Olgerd
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« on: 11.03.2004 - 03:44 » |
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Я извиняюсь, что привожу в оригинале. Это мнение пилота-инструктора F-15 о катастрофе самолета F-16C из пилотажной группы "Thunderbirds" USA AF, произошедшей не так давно. На мой взгляд, почитать интересно. Фактов не много, но все же.
...
Here is what an F-15 instructor pilot who's read the accident report
(not yet released to the public) had to say on another newsgroup. He
speculated in this that the in-cockpit video was datalinked and indeed
it was, as shown by a link posted by someone else in the thread. I've
attached a photo from that link. Anyway, here is what the F-15 guy had
to say
**********************
He miscalculated the required apex altitude for the maneuver and started
it 1000' too low...If you watch, he reached back and forth from the
throttle (left hand) to the ejection handle (between the legs) 3 times,
pulling the handle on the third time. He realized that something was
wrong just as the aircraft came through the horizon inverted, but looked
for other causes. The engine was performing fine. Just because there
isn't a crash survivable data recorder, that doesn't mean that nothing
survives...parts are thrown all over at impact, and apparently this
video survived. Judging by the static at the end, maybe this video was
datalinked to the ground? The inflight recorder would have stopped at
impact and power interruption, but a recorder on the ground would have
kept recording and lost the signal, hence static. OK guys, I'm at work
and just pulled up the accident report and re-read it (that's life being
assigned to a Guard Squadron...working on Sunday!) It is a "privileged"
document, meaning that it can't be released. But, to clear the air, here
are the facts...
This maneuver calls for a "limiter pull". Although I have never been
checked out in the F-16, I have flown in the pit several times, and it
is my understanding that the flight controls limit both AOA (25 degrees,
I think) and G, as appropriate. This was supposed to be a pull on the
AOA limiter, which flies the jet at CsubL Max (Max coefficient of lift)
and yields the tightest possible turn for the given energy state. Due to
this, the F-16 can't enter an accelerated stall, and is dificult to
stall in any configuration, as "Hal" won't let you get stall AOA on the
jet. Max performing the jet at altitude (20K'), an F-16 can generate
about a 2500' RADIUS turn...probably about 1500' RADIUS at the field
elevation (3000') of Mt Home.
The pilot, for several reasons which the rules prohibit me from
elaborating on, pulled about 1000' too low, at about 2500'AGL and
instead of "playing the pull at the bottom" to level at the desired
altitude, he found himself in a position where he couldn't make it.
The engine was performing normally at MAX power (Full AB), and the jet
was on the limiter...look at the leading edge flaps. On the F-16 and the
F-18 (which I have been qualified in...different story!) the LE flaps
deflect proportionately with AOA (which is usually inversely
proportional to energy)...when fighting an F-16/18 with the F-15, we
look at these to help assess the adversary's energy state and how hard
he is pulling (of course, he is usually already dead, having "blown up"
miles from the merge...but sometimes it is fun to continue the fight and
"play with your food"!). The report stated that he did maneuver away
from the crowd, with their safety in mind. That, Gentlemen, is
professionalism and grace under fire.
He incorrectly assumed that once the nose came through the horizon on
the limiter pull, due to the inertia and relatively low energy, that the
only recovery was to continue the pull. Simulation modeling showed that
he could have aborted at nearly 70 deg nose low inverted, rolled
upright, limiter pull again, and missed the ground.
When I was a Lieutenant, my first Wing Commander explained to me that
there are "crimes and mistakes". A crime is a willing and knowing
violation of the rules. A mistake is an unwilling, unknowing, or in your
mind, justified violation of the rules. He said "we punish crimes and
learn from mistakes". TBird 6 made a mistake. He'll go on and fly
again...I received an Email yesterday stating that he is flying now with
a different unit.
All of us in this business make some mistakes...we are humans after all.
I have almost 4000 hrs in the fast jet world, and I still make
them...but I hope that I never make the same one twice. We are trained
from the word "go" to have the "can do" attitude. "I can make this
work", and "I can still make this work". That attitude, gents, is what
gets the J.O.B. done when the feces hits the axial-flow air circulator.
However, due to the nature of the job, simple mistakes can have enormous
consequences. There are peace-time phases of flight where I have
established a "zero tolerance" rule for myself...the consequences are
just too great. Combat is a different story. The risk level established
by the mission commander dictates how high up on the list my "survive at
all costs" objective is.
The unit I am with trains new pilots in the F-15. Teaching the simple
hows and whys is an easy job. Teaching these guys to recognize the
beginning of a hazardous chain of events, be it tactically (in air
combat) or non-tactically, is a different story.
Another quote I heard once EXPERIENCE: The ability to use one's superior
judgement to avoid situations requiring one's superior skills.
Skip Robertson
In thrust we trust...!
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