Jut-jawed USAF pilot plays cameo role in “Pimp my ride”
A fire crew had to cut open the canopy of a US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor fighter with chainsaws on 10 April to free the pilot, who had been trapped inside for 5h.
The Raptor stealth fighter, heralded as the most technologically-advanced fighter in the world, entered service in January after 19 years of development. Each jet costs around $134 million per unit.
The canopy became stuck in the down and locked position and could not be opened manually after the pilot cycled the mechanism several times, following a pre-flight warning that the canopy was unlocked.
Bummer, I guess. But probably less embarrassing than the poor guy who got to star in this movie.
Heh.
(And thanks to alert reader Jason for the tip).
Similar thing happened to the visiting XO of an adversary squadron when I was down in Key West – he and his baggage were stuck in a two-seat TF-16N in the broiling summer sun for a cuppla, before he threatened to blow the lid off. We towed him into the hangar, where – it being in the shade – it was only 90 degrees. A bad day to be them.
We eventually had to cut them out too, but managed to do so through the skin of the jet, reaching a failed lock-down mechanism. Turned out to be much cheaper than blowing the canopy. Even on a jet that only cost $9mil
New systems always find a way to Murphy. I still think the Raptor would make short work of any OPFOR out there, “once the pilots are thoroughly trained in ACM”;)
I’ve heard similiar stories when the F-14 was first intro’d to the fleet. New F-14s would get whoopsed in ACM by F-4s in the early 1970s. Pilots just had more ACM experience in the F-4 than the F-14 that was just intro’d. Once we learned how to fully employ the F-14 as a weapon system, F-4 (and F-15s) were regularly getting spacked. The Red Baron was right, it’s the pilot makes the difference.
“He and his baggage?” Surely you mean fellow aircrew and contributor to the team…………
Forget it Skippy, Lex is a single-seat guy forever stuck in that single-seat mentality. But I hear ya…8-)
Saw something about this incident about a week back on a flaming liberal website. Lots of going on about gov’t waste and all – lots of pics showing the destroyed canopy sprayed all over the cockpit, etc. Pretty stupid, really. Stuff like this happens. Now they’ll find and fix the issue so that the poor slob who has to test the Martin-Baker doesn’t have to go through the canopy on his (or her) way out.
BTW – saw a Raptor doing touch & go’s at a reserve base in Marietta, GA a week back. It was in a 2-ship with an F-16. Nice looking jet. Noticed it seemed really loud in the pattern – like an EA6-B (they always seemed the loudest in the pattern over my house on base in Atsugi).
Brian
didnt this same this happen after the f-22 first flight?
Brian and Skippy:
It’s funny how BOLD single-seaters never seem to complain that the fixed wing and rotary wing SAR assets sent out to find and fetch them in unkind circumstances are all multi-seat cockpits.
Cause that’s how they get to be OLD, BOLD single seaters
Just standing up for us baggage, er “fellow aircrew and contributor to the team”:)
“baggage” – perhaps an inadvertantly poor choice of words
“Nav Bag” might have been more appropriate
But in this particular case, the moniker is appropriate. Some class of midshipman, a-bagging of a back seat on a wonderful summer’s day.
I think perhaps he ended up going nuke.
Consider this:
Some poor sap sent this .ppt to inform the C-o-C of an incident in their unit.
Someone intercepted it and posted on the internet. Today it was a news article…
A lot of it has to do with politics and resources. I’ll bet Ralph Peters (“F-22 is high priced junk”)is already to use it in one of his hit pieces on everything but Army funding….
Your still questionable entry with the Raptor in a SuperHornets gunsight are a case in point.
We’re all just tools out here.
B2
P.S.- of course I think it’s funny as hell and yes I think the F-22 costs too much but so does everything.
Lex said:
?
Lex said:
“baggage” – perhaps an inadvertantly poor choice of words
“Nav Bag” might have been more appropriate
But in this particular case, the moniker is appropriate. Some class of midshipman, a-bagging of a back seat on a wonderful summer’s day.
I think perhaps he ended up going nuke.
Aw, we’re just pulling your chain Skipper. I figured you had a good reason for chosing the words you did.
And after that experience, the poor mid probably felt safer in a sub with hatches that are SUPPOSED to stay closed. The air conditioning certainly works better…
134 Million can buy an awful lot of body armor and stryker vehicles for our ground troops in Iraq. That said,I stand second to no one in my admiration for and support of funding for the med-evac and SAR community, the Dustoffs and Jolly Greens of my time and their seccessors. The Raptor, of which I know next to nothing, appeares to be a weapon system,looking for an adversary. Is this bird necessary? You guys already control the sky. Looks like USAF hubrus at its worst. Can the USN be far behind? Best
We’re preparing to fight the next war already, pard. Someone’s got to be ready for it. Hard to focus on that one I know, when you’ve already got one going on though…
We had to cut? I thought the bird was put on lifts to slightly raise the midsection, which took the pressure off the latch and let it function normally. Maybe we’re thinking of different incidents.
