F-35 Women are Coming 2018

Salute!

TNX for the graphics.

So chute pulls you outta seat as other systems with several speed/altitude modes and drogue chutes and........

Definitely want to hold head back into the headrest long as you can, huh? After watching several of the chute openings, pretty sure it's the neck snapping forward causing problems .

Gums sends....

Is that head 'snapping forwards' during initial ejection from aircraft or as the chute opens or both? There are dramatic photos of 'head on chest' during initial ejection, older seats with head handles also manufactures requested use of same to help prevent 'head snap down' but sometimes of course it was prudent to use the lower handle because of several reasons.

LCDR Bob Finan USN "FinDog" ejected from A4G 888 just as it left the flight deck after the arrestor wire broke during an OK arrest. Because RAN PHOTS (photographers) filmed and took photos of every arrested landing and catapult there is always a good record of incidents available (if only to the RAN FAA). This accident discussed in several places on this forum however a still photo does provide classic evidence for the 'head down' during ejection (and of course there are others mentioned such as the recent Canadian Hornet Pilot ejection at low level caught by several photographers). Anyway go here &/OR search on FINAN: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20622&p=236804&hilit=Finan#p236804

PHOTO: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=16554&p=210590&hilit=Finan#p210590

download/file.php?id=15212

Back in May 1966 this FAW Mk.53 Sea Venom with Martin-Baker Mk.4 zero feet/90 KIAS ejection seats suffered a ship caused mechanical arrestor wire break. The canopy has to be manually jettisoned (not sure who did it however usually it was the Observer). Sadly the Observer did not make it. Probably he ejected as the aircraft hit the water, he did not survive. Pilot suffered minor injuries -he is in the chute seen in photo compilation- top left to right then btm left to right.

Not a bad result for olde schoole M-B ejection seat technology of the day. Previously the Venoms had NO ejection seats.

HMAS Melbourne is the aircraft carrier with deck height of 36 feet above the sea and of course some Wind Over the Deck. The single catapult is 100 feet in length with no strop catcher. Numbered circles are Wessex 31A (later B) landing spots.

https://www.faaaa.asn.au/sea-venom-wz900/

Well Well Well.... this letter in a now 'old' SLIPSTREAM magazine (FAAAA Fleet Air Arm Association) has overturned half a century or so of thinking by me about the circumstances of the above Sea Venom ejection scenario. Part excerpt here:

"...A point of contention in this matter was whether or not Ted Kennell had attempted to eject. I had told the Board of Enquiry of discussions which Ted and I had had as to the relative merits of ejecting or riding it out into the water should we have had a brake failure on deck. Despite the unlikelihood of the parachute fully deploying under such low-speed, low-altitude circumstances, I was convinced that ejection was the best bet. Ted, a big man, was inclined toward riding it out, but had made no definitive statement as to what he would do. (We had not discussed [or envisaged] the circumstances of our actual accident.)

The Board of Enquiry took that evidence into account in concluding, despite my statement that I believed that Ted had ejected, and the eyewitness reports of the SAR crew, that he had not attempted to eject and that that was the explanation for him not having survived the accident. However, after reviewing all of the evidence, including a now missing cine-film of the accident, taken from the flight deck, and taking into account some Defence scientific calculations, Navy Office subsequently disagreed with that conclusion. Unfortunately, the Navy Office file on the matter cannot now be found, but I have it on the authority of the DNAP staff officer at the time, that the following conclusions were reached:

• Ted Kennell [Observer in right hand seat] was believed to have ejected as the aircraft was descending rapidly from flight deck level. Because of the aircraft's downward velocity, and taking into account his weight, the resultant vertical velocity due to the thrust from the ejection seat had been reduced to the extent that insufficient height would have been gained to achieve full seat separation or parachute deployment.

• My seat was believed to have fired as the aircraft struck the water and downward velocity had ceased. Accordingly, the trajectory gained from the ejection seat thrust would have been sufficient for full seat separation to occur and the parachute would have filled more or less as I struck the water ahead of the initial ditching point.

A tragic accident which is still painful in more than one way, but I am grateful to still be here to talk about it.
Regards to all who knew Ted. [CDRE] John Da Costa [RAN rtd]"

Source: https://www.faaaa.asn.au/wp-content/upl ... -Feb02.pdf (2Mb)

U.S. Air Force Shifts Focus To Maintaining ‘Human Weapon System’
07 Feb 2018 Lara Seligman

"A small group of airmen is hoping to prove that a greater focus on caring for fighter pilots’ physical and mental needs can build a force of aviators that not only performs better in the cockpit, but also stays in the U.S. Air Force for the long term. As the Air Force faces a growing exodus of experienced fighter pilots, senior leaders are looking for creative ways to recruit and retain aviators. Capt. Bryan Anderson, a flight doctor at Luke AFB, Arizona, believes he and his team have found a solution that both recognizes the toll flying a fighter takes on a pilots’ body and mind, and provides the preventive care aviators need to succeed.

“We do all this maintenance on the jet, the F-35s, the F-16s, whether it’s weekly, monthly, hourly or annually,” Anderson said in an interview here. “But really, there is not a whole lot of maintenance we do on the human weapon system.”

‘Human Performance Team’ includes a mix of flight surgeons, physical therapists, strength coaches and psychologists colocated with the squadron

Pilots at Luke AFB are already seeing a marked improvement

U.S. Air Force leaders are looking at inserting a line item in the fiscal 2019 budget blueprint to continue funding the effort...

