Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire F-35 RAMP STRIKE

Isn't this the fellow who had some heart issues while coming in?

Well, that would certainly get him off the hook, but also a guarantee (almost) he'd never fly again..

They have released no information about the pilot. Makes me wonder if it another Kara Hultgreen.

Gotta say it, pilot vaxed?

That’s backwards. When operating at sea the B model nearly always does Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing.

The gear was down. There’s another video from the jet shop.

I’m not a fan of pilots not getting as much training to land. I understand the desire to spend more of the valuable flight hours doing tactical stuff, and the lure of technology to make a tradeoff. The unmanned aircraft are using PLM and doing just fine, as are most E/F/G. Curious to learn whether this was pilot or system related, or some combination.

Also, what's with the cell phone vid recording, then leaking to the net, onboard a United States military asset?

On a carrier like that how much can the deck pitch up and down and how is that taken into account?

Not substantiated but heard a rumor the pilot was suffering a myocarditis attack during final, so lost control and barely able to pull the plug and eject.

There are Youtube vids by some very experienced naval aviators who discuss this accident without stating definitive opinions. But the most likely string of events is that the pilot first got a bit high and fast, then chopped power to compensate, which immediately dropped him below the correct approach angle and speed. Engine spoolup was too slow from such a low power setting, and the plane struck the ramp with its gear. Those immediately sheared off and the plane slid off the angled deck into the water.

There has been no info about the pilot, and there is no basis whatever for it being a physiological situation, or he would not have flown a manual overhead approach. That assumes a "he" by the way.

Both the videos that have been leaked violated strict accident investigation rules, and that will also be investigated.

Excellent post, Rocky. "high and fast" is about the leading cause of mishaps, because it leads to low, slow, stall and crash. I have no clue on the 35, but "spool up" is definitively a critical aspect. In my day, the A-7 was the worst...

I've seen it BAD, in excess of 20'. When it's that bad, the "meatball" changes from auto gyro stabilized to a manual version (MOVLAS) controlled by the Landing Signals Officer (LSO) where the LSO is aware where the deck is, so he'll "show" you where the "ball" should be in order to synch the deck pitch with your approach (usually going from a 3.5 deg glide slope to 4).

Yup. For the unaware, in a jet any RPM setting below about 90% means the engine can be very slow to spool back up. I flew jets with centrifugal compressors, and from a low to idle throttle setting of 60% RPM or so, they could take as long as 15 seconds to reach full power. Fifteen seconds is forever in the landing pattern. Axial flow engines are faster, but five or six seconds for spoolup from 60 to 100% power is still (quite literally) a lifetime when on final approach.

You never, ever, EVER yank the throttles back in the pattern, and doubly so any time after coming off the "perch" turning final.

This accident happened on a blue sky, no wind, and calm seas day. We called those "Field Grade" days because that's when the Colonels chose to fly.

A film named “Carrier Landing Mishaps” is probably somewhere on the Net and it is landing mishaps non-stop. The “Ramp Monster” is heartless. They showed it to us a few days before we went to the boat for the first time in the T-2. Talk about incentive!😳

Now to brag a bit…
To put the landings in perspective, in order to trap you have to fly your head through a window about two feet tall and about three feet wide crossing the ramp. For us, it’s like driving to and from work and we take that skill very seriously. Every landing grade is posted on the “Greenie Board” in each ready room. Awards are given at the end of a grading period for the Top Ten in the Airwing. I was lucky enough to make it twice in the F-4. 😊

I used to tell my students that no matter how good a bomber you are, or how good a fighter you are, if you can’t get aboard first pass, day, night, good or bad weather, with a steady or pitching deck about 97%+ (100% for good ball flyers”) of the time, you’re not worth a rip to the Admiral. If he doesn’t trust you to get “his” aircraft back aboard, he can’t use you.

There's a PBS special on carrier ops. Parts on YouTube.

Has a good visual of pitching decks on a carrier. It's nuts.

There's also a young female officer whose voice and demeanor drives me nuts. Can't stand it. Just FYI - the flying is interesting. Her not as much

As you pilots on this forum know. Flying has changed. A retired USAF client of mine likes to say airline flying today are those at have the fastest index finger once they lift off and set the autopilot. He feels strongly that automation is not keeping a pilot proficient, relying on automation vs “stick and rudder”, “pitch and power” principles that you guys would understand. I’m not a pilot, just soak in what he talks about now and then. And a whole lot of stuff. He has concerns with Heavy pilots at the airlines that didn’t come up thru the ranks as PP, IP, then garner enough hours at a regional airline where pilots take off and land several times per day.
Interesting discussion for you guys who lived it.
So it appears automation is steeped deeply in military flying particularly fighters that are very complex not just in flying buy managing all the systems.

I don’t remember the allowable deck movement but I’ve only been on one launch on the Midway that was canceled because of deck movement. It was off of Perth in the IO. All the aircraft had 18 tie down chains on them but you could feel the aircraft bumping against the chains as the ship rolled around.

They were taxiing the first Phantom to Cat One and they tried to stop it but it slid, with the wheels locked, for 25 or 30 feet. It came to a stop about five feet nose to nose from an EA-6 spotted in front of the Island. All the eyes on the flight deck were like saucers. A few minutes later the directors were giving us the signal to shut down. Thank you Jesus!

If you search for “pitching deck operations” there are some good videos. “Carrier”, which was on the tube at one time, is a good one. I know or taught probably 2/3 of the guys they show. I’ve seen it like that in the Indian Ocean, the North Pacific and the North Atlantic. Night time, pitching deck separates the men from the boys 😁

It also separates the living from the dead, my friend. Could I have flown Navy? Probably. Am I glad I didn't? You bet your pink ass.

What do you mean, "bunder". The transfer of money to the mil/ind. complex and the after career jobs for admirals and generals is right on track....

I don't understand the continuing bashing of the F-35. I agree that it should not have been developed as three versions, and that it took way too long to perfect. Both those led to its astronomical cost. But I get to talk to AF F-35 pilots and they are universally effusive about its capabilities. If it were actually a dud, foreign countries would avoid it. Instead, they are falling over themselves to try to buy F-35s.

Some of you are just repeating what some other internet "expert" said - based on some rumor that's years old.