury during ejection is a result of the seat imacting your tailbone as the rockets fire. That's one reason why fighters have virtually no cushion on their flight seats.

AKDejaVu

Airscrew · « **Reply #19 on:** December 14, 2001, 12:43:00 AM »

Hey Deja, I was a Mtn Home from 84 to 94. Knew a few guys that worked on the F111. They used to say the F111 was prove that with big enough engines and wings you could make a brick fly.
I was on the Search and Recovery team during the time of that crash (87?) but I was TDY to Fairchild and wasnt sorry I missed it. The explaination I remember was when the plane took off the canopy opened up on the student pilots side and the IP reached over trying to close it. For some reason one of the engines flamed out and the plane rolled over and they ejected at about a 90 degree angle right into the ground.
I think sometime after that maybe a year,was when one of the squadron commanders belly landed his F111 on the flightline because the gear wouldnt come down and there was no way he was going to eject, he didnt trust the ejection pod. Of course they didnt write it up that way, he gets credit for saving a valuable air force asset. The guys that saw him said it was a perfect landing minus the wheels of course.

fdiron · « **Reply #20 on:** December 14, 2001, 12:51:00 AM »

B1b crashed here in Kentucky a few years ago. Pilot said there was smoke in the cockpit and the controls werent responding. Crew ejected safely and plane continued flying a ways. Crashed 400meters from a house.

loser · « **Reply #21 on:** December 14, 2001, 07:37:00 AM »

now dont flame me, im honestly happy that the crew of the B1B made it home safely.

but regarding the ejection system, im glad they moved from a ejection pod to individual seats.

screaming, flailing of arms and crapping of pants is a personal, not a group thing.

p.s. <S> to all crews of the war against terrorism; land, sea, and ground.

AKDejaVu · « **Reply #22 on:** December 14, 2001, 11:05:00 AM »

Quote

Hey Deja, I was a Mtn Home from 84 to 94. Knew a few guys that worked on the F111. They used to say the F111 was prove that with big enough engines and wings you could make a brick fly.

I was in Mt. Home from 86 to 90. I worked with the 366th EMS in Weapons Release Shop (the little shack on the flight line that had the lawn).

That "given big enough engines... " quote is actually from the F4 Phantom. It applies well to the F-111 though

Quote

I think sometime after that maybe a year,was when one of the squadron commanders belly landed his F111 on the flightline because the gear wouldnt come down and there was no way he was going to eject, he didnt trust the ejection pod. Of course they didnt write it up that way, he gets credit for saving a valuable air force asset. The guys that saw him said it was a perfect landing minus the wheels of course.

There were a couple of them. One had a main gear wheel fall off (dunno root cause) and they hooked the barrier with the gear up and caused a bit of damage to the plane. The other was a nose gear problem (someone forgot to install a pin) and they also hooked the barrier and actually caused minimal damage (not even class a mishap). I do believe birdstrikes accounted for more damage than either of those two gear incidents.... especially that goose strike.

AKDejaVu

mjolnir · « **Reply #23 on:** December 14, 2001, 11:24:00 AM »

I've got my pilot slot now, so hopefully within the next couple years, if all goes according to plan, I'll be in the front seat of a B-1. I'd love to talk shop about it with anyone who has some operational experience with the plane.

Durr · « **Reply #24 on:** December 16, 2001, 07:19:00 PM »

I havent been operational in the B-1 or even flown in it, but I have been around it a number of times. That is one of the two possible aircraft I can be a WSO on once I finish flight school here at NASP, the other one being the F-15E. I am trying to get the F-15E but I will not be unhappy with the Bone of course. I have gotten to fly the full motion B-1 simulator several times and its a mighty awesome ride!