...Pilots here are already seeing the results of the HPT’s efforts. Maj. Mark Warner, an F-35 pilot, had his first bad back spasm in early 2007 when he first began training to fly the F-16. Even though the episodes reoccurred every three months, usually followed by a two-week period of extreme pain and limited motion, he never told anyone. “The last thing I wanted to do was to be eliminated from training or take a three-month setback, so I’d just gut through it,” Warner says. “I think eventually it just gave out.” Warner had a massive disc herniation in February 2016. Unable to ignore the problem any longer, he started physical therapy, and finally got an MRI in May. When the doctors saw his scans, they told him he needed to have surgery immediately. He was out of flying for almost a year, until February 2017, and still does not feel 100%....

...Maj. Anthony Zelasko, an F-35 pilot, has also been working with Baumann for the past few months. He began experiencing neck pain, numbness in his forearm and tingling fingers as a young F-16 pilot. He had gotten referrals for physical therapy, but it was difficult to take time out of his busy schedule for an appointment....

...In the end, the Air Force isn’t going to win the pilot retention battle by upping salaries or adding bonuses, Leonard stresses. What if, instead, the service could take that money and invest it upfront into building a culture of taking care of its airmen? “It’s this idea that we take care of folks preventively. We do this with our machines, so an F-16, every 400 hr. we put it into phased maintenance, we pull off all the panels, we make sure it is operating well,” says Leonard. “Can we do the same thing with our people?”"

Source: http://aviationweek.com/combat-aircraft ... pon-system

"A small group of airmen is hoping to prove that a greater focus on caring for fighter pilots’ physical and mental needs can build a force of aviators that not only performs better in the cockpit, but also stays in the U.S. Air Force for the long term. "

I'm made mindful of how the NFL treats its players ... on the surface it looks pretty good. Special facilities, trips to specialists, dieticians, motivational experts, ballet instructors .... etc. etc..

BUT THEN - ...
... they start saying you can't go skiing, or sky diving, and they give you curfews, and they say, "You can do what you want when you quit."

I miss the days of Pappy Boyington and Robin Olds. Just say I can't get past O6/O7, and leave me in the cockpit. What kind of fighter pilot do you have if he doesn't know how to party, and split his head open in a carrier landing at the O Club?

There are two edges on these swords ...

MHO
BP

"A small group of airmen is hoping to prove that a greater focus on caring for fighter pilots’ physical and mental needs can build a force of aviators that not only performs better in the cockpit, but also stays in the U.S. Air Force for the long term. "

I'm made mindful of how the NFL treats its players ... on the surface it looks pretty good. Special facilities, trips to specialists, dieticians, motivational experts, ballet instructors .... etc. etc..

BUT THEN - ...
... they start saying you can't go skiing, or sky diving, and they give you curfews, and they say, "You can do what you want when you quit."

I miss the days of Pappy Boyington and Robin Olds. Just say I can't get past O6/O7, and leave me in the cockpit. What kind of fighter pilot do you have if he doesn't know how to party, and split his head open in a carrier landing at the O Club?

There are two edges on these swords ...

MHO
BP

.....and if they are teaching you "How" to party?

...We were "The Million Dollar Man", not Pappy and Robin!

Salute!

For the early days of the Viper we had a specially assigned flight surgeon who rode with us in the family model and did many "inspections"of us.

As a previous war story related, we had some serious episodes, and my assistant for the academic shop was one. He had had a previous ejection that had done more damage than they realized. So a few 9 gee yanks and sustained fights at 4-5 gees did him in. He put himself on DNIF and went to work for me. After a few weeks it was obvious he had serious spinal problems and started to drag one of his feet as we walked over to the TAC "instructional systems development" folks. So I ordered him to the hospital and after some imaging USAF decided he needed very special surgery. The procedure went well and they dug out small debris he had residing in his spinal coulumn for who knows how long. He got back on flying status but was restricted to transports that could not pull over 3 gees.

Our dedicated flight surgeon wired us up and recorded all kindsa stuff as we flew, using a small recorder and a cable system from us to his back seat. USAF was concerned with retinal damage due to the onset to 9 gees that had not been seen before. The biggest thing they discovered was neck tendon and ligament damage from looking around or not "preparing" for the 9 gee yank. That was a biggie for we IP's, as the nuggets would uank when we weren't expecting it. So it was common that first winter to grab a handful of snow and cram it down the back of your neck when coming back to maintenance debrief.

The gee tolerance issue came to the fore, and we had some gym type equipment to help strengthen our necks and pecs for the "clinch". Also had a head band hooked to weights to get those necks beefed up.

So I like the concern, but the bottom line is resting with the pilots to get in shape. I doubt the Stubby will fly many prolonged fights, but one should still be prepared.

Gums sends...

I'm regularly amazed by the amount of material I have which becomes forgotten in the cobwebby recesses of computers.

Yes a cause for the wire break was found, a misapplication of the wrong grease on setup below deck IIRC - SORE NECK!!!!

“The accident was caused by an hydraulic malfunction on the "Spline Valve" of that particular wire.”

No.4 (of five) is the target wire when all 5 arrestor wires set. Not many A4G pilots have their bolters recorded as shown.

Can't say why the name of the female pilot is important in this story because I can only see what I can see here....

Weight Restriction Sidelined Female F-35 Pilot For Year
21 Nov 2018 Lee Hudson

"HILL AFB, Utah—After waiting one year for an upgraded F-35 ejection seat, female pilot Capt. Kaitlin Clugston began flying the fifth-generation fighter jet in..."

Source: http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/wei ... pilot-year