spike7451 Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Ooops....wonder how long it'll be before this fleet is rendered unsafe?.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8668092.stm An inquiry is under way after a Hercules transport plane made an emergency landing at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.The under-carriage failed to come down and it then slid along the runway. A spokeswoman at the base said although the crew were shaken by the incident, no-one was hurt. The accident happened during a training exercise in preparation for the Hercules fleet at RAF Lyneham moving to Brize Norton over the next two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Ooops....wonder how long it'll be before this fleet is rendered unsafe?....http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8668092.stm I wonder why they didnt hand wind it down,if that failed why didnt they undo the main drives and let them free fall.Maybe it was the stick seat interface . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmk.6john Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 I am sure that they would have tried all possibilities before taking to the black stuff minus the wheels!, the pilot has done a sterling job to keep her on the straight and with minimal damage, hopefull she will live to fly another day. Regards, JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 May have been finger trouble........... you are not going to pull a wheels up landing on purpose at Brize when Lynham is just 40 miles away where the infrastructure is in place to deal with the Herk, on top of that Brize only has one runway so you have in effect rendered the base unusable where as Lynham has two so you can stuff it down on the unused runway....... Makes the news of the move from Lynham to Brize all the more worrying, put all your transport eggs in one basket then something like this happens and nothing is going nowhere...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike7451 Posted May 8, 2010 Author Share Posted May 8, 2010 May have been finger trouble........... you are not going to pull a wheels up landing on purpose at Brize when Lynham is just 40 miles away where the infrastructure is in place to deal with the Herk, on top of that Brize only has one runway so you have in effect rendered the base unusable where as Lynham has two so you can stuff it down on the unused runway....... Makes the news of the move from Lynham to Brize all the more worrying, put all your transport eggs in one basket then something like this happens and nothing is going nowhere...... Maybe,just maybe,it was done 'by accident' to prove just this point.That the move to Brize & closure of Lynham is ill advised & not thought thru fully.Mind you,it was thought out by beancounters who only see pound signs & not operational implications....... End of the day,this could cost lives of injured troops returning & ,god forbid,having to divert to ?????? which in turn would delay their transport to Selly Oak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg B Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Maybe,just maybe,it was done 'by accident' to prove just this point.That the move to Brize & closure of Lynham is ill advised & not thought thru fully.Mind you,it was thought out by beancounters who only see pound signs & not operational implications.......End of the day,this could cost lives of injured troops returning & ,god forbid,having to divert to ?????? which in turn would delay their transport to Selly Oak. Ooooh, lets say Birmingham, its a bit closer for a start which is why all the flights with VSI funnily enough land there........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike7451 Posted May 8, 2010 Author Share Posted May 8, 2010 Ooooh, lets say Birmingham, its a bit closer for a start which is why all the flights with VSI funnily enough land there........ Sorry,did'nt know that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Yup, saw some not so funny things at Brize........ like the Tristar that did an autoland with the ILS off......... the resulting 80 foot bounce, then the unbelievable stagger around the circuit losing some 20 ton odd of fuel through the now sheared wingspars with just the wing skins holding the Wings on, before finally getting what was left of it back on the runway..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 The rumour at work is they had pulled the config warning cercit breaker whilst doing low level training and forgot about it.then tried to land.oooooooops .lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigsty Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 Maybe,just maybe,it was done 'by accident' to prove just this point.That the move to Brize & closure of Lynham is ill advised & not thought thru fully Sorry, just to be clear - you're suggesting that someone deliberately pancaked a Hercules at Brize Norton just to make the point that he'd prefer Lyneham not to be closed? In doing so, he happily stuffs up Brize for, what, a day? and the investigation comes straight back to him when it's discovered that there was no fault with the aircraft and the landing was manufactured, and his career is over. That's one hell of a plan ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike7451 Posted May 10, 2010 Author Share Posted May 10, 2010 Sorry, just to be clear - you're suggesting that someone deliberately pancaked a Hercules at Brize Norton just to make the point that he'd prefer Lyneham not to be closed? In doing so, he happily stuffs up Brize for, what, a day? and the investigation comes straight back to him when it's discovered that there was no fault with the aircraft and the landing was manufactured, and his career is over. That's one hell of a plan ... "I have a cunning plan..