615crewdog
F-106 Qualified
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Post by 615crewdog on Dec 23, 2007 10:48:45 GMT 9
Does anyone remember who the pilot was at Grif. who had to eject from 2 crippled birds within about a 6 month period. Would have been some time between '79 and '80. I was at the Det. at Loring then and we got word that one of the pilots that normally came up wouldn't be coming back because he had been grounded after the second ejection. The first time he was flying a T-33 and the T-wheel came apart so he decided it would be better to leave it and walk home. :lol: Then less than 6 months later he was flying a six during night exercises and developed a fire in the main wheelwell after takeoff. He lost all instrumentation when the fire burned thru the wire bundle in the rt. wheelwell. He ejected and landed in a tree. Since it was dark he couldn't see how high up he was so he waited for resque to come get him down. The resquers had to walk across a pasture and everytime they turned on their flashlights the cattle would run toward them, so they had to walk around in the dark. When they found the pilot, his feet were less than 12 inches from the ground. At least that was the story we got.
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Bullhunter
Global Moderator
318th FIS Jet Shop 1975-78
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Post by Bullhunter on Dec 24, 2007 7:02:00 GMT 9
That pilot should have been grounded. Not for ejecting out of crippled aircraft but for just being , whatever! Each pilot has a survival vest. Included in it is rope to get down out of trees, a flash light to see where you are & what you are doing, and a switch blade knife to cut parachute cords, and of course the radio. Guess he missed the ejecting class. I flew several times in T-33's in the 318th to go TDY or just fly along on one of the pilots pro-flights. Always check the vest before gearing up to fly.
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Post by lindel on Dec 26, 2007 21:43:33 GMT 9
I remember the incidents, but not the pilot's name.
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sixerviper
F-106 Skilled
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Post by sixerviper on Jan 5, 2008 12:58:42 GMT 9
We had a pilot at the 87th in Duluth (think his name was Muldoon) who had a stretch with about ten IFEs in a row, and the one flight he didn't have an IFE, his mains were iced up and locked when he landed--blew out both main tires, wiped out all three landing gear, and ended up between the runway and the ramp. I actually felt sorry for the poor fella--he was snakebit.
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darttender
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Post by darttender on Jan 7, 2008 4:18:08 GMT 9
I remember the incidents. I don't recall the pilot's name, but I do remember he was married. When the rescue aircraft came back, his wife was at Base Ops to meet him. You could hear her "That's ENOUGH!!" all over the ramp. Poor woman, she had a stressful year.
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Post by lindel on Jan 7, 2008 9:59:03 GMT 9
IIRC, his total count was 2 t-birds and 1 Six, all mechanical failures, none that could be blamed on him. Not sure what happened to him, but I'd like to know if he's flying passenger planes!
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