F-111 with massive Drag Index

[L J R]

HERE:

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23562771-952,00.html

So what is the Drag index of that!.

I really hate it when all that stuff wraps around the A/B Probes.

[Spaghetti Monster]

I really hate it when the 'ray-dome' gets smashed.

[0497]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23569178-3102,00.html

They didn't consult PPRUNE!

[Milt]

It's not the first to collide with a Pelican.

Last time, in the same area, it took 2 Pelicans to take out an F-111 with both making their way into the cockpit and one incapacitating the pilot.

And their beaks can hold more than their bellycan!

[BentStick]

A lesson well learnt from previous headwork. A Pig flown by a later to be CAF also Fox four’d a Wedgetail eagle back in the late eighties and RTBd with no air data and a similar bundle of fibreglass. The bird went straight through the radome and took out the right TF Æ.

They slowed down, dropped the gear (locking the AFC gains) and flew back on inertial velocity only. Another jet launched, buddied them down the approach and gave them accurate IAS, stall warning and AoA cues. Both crews were luckier than the crew of 133 at Evans Head in 1973 (both killed after what was described as an out of envelope ejection).:sad:

[Old Fella]

The fatal accident, involving F-111 A8-133, to which Bent Stick referred actually happened on 29th Sept 1977 as the aircraft was making a third bombing run. The birds, thought to have been pelicans, penetrated the windscreen causing severe injuries and, as BentStick said, the crew ejected unsuccessfully due to being outside the safe envelope and the crew module impacting the ground with fatal results.

[parabellum]

When the senior officer said, "There was no structural damage" what exactly did he mean?:confused:

[Old Fella]

The "Senior Officer" was probably the local RAAF PR man. Technically, I don't suppose the radome/nose cone is part of the "structure", however engine damage caused by the bird down the spout is hardly of no concern. Let's face it, the crew determined they were able to recover the aircraft to Amberley with the "arresting system" available. Obviously, their judgment was vindicated but will still have some of those "not there armchair experts" be critical.

[antipodean alligator]

Note the impact smear....Proves that driver managed a bit of rudder to stick it down his mates side!!

[Zoom]

I once saw a F-4E with its radome peeled open like a banana. It wasn't a pelican that did it, though; it was a tree...................! A very tall tree, some said at the time...................!!

[jessie13]

Would you believe that someone suggested it was actually a structural failure of the nose and that the government was covering up problems of this "ageing aircraft".

[Old Fella]

They are out there Jessie 13, "way out". I saw the same comment from a reader of the Courier Mail I think. The remains of the bird smeared down the side of the aircraft and up the engine intake were ignored by the writer of the "cover-up" article. :ugh: :ugh: