Not an ideal introduction to military aviation

[Prangster]

Or, was I just unlucky? Question were piston engines more prone to failure then jets? My first 'flight' 40seconds in an Anson that threw its port engine five seconds after levitation at Kinloss. Second flight 2hr 20min much curtailed when the Shack M2 lost its stbd outer to an oil leak. Flight 3, 2 days later in a Chipmunk, the ACLO noting my propensity to be near aeroplanes that break crossed his fingers and bade me aviate. This time it was an intercom failure that brought us back but only after a 'practice force landing' had startled me as I was unaware what the front office was up to. Warning from ACLO 'For gods sake don't join the airforce son you're a bloody menace' So I went to work for Rolls Royce and flew gliders instead. That said the next 40years flew by without a single airborne incident.

[Rosevidney1]

Quite right! Why tempt providence? That said - if those flights had gone without a hitch there might well have been a different career for you.

[CoodaShooda]

Coodakid3 had the engine fail on his third lesson (in a Drifter) necessitating a landing on a gravel road. Then had to sit and watch while I had to deal with an unforecast 40kt gust that tried to encourage our Jabiru to perform a slow roll while still on the takeoff run. Then had the rudder lock hard over at 3,000ft in his CT4. The instructor side slipped into a wheat field and the local newspaper. The PC9 gave him two RTB's with a possible canopy unlock and failed fuel system. And the Hawk 127 gave him a total nav system failure on a moonless night.
Possibly no coincidence that the Air Force then sent him off to single seat fighters.

[megan]

Where else can you such great training Cooda?

[CoodaShooda]

Certainly hasn't put him off.
He's just had an break between OCU and starting on squadron.
One message he sent me started with "Day seven of missing my job".

[Blacksheep]

...curtailed when the Shack M2 lost its stbd outer to an oil leak.
Brings back a memory of processing what is my favourite 'Form 1022' of all time, where the crew report said "Starboard Beam Lookout reported that No.4 was leaking more oil than usual"

[riff_raff]

Depends on what period in time you are considering. Until the mid 1950's, recip aircraft engines were probably much more reliable than turbine engines of the time. Today, both turbine and recip aircraft engines of modern design are very safe and reliable. However, there are not many recip engines still being used on manned military aircraft these days.

[Rossian]

......oh dark thirty and we're off somewhere at max all up weight. After the initial flail of getting airborne a small voice from the starboard beam lookout (Yeah him again)says "I know the exhaust flames are brighter at night but from No 4 they're reaching past the tail plane" Ooooooer missus.
Capt decides we're going to land overweight but tower informs us the squadron boss "ordered" us to remain airborne until he gets to the tower to take control.
Capt says "Bollocks, we're landing" and so we do. Like a cat peeing on glass.
Boss screeches into dispersal in his mini having one of his (frequent) Hitlerian rages. "I ORDERED you to stay airborne".
We all get out to inspect No 4 for signs of fire - none! Boss gets even madder.
We are all reluctantly contemplating getting back in again when someone's torch sweeps over No 3 - absolutely plastered in oil and it's trickling onto the dispersal.
Griffons were known from time to time to "Gulp" which was spitting ALL the oil out of a vent on the outside of the engine. (No doubt a FE will be along dreckly with the technical explanation)This was what had happened and all the ejected oil was blown into the exhaust of No4 where it burned spectacularly.
Capt would then have been faced very quickly with the dilemma of no.4 shut down, suspect fire followed by no3 seizing, no oil and we're at Max AUW.
Boss turned round and walked away saying "I want the incident report on my desk at 0900".
He was my first Squadron CO and quite possibly the worst. I thought then and still think today that he was borderline psychotic.
I learned about flying (and bosses) from that night.

The Ancient Mariner

[Offchocks]

Or, was I just unlucky?

I think you were just unlucky or perhaps I was very lucky, 24632 hours and I never had to shut an engine down and never will ......... retired now!:)

[4Greens]

As a Navy man I had an elevator jam and a total instrkument pressure failure but never a dodgy engine. Thirty five years of commercial airline flying and never an engine failure either.

[NRU74]

Obviously none of you lot was on the Beverley. The Centaurus engine with its 14 foot prop suffered so many engine failures and they happened on such a very regular basis that they almost became routine Those of us based in the UK became very familiar with diverting into places like Pisa, Palermo etc with one stopped plus numerous three engine landings at Istres, Luqa, El Adem (boo), etc. The only time I felt that my time may have come was when we had two engines out and made (just) Gatwick !

[Herod]

I think the fates had it in for me. 19,000 hours, and six single-engine landings in twin-engine aircraft. Funnily enough, none of them were actually the engine failing. Gearbox, fuel starvation, cut oil lines etc. Most of the three-engine landings on four-engine aircraft were precautionary anyway.

[George Richardson]

I think Beverley props were 16 feet dia.

[DaveReidUK]

I think Beverley props were 16 feet dia.

The GAL.60/GAL.65 prototypes had Centaurus 160/165 engines with 14' propellers. The production Beverley, with the larger wing, had Centaurus 173s driving 16' 6" props.