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Old 29th Jan 2006, 15:54
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FougaMagister
 
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Wartime crew-wise, I recall that the Randy Cunningham/Willie Driscoll crew of an F4J Phantom from US Navy fighter squadron VF-96 flew while on fire for several minutes and several dozen miles over North Vietnam on May 21, 1972 after being hit by an SA-2 SAM. Their point? Getting "feet wet" and being picked up by US, rather than N. Vietnamese, SAR. They eventually ejected when the Phantom lost all hydraulics. (They were also credited with three MIG kills in the previous minutes, making them the first aces of the Vietnam war).

On the opening day of the first Gulf War in Jan 1991, a French AF 11eme Escadre de Chasse Jaguar came all the way back from a raid on al Jaber air base in Kuwait to Saudi Arabia with part of the rear fuselage on fire, keeping the speed up on the one remaining engine so that the flames would not creep up the fuselage. He landed successfully at a USMC airfield (can't remember the name) in northern Saudi, where the fire crews put the fire out. The plane was reportedly a write-off - but not listed as a loss since it was brought back by its pilot.

Cheers
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