F-16.net

ATFSCrash,
Military.com just sent me an email: Video: F-16 vs. Tree. So of course I had to take a look and after viewing I can only say .....WTFO! Shocked

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=165351&ESRC=airforce.nl

I've done some low level flying but never at a disregard for my little pink body and Uncle Sam's plane. This is an old A model F-16 with only a heater called up, no alt scale, or airspeed visable on a Weapons school ride no less...

ATFScrash, Got anymore videos and are they a part of F-16.net? or have they been posted I've just missed them. Thought I'd let you know Mil.com is sending this stuff out and would love to see more.

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Senior member Joined: Jul 01, 2007 Posts: 368

That was awesome. Too bad the guy spent the rest of his career at a desk.

That is actually F-16C block 25 83-1132. That video has been around for a little while, you can see the last three digits of the serial number at one point.

Does anyone know the exact date this mishap occurred?

Elite 2K Joined: Jan 14, 2004 Posts: 2809 Status: Offline

Great video! Laughing my Foxtrottin' @$$ off at that song! LMAO

Enthusiast Joined: Sep 21, 2005 Posts: 87 Status: Offline

That jet ended up at Ellington, I believe. Though it might have already been retired by now.

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 14, 2006 Posts: 505

Thanks for you comments

The video that was uploaded to mil.com was without my permission, but since it's at mil.com I probably won't complain, since the conversation will hopefully not be defamatory of the pilot or US.

I don't mind constructive criticism, as long as it doesn’t cross the line to defamation and slander or subversion.

I think that the fact the US allows such video to be public, shows how much it cares about safety. Many other countries would try to cover it up.

I also love the video because it surprisingly shows that the F-16 (light weight fighter) can sometimes take a lot of punishment and safely return.

The other public videos are at http://www.youtube.com/user/ATFSCrash

Edited out my reasons for not uploading the video to F-16.net. I must have mistaken the video parameters for upload, I will likely upload the video to F-16.net shortly. Since the people here helped me identify the engine, I'll edit out the part about not knowing what engine it was.

Elite 1K Joined: Jan 31, 2004 Posts: 1561 Status: Offline

Well I don't wanna sound like I'm second guessin' the man or anything but if he didn't have so much HUD stuff decluttered he could've saved himself a lotta grief and heartache. "The HUD is your friend", as Joe Bill would've said. At the very least, keep the velocity vector displayed so ya get the ground clobber staple when needed. And it would seem he needed it.

SnakeHandler wrote:

That was awesome. Too bad the guy spent the rest of his career at a desk.

I don't this so, here is what a member on another forum that I visit had to say about it...

Quote:

This happened around Thanksgiving in 1987 at Nellis AFB. The jet was a Block 25 F-16C assigned to the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron and had a Pratt and Wimpy engine. The attitude information in the HUD had been deselected. I was flying the F-5 as an Aggressor pilot at Nellis when this happened. That afternoon, the 2-star general who was the commander of the Tactical Fighter Warfare Center at Nellis called all the pilots to the Red Flag building to parade and publically humilate the offending pilot in front of everyone. He was a good guy who let his aggression cloud his judgement. His penance was to make a video about low-altitude flying and altitude awareness. I ended up flying F-16s with him at Misawa Air Base Japan in the early 1990s. We were both graduates of the F-16 Fighter Weapons School and worked together as he was the Chief of Weapons and Tactics for 5th Air Force and I was the Chief of Weapons and Tactics in the 13th Fighter Squadron. He did get promoted and retired a full colonel.

Glad to hear they didn't bury this guy because of one mistake.

Whoops, missed the A model and C model block 25, as well as, the Hud declutter. Nice.

Anyway, still a great video and it shows what can happen if you get your Fangs out. (Called channelized attention in the flight safety world.) He forgot to retract them and refocus on aircraft control. It happens and he is to be commended for telling his story.

Since F-16.net is the best reference site, maybe it could set up a video section and have video's up loaded. I know legal issues could be what is holding the idea back.

Quote:

The jet was a Block 25 F-16C assigned to the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron and had a Pratt and Wimpy engine.

Remember this is a second hand quote from a guy who wasn't flying that aircraft/engine.

I don't think you'd to call your engine "Wimpy" after mowing THROUGH a line of trees and FLYING back to base. (As opposed to walking home or not making home at all...) Shocked

The actual pilot on the video says, and I quote:

Quote:

"There was a definite feeling of impact, like a bad compressor stall. There was a puff of smoke through the air conditioning system, and the engine began to run rough. I reduced the power, until the engine smoothed out, then began a climb.... ...It's a tribute to the engine that it kept running after it eating parts of the tree."

