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Old 6th Jun 2008, 09:45
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barnstormer1968
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Glad Crew Are Ok

To avoid sounding ghoulish, my first concern is that both crew are OK, and I am always stunned at just how effective ejector seats can be, even when used at such low altitudes (thinking back to early B52's and Starfighters), and ground speeds.

While it also struck me just how poor the cameraman/woman was, I guess they didn't have any idea of what they were about to film.

So If I can assume that even at the high AOA this aircraft found itself in, the large wing area generates high lift, to me it still looks like a B2 has quite a fair amount of thrust to keep it flying for as long as it did (in some ways akin to the infamous F100 sabre dance)

Two questions arise from watching this clip:
How long did it take the crew to think to themselves that they may be in for a serious talking to (after throwing away such an expensive and rare asset), And that not everyone (thinking accountants here) will be just happy they are OK.

Secondly, what could any pilot do with any fin less, and fly by wire aircraft in such a similar position, where the aircraft is yawing so much, and with no real altitude to correct this (I say fly by wire, as the aircraft may be doing whatever it feels, depending on software constraints)

Barnstormer 1968
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