F111 wheels-up landing

[flyguy]

http://www.military.com/video/military-aircraft-operations/landing/f-111-belly-landing/1814867838001/

The company where I worked did the Radar Homing and Warning system for the U.S. version of the 111, so I usually check out any news on it.

DC

[Pearson]

Re: F111 wheels-up landing

That was very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Hartley]

Re: F111 wheels-up landing

Pucker factor...HIGH! Cool heads made good decisions.

Thanks for sharing Darryl.

By the way, 14 tons of bombs, wow!

[Larry Lyons]

Re: F111 wheels-up landing

Question! I think I saw a tail hook that got jerked off causing the nose down and impact. As a NAVY type I was not aware the F 111 was carrier qualified!
L

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: F111 wheels-up landing

That was a field arrest hook, but there WAS an F-111 that was built and carrier qualified for the Navy. It didn't suit the Navy needs and the only thing of it that survived was the Phoenix missile and AWG-9 RADAR systems that went into the F-14.
It was called the Ardvark, and no, this is NOT a photo shopped photo.
Hank

[flyguy]

Re: F111 wheels-up landing

Yes Hank that was McNamara's idea of two versions of the same aircraft to meet both branches requirements. Not. The story we got was that the carrier version wound up being too heavy. I think I use to know all the details, but as with many things they have disappeared into the background noise. One I do remember was the pilots commenting on how hard it was to keep their hands off the stick when the Terrain Following Radar put the plane into full down when passing the edge of a plateau out into a much lower valley.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: F111 wheels-up landing

I used to work for the test pilot who made the first operational ejection from the F-111. He said riding down in the cockpit section was a real experience (you didn't eject from an F-111, the whole cockpit blew off the fuselage and came down on a big chute). He said they opened the canopy sections and sat in it like a sports car and said, "well, I guess it worked".
He said he flew the B-52 test aircraft that did the first flights with the terrain following RADAR flying out west and he did say it was VERY hard to keep your hands off the controls as you flew across a plain towards a bluff. The B-52 test plane would fly directly AT the bluff and pull up with what looked like about 50' of clearance to roar across the plateau and dive off the other side to hug the plains on the other side. Don't eat lunch before a flight! They did some SERIOUS goat scattering!
That was the system they put in the F-111 and from what he said it was a great system, you just needed new school pilots who would trust it and not grab the controls as it flew you right at a cliff.
Hank