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 I remember seeing a film of a Herc firebomber losing a wing at 50 feet altitude. Just how safe are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Taureau Qui Rit Posted May 10, 2010 Share Posted May 10, 2010 I remember seeing a film of a Herc firebomber losing a wing at 50 feet altitude. Just how safe are they? Well just how safe is anything? I remember seeing the film of that accident (if we're thinking of the same one) and if I remember rightly it was a civil-operated ex-USAF C-130A (ie an extremely early Hercules) which had been operated over forest fires for long periods and would therefore have been subject pretty severe fatigue loading on the wings due to horrendous updraughts due to the fires. Frankly it's pretty amazing that any of the firebombers last for any time all without wingspar fatigue problems. Considering the very large size of the C-130 worldwide fleet, the pretty colossal airframe hours that many of them have built up and the demanding environments in which many of them operate, the C-130 would appear to have a pretty good record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCC Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 The rumour at work is they had pulled the config warning cercit breaker whilst doing low level training and forgot about it.then tried to land.oooooooops .lol oh Dear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 oh Dear! Ok i hold me hand up,am a crap speller.CIRCUIT.happy now ,lol. Guess what,i dont care either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCC Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 thats better thought it might have been a new sort of biscuit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B (Sc) Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 If the circuit breaker comment is correct - ah, oops clang. I sympathise - having nearly done a similar thing in a much smaller plane. Old saying " There are two types of pilot - those who have landed wheels up and those who are going to", so few of us will be too damning in our comments! " My word, what tall firemen they have here." Or " Needing a lot of power to taxy today, skipper." John B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Its the prats that hear the ding....... ding....... ding and think, Ohhhh sh+t maybe I can go around, so open them up too here Ding.....ding...ding..ding.dingdingding as they beat the remaining life out of the engines and props, then expect miracles from me........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lufbramatt Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 (edited) seems a bit weird that they wouldnt come down- i dont think they can freefall the main gear on a herk as theyre wound down with screw jacks? although apparently theres 2 separate manual lowering systems (manual hydraulic pump and mechanical winding system on the actual gearboxes) so seems like some sort of human error to me? Plus as said above if tehy knew the gear was U/S then surely they wouldve diverted to a quieter airstrip? Edited May 12, 2010 by lufbramatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 (edited) seems a bit weird that they wouldnt come down- i dont think they can freefall the main gear on a herk as theyre wound down with screw jacks? although apparently theres 2 separate manual lowering systems (manual hydraulic pump and mechanical winding system on the actual gearboxes) so seems like some sort of human error to me? Plus as said above if tehy knew the gear was U/S then surely they wouldve diverted to a quieter airstrip? At the top of each mlg leg the there are four bolts attaching the leg to the screw jacks.To get the gear down as a last resort the loady opens up a panel in the side wall of mlg bay,he then cuts a length of single strand wire locking and undoes the 4 attachment bolts.The leg should then free fall down.If it still dosnt drop,a ratchet handle is located on one of the stantions on the left hand side ,which fits ontop of the leg and the crew can try and ratchet down the offending leg.The nose leg is released via a handle in the flight deck floor.(mlg-main landing gear) Once down ,the leg would be lashed down with the load lashing chains. Edited May 12, 2010 by fatalbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B (Sc) Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 (edited) Its the prats that hear the ding....... ding....... ding and think, Ohhhh sh+t maybe I can go around, so open them up too here Ding.....ding...ding..ding.dingdingding as they beat the remaining life out of the engines and props, then expect miracles from me........ Yes, that would be a tad annoying. Slightly cropped propellers ! I do recall seeing an overshoot from a totally messed up effort which had both some very odd engine & prop noises, thanks to a certain amount of low level 'cropping', and an ominously flapping outer wing tip section which had got severely clouted on the ricochet - only word for it - from the first arrival. There were some very quiet people watching the subsequent tight circuit and successful second attempt. Much later the pilot admitted his go around WAS a mistake ! (Not a Herc, I hasten to say.) That Hercules emergency gear lowering process sounds impressive ! And lengthy. Edited May 13, 2010 by John B (Sc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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