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Elite 1K Joined: Jan 31, 2004 Posts: 1532 Status: Offline

Slightly embarrassing:

Quote:

F-16 Pilot grounded after maneuver over Fenway Park

The Associated Press
Published on: 04/10/08

Montpelier, Vt. — A Vermont Air National Guard pilot who took part in a flyover of Fenway Park during opening day ceremonies has been grounded for making an improper maneuver near the park, a Guard spokesman said Thursday.

The F-16 pilot flew under and over the other three F-16s in the formation at about 1,200 feet over Boston on Tuesday afternoon because he was going too fast and was late joining the formation, Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Lloyd Goodrow said.

"It is a legitimate maneuver. It is normally done at 5,000 feet or above," Goodrow said. "The crowd loved it, but it was not a planned maneuver."

Goodrow would not release the name of the pilot.

People at Fenway Park or watching the Boston Red Sox's opening day ceremonies on television saw three planes flying wing tip to wing tip when the fourth plane approached from behind and then appeared to curve around the other aircraft.

Goodrow said it was not an acrobatic stunt.

"At no time was the public in danger," Goodrow said. "Our pilot is a very skilled pilot. He maintained full control of the airplane."

Red Sox spokesman John Blake said Thursday the team hadn't heard any complaints about the maneuver.

"I think we were made aware of it today by the Green Mountain Boys," Blake said Thursday. "Nobody here has had a lot of time to find out what happened."

Goodrow said Guard officials saw the maneuver on television.

"We all said, 'Wow, that's not right.' All the aviators knew what was going on," Goodrow said. "They said, 'That was a bit unusual.'"

The pilot was suspended after he landed back at the Burlington International Airport in South Burlington.

"The pilot has been grounded, not as a punishment but so we can provide remedial training in tactics and procedures so this situation does not happen again," Goodrow said. "He might have made other choices to rejoin the formation."

There was no word on how long the pilot would remain grounded.

Source: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sport ... ml]Vermont F-16 Pilot grounded after maneuver over Fenway Park

And someone at the game caught it and put it on YouTube: (scroll to about 1:30 on the clock) Doh

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A better view:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/1 ... index.html
Looks like a wingman, on a late rejoin, that has too much smash. A great solution,... as long as you're not on camera, at 1000' AGL, over Fenway.

Enthusiast Joined: Feb 06, 2006 Posts: 58 Status: Offline

Oh boy.....At least it looked cool.

Enthusiast Joined: Apr 11, 2008 Posts: 41 Status: Offline

Looked Pretty nice. Also looked the the rest of the flight had the boards out.

Looked like he did a victory roll over the stadium although the report said he "appeared to curve around the other aircraft." Sucks it ended up a suspension, but it looked sweet nonetheless.

Enthusiast Joined: Sep 21, 2005 Posts: 86 Status: Offline

That did look pretty awsome...wonder what was said on the radio

Big ups to this guy for having some balls. WELL WORTH THE PAPERWORK!!!! Salute

I'd frame that LOR! Looked badass! Evil or Very Mad

Enthusiast Joined: Mar 30, 2005 Posts: 93 Status: Offline

goatmilk wrote:

Looked like he did a victory roll over the stadium although the report said he "appeared to curve around the other aircraft." Sucks it ended up a suspension, but it looked sweet nonetheless.

It looked more like a lag roll executed because he had too much closure on the rejoin.

Enthusiast Joined: Feb 06, 2006 Posts: 58 Status: Offline

Def too much energy. The only thing he could do, other then doing what her did is probably break away to the right. (any thoughts on fixing that?)

I think he did what he had to do. But hey, it looked much cooler then normal fly-by.

That is too bad. Seems to me that he was doing what his training told him. I'm no pilot but like Steve said it looked like a lag roll, keeping the other planes in sight while losing energy. I guess just breaking off would have been a better choice but can you imagine the ribbing he would get from other pilots when he got back? Razz

Oh well, we can analyze it all day but he only had a few seconds to decide.

[Edit] Wait - isn't the lag roll meant to keep energy while keeping the bad guy in sight?

Elite 2K Joined: Jan 14, 2004 Posts: 2616 Status: Offline

He's not losing his wings, folks. It's just a Q3. Requires retraining, and a little paperwork, and then after your hand is slapped, you've stood with your nose in the corner for a few minutes, and you say you're sorry, you get back in the cockpit. There are 3 types of aircrew members. Those who haven't Q3'd yet, those who have, and those who will again.

"The pilot has been grounded, not as a punishment but so we can provide remedial training in tactics and procedures so this situation does not happen again,"

That's probably one of the funniest things I have heard in a long time. I remember when I got grounded in Feb of 2007, the vice wing commander told me that I was not being grounded, I was just "being taken off the flight schedule until everything is sorted out". Luckily mine was minor and my "removal" was short. But like TC said, it's only a matter of time before every crewman will get sat down for something.

Wonder if he'll blame it on the jet..

Yo Ho!

Wow! Just looked at the video.

- As others have pointed out, serious overtake problems and from six. Personally, being that far outta position, I would have pulled up like a "missing man" and faced the music later.

As it was, he didn't bleed enuf "big-E" doing the roll, then wound up way over the wrong side. A complete screw up. Main thing this guy ( or gal) needs after the a$$-chewing, is some BFM training.

- Is it just me, but do the others seem to be just getting into formation?

I have a real hard time understanding why this formation was not all tucked in and in a benign orbit xxx seconds from the field, listening to the singer, and deciding when to turn inbound. look at the Birds' Daytona Cup flyby timing.

I have been in these things, and in another jet plus the Viper. It ain't that hard folks. Remember the 6 pees - Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

If blue 4 was late due to a maintenance problem, lead should've just told him to wait someplace and do a great flyby with the three jets.

- lastly, PLZ recall one year ago, when a super-qualified Hornet pilot screwed up a rejoin and then lost enuf capability that he flew into the ground. Navy refuses to say "unconscious", but just "impaired". BFD. If he had just been blacked out, but still aware, he might have done a roll to the right for a second or two and then wait until the lights came on. I still want to see the HUD tape on that one. The gee-LOC scenario is obvious as hell. I went thru one and two other IP's at Hill did as well. We all saw the same thing.

*****************

Not a good PR move for the Green Mountain Boys.

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