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Post by dude on May 3, 2009 13:48:12 GMT 9
 After you read this you'll think, "He's either crazy, lying or stupid." Well its definitely not the first two.... ok it's definitely not the second one. You be the judge on the other two. We were down at Tyndal doing our annual live fire quals shooting genies at firebees. It was the second day of quals and for the second day in a row A/C 458 came back off the range without having qualified. Couldn't even get an area 5 kill. I debriefed the pilot at the aircraft, who was understandably frustrated having flown both missions. "It's the @#$@@$ steering dot! It's wandering all over the place and I can't get it settled in the hole long enough to get a good shot. And I've got to fly this thing again tommorrow" So I told him we'ld check it out with the FDT, which we did and it all looked fine. I was just about to do the old Can Not Duplicate sign off when the pilot showed back up. I explained that we couldn't find anything, which for some reason didn't satisfy him. So we let him sit in the cockpit and run FDT passes. After about four successful runs he came down the ladder swearing this could not be the same airplane. We talked some more and at some point he mentioned that the dot would behave differently depending on where the throttle was set. Well with that little tidbit it was now apparent that the most likely cause was the noise off the aircraft generator wasn't being properly filtered out. Unfortunately this was not an easy fix. It was already past 24:00 and the aircraft was scheduled to fly in about 6 hours. They say strange things happen on a flight line at night. So now comes the stupid part. Picture the pilot in the cockpit with engine running and standing on the brakes. There is a tug and a towbar on the nosewheel with two guys standing double chocks on the main wheels. I'm standing at the radar compartment ready to do steering/tracking loop alignments. I climb the ladder and the pilot and I watch the dot wandering around as he moves the throttle up and down. We agree that it looks the most stable around 60%. So I climb back down and do the alignments with the throttle at 60%. Now I was wearing ear plugs and a headset and it still felt like I was in a screaming wind tunnel. I wasn't on duty the next day and didn't hear what happened until that evening when the crew chief from 458 came into the club all excited about the case of beer the pilot just gave him. 458 had qualified with a Genie shot that exploded just 45 feet from the drone. Apparently one of the closest shots Tyndal had to date of an AIR 2A on a firebee drone (or so I was told). About that time the pilot comes walking into the club. So I saunter up to him and congratulated him. He confirmed that just before he launched the rocket, he throttle all the way back to 60% and the steering dot settled into the hole just like it was suppose to. I then proceeded to ask him where my case of beer was. He asked, "What do you mean?" I said, "Well no offense to my crew chief buddies, but when was the last time you saw a nose tire shoot down a drone?" He smiled and turned away, which I took to be a get out of my face response. So I did and figured that was the end of it. The next night when my shift was over, I headed back to the barracks. When I walked into my room, there lying on my bunk was a nice cold case of Bud.
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Bullhunter
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318th FIS Jet Shop 1975-78
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Post by Bullhunter on May 4, 2009 1:02:12 GMT 9
Hey dude, that is a cool story. Some strange things happen after dark! :  I strongly urge everyone who writes these great stories to make a folder in your computer and save these stories. Someday you might want to put then together for your kids or grandchildren. Or like I, get a wild hair up your a$$ and do your best to make a book. |
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Post by dude on May 4, 2009 11:19:49 GMT 9
Thanks but I can just picture future generations reading this stuff and wondering, "Did he say he fought the war; or did he say he started it." :tailed-devil
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Bullhunter
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318th FIS Jet Shop 1975-78
Currently: Offline
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Post by Bullhunter on May 11, 2009 1:24:36 GMT 9
Thats funny.
Few weeks ago I saw a special on I think the history channel about a USAF military exercise where a B-47 was hit in mid-air by an F-86 near Savannah, GA.
The B-47 was carring a H-Bomb.
The F-86 pilot ejected and the jet crashed I think on land.
The B-47 with a damaged wing and some loss of flight control was introuble. The pilot knew the B-47 was now to heavy to control and stay in the air so he dropped the H-Bomb in the water near Savannah.
He then landed the B-47.
That bomb location was though to be know but the H-Bomb was never found.
The program was very intresting as it showed a discrepency. It said the H-Bomb was armed with a it's trigger device and it also said it was not. That part of the story has never been cleared up. Did it or Did It Not.
Did anyone else see this and have any information.
If it dentnoated on impact that could have started WWIII ?
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Post by daoleguy A.J. Hoehn (deceased) on May 11, 2009 2:39:46 GMT 9
Gary, I think I saw the same show. If so it stressed training excerise. If that was true the arming fuse of the nuke was not viable. From many a chat with guys flying the big machines, the weapon (nuclear) was never armed until codes were dispatched and received. From what I understand an imapct detonation of a similar device would not yeild a nuclear blast, just contamination. Fishing and other aquatic oceanic endeavors by industry and private groups appears to have never been interupted in that coatal area. I suspect it splashed and was recovered eventually in a quiet nature. Odds are that given the time frame since the incident the device has been retrieved. I really don't expect the Miitary would voluntarily release the retrieval of the device. Outta sight, outta mind is typical Military posture in press releases of most natures. AJ Edits for typos, finger fail a bit these days!  |
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Post by Jim on May 11, 2009 4:07:53 GMT 9
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Post by jesup on May 14, 2009 5:16:23 GMT 9
 On 2-5-1958 maj. Howard Richardson dropped a 7600 pound mark 15 hydrogen bomb in the sound near Tybee island ga. In a 1966 testimony before congress, assistant sec. of defense describes the tybee island bomb as a complete weapon that contained a plutonum trigger. Later he said that he might have misspoke. The casing on the bomb is made of forged aluminum and anyone that has used an outboard motor knows what salt water will do to aluminum. Having fished in the area,I think that if it had been retrieved a lot of people would know about it. Bill
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After you read this you'll think, "He's either crazy, lying or stupid." Well its definitely not the first two.... ok it's definitely not the second one. You be the judge on the other two.
