72modeler Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 I just heard about this; pilot ejected but was hospitalized with serious injuries. Appears to have been an FGA9 from the photos. Just wanted you all to be aware of it. Hoping the pilot will be OK and it looks like the MB bang seat worked as advertised and has saved another airman's life. Mike https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a25574604/hawker-hunter-crash-hawaii/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Was half-watching the evening news when I glanced up upon hearing the report of a 'military aircraft' crash...and recognized the profile of a Hawker Hunter??? I knew there are numbers in the hands of private operators, but had no idea they were serving in an 'official' role for dissimilar a/c combat training. Obviously, very pleased the pilot survived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorth Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Glad the pilot's alive. The plane itself had an interesting history from what I can find: Built as an F.6 in 1956 Carried s/n XG127 in RAF Service Converted to an FR.10 in 1960 Bought back from RAF and converted to F.58A in 1969 Put into Swiss AF service with s/n J-4101 in 1971 Put on Swedish civil register as SE-DXC in 1996 On Canadian civil register as C-JGMP in 2004 Put on US civil register as N323AX in 2005 A bit more indepth info and a few pics of it in Swiss AF service can be seen here: http://www.swisshunters.info/#4101 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey-1980 Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Great to hear the pilot was unharmed, but equally I hope the Hunter can be recovered and restored to flight worthiness? Great background history to the Hunter too @upnorth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boman Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 He was harmed - still in hospital I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepboy Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Just my rambling thoughts.. First, I hope the pilot recovers from his injuries. I realise that ejection and hospitalisation often go hand in hand, I wish him well. Secone, I concede that aircraft have strict maintenance and main component replacement schedules for time expired items and this aircraft would have been well maintained. Third, "Triggers broom" - I wonder how much of the original aircraft from 1956 was flying. Fourth, The hunter was 62 years old and still capable of performing an active role. (Like the B52, Phantom and a few others from the 50's) Fifth, When you think of the modern cars most of us have and think back to a 1950's car....even a 1960's or 1970's car and the reliability, technology and general aids I am not sure I would like a 1950's car on the motorway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted December 14, 2018 Author Share Posted December 14, 2018 2 hours ago, Jeepboy said: Just my rambling thoughts.. First, I hope the pilot recovers from his injuries. I realise that ejection and hospitalisation often go hand in hand, I wish him well. Secone, I concede that aircraft have strict maintenance and main component replacement schedules for time expired items and this aircraft would have been well maintained. Third, "Triggers broom" - I wonder how much of the original aircraft from 1956 was flying. Fourth, The hunter was 62 years old and still capable of performing an active role. (Like the B52, Phantom and a few others from the 50's) Fifth, When you think of the modern cars most of us have and think back to a 1950's car....even a 1960's or 1970's car and the reliability, technology and general aids I am not sure I would like a 1950's car on the motorway. I have a 1970 Buick Skylark GS350 with 197,000 miles on it, and I would rather drive it across the country than my 2002 Monte Carlo SS...of course, the Buick was my late Dad's car, and has been well-maintained ever since it was new...plus, like most vintage aircraft, they really knew how to build 'em back in the day! Of, course my Buick won't go 700 mph, either, but I could probably use a MB bang seat in it, though! 😜 Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 1 hour ago, 72modeler said: Of, course my Buick won't go 700 mph, either, but I could probably use a MB bang seat in it, though! 😜 Not to be a total prat...in view of the properly-serious nature of the thread's subject...but that would open up some rather interesting modeling possibilities.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Well i'm glad that the pilot was able to eject, albeit at low level where an MB2 or 3 is not the greatest but at least he had a fighting chance. Wonder what caused it? Mechanical failure or birdstrike/ingestion - as he was over the sea? No doubt something will be trotted out in 6 months time or so but I'm sure that the jet was well maintained. Very doubtful if any of it is fixable though - but I'd like to be proven wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepboy Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 4 hours ago, 72modeler said: I have a 1970 Buick Skylark GS350 with 197,000 miles on it, and I would rather drive it across the country than my 2002 Monte Carlo SS...of course, the Buick was my late Dad's car, and has been well-maintained ever since it was new...plus, like most vintage aircraft, they really knew how to build 'em back in the day! Of, course my Buick won't go 700 mph, either, but I could probably use a MB bang seat in it, though! 😜 Mike Missing the point of technology improvements and the longevity of the Hunter design and a little different to comparing a 1956 Ford Anglia to a 2018 Ford Fiesta or a 1963 Vauxhall Viva HA to a 2018 Vauxhall Viva hatchback or the 1957 Fiat 500 to a 2018 Fiat 500. Worlds apart and I know which would be the fun cars and which I would trust to start, get around bends and stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 I saw a photo of this too, but from what I had read it sounded like the pilot was fully conscious and talking, complaining of spinal compression when the folks in the little boat picked him up. I do hope he's ok though. The jet will be toast though - it crashed into the sea. There is no coming back from that. As for triggers broom-i-ness, whilst true for working parts the airframe on the Hunter is immensely strong and not badly effected metal fatigue compared to "better" engineered types. Finite Element Analysis didn't exist then and the Hunter was fully stressed (calculations performed, structural members sized etc) without taking any credit for the considerable strength the stressed skins contributed (because it's immensely difficult to do by hand calculation). As such, the Hunter is capable of withstanding over 14g because of this belt & braces approach to design. It's also quite a bit heavier than it strictly needed to be, but that is part of why they are so robust. They are the DC-3 of the fighter jet world I suppose. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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