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Pilot lands faulty fighter jet on a stool at sea


jenko

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I was part of a team that guided a Chinook that had lost one of its rear landing gear (just after we had repaired the last one that the aircrew had broken) onto a jack, quite scary having this big lump of metal inches from your face trying to land on what is roughly something the size of your fist.

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You've got to wonder how often this happens if they have built a dedicated piece of kit for this very emergency...

Think about International Rescue... they had devices that were only ever used once for things which were totally unlikely. :D

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In my 62 years of flying, I have only had one gear problem...with a Rockwell 112TCA. The nose gear would not lock down and the potential; buyer in the right seat would not shut up, what a combination. After having all f the solo students land, I made one pass at the runway with zero thrust; 1200 rpm and 12" mp and prop full course...to determine where the engine would be shut down on final.

On final over the first approach lights, mixture to idle cut-off, prop full course. Mains touch smoothly and the prop positioned horizontally with the Start button. There was a very slight "Thump" under the nose followed by the "Squeak" of the nose wheel and a non-event.. Had the nose gear not locked in that nano-second the damage would have been very minimal

The down lock springs were twice as long as the new set that we installed the next day...and they had a mere 300 hours total time on them. And the yappy buyer did buy the airplane.

Barney

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Considering the final drop that the Harrier makes during the final 20 or so feet of landing I would have thought that the danger of structural damage and more importantly danger to the pilot caused by the `stool' would have far outweighed the danger of landing on the nose,....but what do I know and thankfully all ended well.

Cheers

Tony

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