PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Dreadful accident - should have been avoided
Old 4th Oct 2015, 04:50
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Machinbird
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Not far from a big Lake
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Lesson from the past

Way back when I was going through Navy flight training I had a wake turbulence experience that could have ended badly. The solution used to counter that problem applies well to a wide range of aircraft, so please take note:

I was number 6 in a flight of 6 aircraft on an air to air gunnery mission in T-2A jets. The first four aircraft took the runway in echelon 1000 feet down the runway, and the last two aircraft remained at the runway end in echelon. Per the briefing, the individual aircraft rolled at 10 second intervals.

When it was my turn as #6, I applied full power and performed a normal take off, raising the gear and accelerating. At 50 feet above the runway, the aircraft began to roll until it was standing on its right wing tip despite application of full left aileron and a bootfull of left rudder.

What do I have left I asked myself? Ejection was out of the question with the older ejection seats. The aircraft was not going to fly many seconds more in that attitude.

I pulled back on the stick which turned the aircraft away from over the runway and in seconds I was in control again.

The fix was simple. All I had to do was throw out the mental concept of remaining over the runway. I hope this little story helps others.
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