So, as a newly minted First Lieutenant and recently qualified T-33 Instructor Pilot at my first operational assignment I got some of the choice scheduling assignments. After two weeks out of town on leave, I was scheduled to fly the first morning go on Monday morning, with the Wing Commander, a full bird colonel, on a proficiency training sortie. Monday morning flights always seemed more difficult because the brain cells were still in weekend relax mode and mine was in leave mode on top of that. On top of that, I’m flying with the Wing King, who was actually a pretty cool, down to earth guy. But, hey, no stress, just don’t screw this up sport!
The Colonel shows up at our squadron early, checks in with the squadron brass, and comes down to the ops desk where I’m waiting with my Monday morning apprehension. We do the meet and greet and proceed to our briefing room that I’ve already prepped with the mission profile on the blackboards. Normal normal briefing and we go to life support, don our flight gear, and head out to our “Stretch F-80”, officially know as the Lockheed T-33.
At the jet, we meet and greet the crew chief, line chief, etc, etc, etc. Hey! It’s the wing king! Lots of attention to him. I’m pretty much invisible until the crew chief hands the boss the 781(aircraft logbook, maintenance record). We both review the 781 to verify it’s airworthy and good to go. With that complete, we do a preflight inspection inside and out, and strap on the jet. The Boss is sitting in the front and I’m in the “trunk”. We complete our individual checks, he turns the electrical power on, gives the Crew Chief the engine start signal, and begins the start sequence. The J-33 centrifugal flow engine spins up and lights off normally. After start checks complete and he calls for taxi.
At the active runway, we do the normal before takeoff checks and call ready for takeoff. Tower clears us for takeoff on runway 35. The Boss adds power and lines us up on the center line of the runway. With everything looking good, he releases the brakes, slowly pushes the throttle to the forward stop, and the engine slowly spins up to full takeoff power. We start rolling down the runway (actually an uphill grade on this runway) and accelerate to takeoff speed. He starts the rotation to the takeoff attitude and the T Bird lifts off the runway. With the climb established, the Boss raises the landing gear and flaps. Everything comes up normally and then, the engine overheat light starts flashing and then goes steady. He’s still climbing on runway heading. The flashing and then steady overheat light was quite concerning and demanded immediate action; a turn to downwind and a modified SFO (Simulated Flame Out) pattern in the event this went completely south and required an engine shutdown per the Emergency Checklist BOLD FACE procedure.
Over the intercom I said “I’ve got the aircraft”. He replied “You’ve got the aircraft”. Transfer control or the aircraft complete and I started an aggressive left climbing turn while declaring and emergency with tower. I completed the Engine Overheat Bold Face Procedure which included a step to Reduce Power. When this happened, the Overheat Light extinguished. Flying the jet from the rear seat, I completed the modified Flame Out pattern, lowered the gear and flaps, and landed with fire trucks following us down the runway. The crash recovery crews checked us over after we cleared the runway and confirmed there were no visible signs of smoke or fire. We shutdown, wrote the issue up in the 781, and handed the jet over to the maintenance crews.
As we made our way back to the squadron, my adrenaline rush started diminishing and I began wondering if I had just pissed off the Wing Commander by the way I handled the emergency. At the squadron it was time for the debrief. By now, I have second guessed my decision multiple times and am convinced my career has just flamed out. We went back to our briefing room and shut the door. To this day I remember the first words out of his mouth. “THAT’S exactly what I was talking about in the aircrew meeting last week!” Now I know I’ve really screwed the pooch. My reply, “Sir?” He asked if I was at the meeting. “No sir. I’ve been on two weeks leave. This is my first day back.” He has this incredulous look and his face and begins to explain that in response to several near bad incidents in various wing aircraft, he issued a “get your act together” motivational speech to the pilots. Of note, was to the Instructor Pilots (IP) when flying with attached pilots, i.e. the Wing Commander, Wing Staff, and ADC (Aerospace Defense Command) staff pilots. These attached pilots flew infrequently and although highly experienced, were highly unproficient. The Boss wanted his IPs to stay on top of these attached guys when flying with them. He said to never hesitate taking control of the aircraft and prevent something bad from happening, because we had his full support in doing so.
So, I had unwittingly stepped into an unintentional test of the Wing Commander’s directive on the first go of Monday morning flying after two weeks of leave. He was quite pleased with our very short flight. So much so that he enthusiastically supported my early selection for upgrade to the F-106 Delta Dart a few months later.
