PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Lakenheath F-15 down, North Sea
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Old 24th Nov 2020, 12:46
  #102 (permalink)  
Mogwi
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: 350/3 Compton
Age: 76
Posts: 790
Received 379 Likes on 96 Posts
Been there!

August '85 over the Channel in murk from 1000' to FL impossible. Vectored for an inbound at 10,000' and Freddie rolled me out 1/2 mile astern but I didn't have any radar contact - which was unusual even for me! Closed to 1/4 mile in cloud without contact, so assumed the D had got the height wrong and that the bogey was actually at low level below the crud.

Aggressively lowered the nose and started a fast descent, whilst desperately bogling the scope for a return. Completely lost SA and broke cloud below 1000', 40 degrees nose down at c480 kts. Immediately snatched a load of G and induced a high-speed stall. Relaxed slightly into light wing-rock and watched in horror as the horizon came up around my ears and the altimeter kept spinning down. I clearly remember it bottoming out some 50' below zero before starting to climb again. Luckily the HUD camera wasn't running, so I will never know how low I actually was.

The aircraft was a bit bent (+9G) but the tanks and flaps stayed on and I managed to calm the heartbeat down enough to land back onboard. Still gives me the shivers.

Disorientation is still a killer.

Mog
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