F-14

[Avenger Angel]

Hi everybody,

Surfing on the net i've found this pic...this is strange, how can eject the passenger leaving the pilot in his place? There is no precise launch sequence? This does not affect the aerodynamics of the

plane? All that wind on face?!? Or this pic is fake?

thanks

Avenger Angel

Edited September 3, 2009 by Avenger Angel

[Jarhead1]

I am pretty sure u can do controlled ejections like the F-4s where the RIO/WSO is punched before the pilot. They might have had it set to single ejections since the pilot obviously is controlling and flying the airplane. Thats about all I can figure out. I am sure he is a bit windy with the canopy gone, yes, lol.

[cgold]

"The result of a "RIO"-commanded ejection. The "RIO" was an officer from a US Navy cruiser on a familarization flight. During a negative g-maneuver, he grabbed for a hold and pulled the ejection seat handle ... "

 

MATS

 

[Thog10]

"The result of a "RIO"-commanded ejection. The "RIO" was an officer from a US Navy cruiser on a familarization flight. During a negative g-maneuver, he grabbed for a hold and pulled the ejection seat handle ... "

 

 

Oops..

[Caesar]

Ref. NAVAIR NATOPS 01-F14AAD-1

 

There are two positions that Command Ejection can be set for: Pilot or MCO

 

That switch dictates if the pilot initiates command ejection or if the RIO initiates command ejection. For this to work, the command ejection selector had to have been in the Pilot position. I.e. if the pilot pulled the ejection handle, both would punch out. If it were in the MCO position, the guy in the back would have punched out both, but in this case, he only ejected himself.

 

IIRC there's some extra amplification in "Bye Bye, Baby" on this particular incident, but it's about 2870miles to the east of me right now. Anyone else have the reference?

Edited September 3, 2009 by Caesar

[cgold]

Ref. NAVAIR NATOPS 01-F14AAD-1

 

There are two positions that Command Ejection can be set for: Pilot or MCO

 

That switch dictates if the pilot initiates command ejection or if the RIO initiates command ejection. For this to work, the command ejection selector had to have been in the Pilot position. I.e. if the pilot pulled the ejection handle, both would punch out. If it were in the MCO position, the guy in the back would have punched out both, but in this case, he only ejected himself.

 

IIRC there's some extra amplification in "Bye Bye, Baby" on this particular incident, but it's about 2870miles to the east of me right now. Anyone else have the reference?

I saw that page...wasn't a rear admiral that "officer"?

[DWCAce]

I was hoping Caeser would chime in on this. I couldn't find the notes on Bye Bye Baby, but I'll check again when I get back from Dayton.

[Caesar]

I was hoping Caeser would chime in on this. I couldn't find the notes on Bye Bye Baby, but I'll check again when I get back from Dayton.

 

Wasn't that (MCO/Pilot position) one of the contest questions, DWC?

 

Will have to wait for that verification, but from what I remember, the pilot indicated that he didn't know that the canopy and his RIO were gone initially, but rather thought the cockpit depressurized. He also wasn't going extremely fast, and you can see he's not haunched behind the windscreen, so it's providing some level of wind deflection.

 

Still, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be flying that thing without the canopy on if I could avoid it!

Edited September 4, 2009 by Caesar

[Nesher]

cool stuff!

a few weeks ago i saw pictures of a Su-35 with the co-pilot ejected

 

http://englishrussia.com/?p=3524

http://gizmodo.com/5323825/crazy-russian-sukhoi-su+35-pilot-ejects-for-a-hollywood-movie-at-mach-2

[Avenger Angel]

I'm going to convince .... because I thought this was impossible ... This seemed strange, anyway ,thank you for responding!

Avenger Angel

[Fubar512]

I'm in the process of reading "First in, Last out", a compilation of (true) stories by Wild Weasel pilots. One story that applies here, and answers your question of open-cockpit aerodynamics and wind-blast, involved an F-105 that was peppered with shrapnel from an SA-2 that exploded close by. The 'pit filled with dense, chocking smoke, but the aircraft remained flyable. The crew jettisoned the canopy at over 450 knots, and made it the 100 kilometers to the Gulf of Tonkin, where they both ejected safely (though only after a fire had burned away their hydraulic systems). Otherwise, they fully intended to refuel, and land at Da Nang!

[+Typhoid]

I saw that page...wasn't a rear admiral that "officer"?

 

he was a USN Captain, on his way to commanding a cruiser and in that position being the Anti-Air Warfare Commander for that carrier strike group. he was on an orientation flight. He got a real interesting orientation......

 

he continued after that incident as the investigation cleared him. just one of those things that can happen when you put a non-aviator in an ejection seat........

 

I've also heard that he (rightly) has never lived that down!

[macelena]

I saw that page...wasn't a rear admiral that "officer"?

 

 

There is a JAG episode on that. Was LOLing half an hour after the accidental ejection

[whirlinmerlin]

Ejecting from an F14 is a dangerous affiar, remember what happened to Goose.

[Caesar]

Ejecting out of an F-14 is no more or less dangerous than ejecting out of any other aircraft. If the Tomcat is in a flat spin (which CAN be recovered from, btw), it does generate a more dangerous environment because of the low pressure area that develops above the plane, causing the canopy to hang for a moment before it clears - procedures indicate the canopy should be jettisoned first, clear, then eject. Or you could start manually sweeping the wings to 58* or more, rudder against the spin and avoid the whole problem.

[whirlinmerlin]

Ejecting out of an F-14 is no more or less dangerous than ejecting out of any other aircraft. If the Tomcat is in a flat spin (which CAN be recovered from, btw), it does generate a more dangerous environment because of the low pressure area that develops above the plane, causing the canopy to hang for a moment before it clears - procedures indicate the canopy should be jettisoned first, clear, then eject. Or you could start manually sweeping the wings to 58* or more, rudder against the spin and avoid the whole problem.

 

Try telling that to Goose's widow.

[DWCAce]

Hey, it was not COMBATACE's fault that Maverick was an amateur and did't read his NATOPS!

[Caesar]

Or the recovery procedures that aren't in NATOPS but were common enough knowledge following 1976.

 

EDIT: OK, I wrote about flat spins/recovery therefrom in my blog, so you could check that out, but to keep it simple - there are 2 ways to recover an F-14 from a flat spin.

 

1 - Passively.) Lock harness, hands off the controls and do nothing. Once the F-14 gets to thicker air below 10,000ft it will recover itself, slicing sharply nose down.

 

2 - Actively.) Lock harness, regulate engines, flaps up if they were down, then manually sweep the wings towards 58*+ (68* if you feel so inclined). The Center of Gravity and Center of lift will shift backwards, pushing the nose down and increasing authority over the control surfaces. Rudder against the spin and in under 7k total feet lost (6.5-6.2k from what I understand) the plane is fully recovered.

 

Note: in both cases you lock the harness so you don't "eat the VDIG"

Edited September 29, 2009 by Caesar