IIRC, our bird was a single-seater, and the reason it was so hot under the canopy wasn’t just that it was Key West. The Safety Officer advised the trapped crew to go ahead and shut down the engine, which would depressurize the cockpit and allow the canopy to open. “Are you sure?” asked the crew on base freq. “Trust me,” replied the Safety Officer. “Just trust me.” The advice didn’t work, the canopy didn’t lift, and the A/C died with the engine. The cockpit got very, very hot. Hence the threat to blow the canopy, which got the contract maintenance involved in a very big way. And nobody, but nobody trusted the Safety Officer for much for a very long time.
I will ask, “Will the next guy have to sign out a diamond cutter, (complete with tool tag) before next hop?” Unlike Navy Pilots, who usually keep one on hand….
I used to sign out for bolt cutters, before hopping into the trusty SH3/SH2F/SH60B!
I feel for the guys there who are still having to wear their aluminum overcoats despite no fire…
Still hard for this old dog to see just where the Raptor fits into current and near future projected combat needs. I know of no country that has existing or projected air assets(both fast movers and rotary wing) that are a match for ours. I think what’s likely in the near future are variations of the deadly and intense street fights we are experiencing in Iraq and Afghanistan.Body armor and stryker vehicles have proven their worth.. the Raptor’s usefullness in these situations is speculative… Best
SnakeEater,
There are more missions than CAS to be done from the air. Granted, right now in GWOT, there is no more important mission for us. However, there are still symmetrical threats/nation states out there that demand attention. Why should we as Americans give up our position of supremacy? Payback time for past percieved slights ain’t good enough when it comes to national defense.
I read today that Americans spend more on Christmas tinsel, wrapping, and such during the holidays than each of us spend on defense, per capita. Let’s start there.
Next thing is why have intercontinental bombers? Why do we need ….aircraft carriers? Everybody knows we don’t need any of that stuff to deal with turbaned whackos with Kalishnikovs and IEDs?
I wouldn’t begin to tell y’all how much body armour, firepower or night vision you really need; I say, whatever it takes. Why would you want us in aviation to lose the huge edge we’ve built up since ‘Nam?
B2
BTW, I ate a snake once during survival long ago. It didn’t taste like chicken.
Wait, if there is a release to cut through the skin to get to, wouldnt the Raptor’s stealth stuff make that a very expensive thing to do? Though on another picture I saw it looked pretty beat up anyway.
oh, and if we keep flying our jets to the limit in training, we’re either going to need to buy new airframes of older designs, spend lots refurbishing the current fleet, or go with whole new generation of fighters.
Sh1fty
Dunno how they fix that Shifty – but as for the second part of your comment, I wouldn’t want to fly in combat with a wingman who hadn’t flown his jet to its limits.
No points for second place.
BadBob, I may have tunnel vision on this Raptor issue and I’m far from an expert. I’m not advocating sitting on our hands re air asset development by any service… Carrier Battle Groups are our quickest and most fearsome projection of national power and we have more than one…give them anything they require but the USAF always seems to be pushing the envelope on unnessary and or redundant aircraft development (the B-52 is the one notable exception) The old B-36,B-46,B-58,what have you are now rusting in some southwestern desert having never see a shot fired in anger. The current crop, B-1, B-2, F117A appear to be fragile and tempermental flowers safely based in CONUS and seldom deployed. The Raptor looks like more of the same, is it?
BTW snake does taste just like snake not chicken.. its an acquired taste. Beaucoup “Tabasco Sauce” helps. Best
SnakeEater,
I do not think think you have tunnel vision on this at all. You are very conventional on your assessments. Especially today.
Like I said it ain’t cheap and “use” doesn’t always mean combat. It means deterrence.
re- “The old B-36,B-46,B-58,what have you are now rusting in some southwestern desert having never see a shot fired in anger.”
What did they deter though? Isn’t deterence measurable? It was the Cold War as you well know. We won by spending the Soviets into the ground to match us…
re- “The current crop, B-1, B-2, F117A appear to be fragile and tempermental flowers safely based in CONUS and seldom deployed.”
They were used during OEF and OIF during the phase, up to and beyond declaring Air Supremacy. That’s all that stuff that happens before we would even think about creating a lodgement for conventional land troops (but you know that). That ol B-2 can carry a Sh..Pot full of JDAMs and fly around deliberetly obliterating anything fixed. But yeah, it sure is expensive.
Overall, I don’t like the position I’ve gotten myself onto here as “defender” of the USAF but with all the stupid, all or nothing statements re military aviation from that Booger eating intell guy Ralph Peters (whom I agree w/on most other things), I think there is a sense of what “have you done for me lately” attitude out there that isn’t healthy to the long term security concerns of the US.
OK, I’m off the soap box. Beaucoup, eh?
B2