PS: I would strap on a 104 in a heartbeat if it wasn't a German crater maker.
They didn't call them widowmakers fer nothin'.
The CO of my old sqn was on final approach, but was coming in too hot. I guess he wanted to be on the drag chute and brakes quickly, so when he touched down, his left hand was ready to yank the chute handle. He pulled and the chute came out and ripped off the back.
I thought that he would lift off, do a loop and try landing a second time. Although this sounds laughable in a 104, some aerodynamic braking and liberal use of the brakes would have stopped him before he ran out of runway. But he didn't do that.
No doubt panic set in. He was screaming down the runway much too fast and knew that he'd have to take the barrier. He went for his arrestor hook button, but hit the tip tank jettison instead. Two tanks tumbled gracefully through the air and littered the grass. Oops! Then he managed to find the arrestor hook.
Except that this was a 104. He was too late with the hook and the hoof bounced a couple of times off the runway, jumping the cable. He buried his plane nose first into the dirt mound off the end of the runway. Luckily, no one was hurt. He was a Lt.Col then, but retired a Lieut.Gen.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Pride!
Yeah! Drinks all 'round! [/quote]
had this exact same thing happen with the 172 a couple days ago