Not only did this engine survive it's brush with the bush, but it continued to make enough power for the pilot to "climb" to a safe altitude and return to his base. (And family/friends) Not Worthy

The F100-PW-200 may have not provided the thrust of the newer GEs entering Viper service at that time, and the -200 may have been temperamental to work of fly; but it would continue to provide thrust after taking damage like this. (Trees, Ice, Birds, etc)

Remember back in the day when the early GEs would shed fan blades after seemingly minor FOD? Shocked

(That any PW engine would shrug off without further incident?)

Say what you will about performance or quirks; but tell me I have to fly a Viper through trees, a flock or birds, or a hail storm, and I'll pick a PW powered Viper every time! Cool

Keep 'em flyin' (Safely!) Thumb

TEG

Elite 2K Joined: Jan 14, 2004 Posts: 2809 Status: Offline

With you word for word TEG! Having come first from a Blk. 30 unit, yeah, I used to hear the guys take their jabs at the Pratts...I've heard em all:

Pratt & Wimpy

Pratt & $hitney

PW: Plenty of Work

Anyway, now flying on a platform which is powered by 4 BIG High Bypass Pratts, I couldn't be any happier, or feel any more safe than I do now.

Note my second birdstrike that I referenced in the Aussie F-111 BASH incident thread. A bird flew into our #3 engine, and it did absolutely nothing to the engine. Not the first bit of damage.

The only way we knew we had a birdstrike was a visual on the bird going in, and the tell-tale "KFC" smell afterward. Maintenance did their thing after we landed, but they came back and said there was no damage.

I think that says a lot about the quality of product that PW produces.

Elite 1K Joined: Jan 31, 2004 Posts: 1561 Status: Offline

TC wrote:

..A bird flew into our #3 engine, and it did absolutely nothing to the engine. Not the first bit of damage....only way we knew we had a birdstrike was a visual on the bird going in, and the tell-tale "KFC" smell...

So you're sayin' that Pratts can "take a chicken and keep on tickin'"? Whistle

(on one knee)..Dear Lord...I'm sorry fer dat right there and I'll try to do better next time....Amen... Wink

Turning birds into thrust is not exclusive to PW, the -135R model has 4 of the mighty GE CFM-56's on her wings and there is a video out there of chickens being shot into the intake while the engine was at TRT. That very engine new resides on the #4 pylon of aircraft 59-1495 and has been there since the mid 90's. Modern engines of all makes are absolute marvels of power and durability.

Enthusiast Joined: Nov 04, 2007 Posts: 52 Status: Offline

Thinking of the chickens shot into engines, made me think of the British tests. They called the US to ask why their chickens shot out of the chicken guns were distroying the engines, the US responded back "thaw out the chicken!"

LinkF16SimDude wrote:

So you're sayin' that Pratts can "take a chicken and keep on tickin'"? Whistle

Or some tree branches, or some ice... Shocked

Just ask Gums Wink

Gums wrote:

Salute!

OK, from the archives of ol' Gums "saves" of the Viper....

So we got slush at the EOR, maybe 30-35 degrees temp, and crew dawgs are looking and watching and ....

The heated strut works fine.

Take off and as I throttle back for the intermediate altitude my feet are knocked off the floor by a huge THUMP. I thot I had ingested a pelican or something. As I push throttle up I fel a slight vibration. So following Rule 1, I go back to where I was to begin with and retard throttle to maybe 85% rpm. Vibration lessens, but deep down inside I KNOW, ABSOLUTELY KNOW, that something is bad. Tell IP I'm chasing I gotta abort and I turn back for base.

I DO NOT MOVE the throttle again until on the runway. Speedbrakes, etc, keep speed under control.

So I get to the parking spot and shut down. Crew chief looks in the intake, then steps back hanging head down. This is bad, I'm thinking.

And it was!

How about 60+ blades bent, torn or missing? Right then I grew to love that P&W.

Seems clear ice had built up in the intake and broke loose shortly after takeoff.

If I had not had the "touch" to feel the slight vibration, I'll guarantee you all that the engine would have disintegrated during our scheduled ACM mission.

later,

F-16.net

Forum: General

Holy $h!t....ATFSCrash just saw a video you created