Is this even possible?
 

This guy I know, ex-Canadian air force (or so he claims) says he was an aeroengine technician. He's quite a guy for the stories, I must say. Here's one that sounds like a whopper. He says that when he was stationed in Germany a few years ago, he was testing a fighter jet's engine and when he saw this German guy riding by on a bicycle, wearing his lederhausen, he fired up the afterburners and knocked the German head over heels off his bike. The guy laughed about it. I didn't think Germans wore their folk costumes outside of Oktoberfest, but aside from this first clue that the guy is full of crap, is that even possible that you could knock somebody off a bike by firing the afterburners? It kind of begs the question of how could a civilian be that close to a fighter jet (duh, I thought military bases were secure sites). Not to mention if somebody was that close to "afterburn", whatever that is, wouldn't they have gotten, umm, burned?

Curious one------to answer your question as succincly as possible.

Mil. bases in Germany used to employ considerable numbers of the local population so no problem there. Also, quite possible the German was so attired although wearing such was not commonplace I agree.

Now to the rest of the claim. IF your friend was doing a ground run ( a ) the aircraft would have been a located well away from any potential hazards in the form of passing personnel---or should have been. (b) he would not have been alone and would have had a starter crew to supervise the run and the safety aspect----that would be two, maybe three others at least. The chances of anybody getting that close to a re-heat run would, therefore, be zero---other that is,than those who may have been working on the engine of course.

The alternative is that your friend carried out a ground run and the jet efflux, did blow a passing civilian over----that said, he should never have been allowed that close on the first place.

All told, your friend has a emanates a distinct odour of class A B / S--and if he did knowlingly and deliberately carry out a ground run and was aware of a passing non relevant personnel and continued with the run with the intention of blowing this person over----he has A£SE%%£E stamped all the way through him.

I would change your social circle pdq if I were you.

Does remind me of this video though;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLGsEErWJY


:D

Is it possible that the German guy was wearing lederhosen or that he could have been blown over by the jet?

I'm not sure about the first question, but there are a number of 'spotters' who will attest to the latter being possible - RIAT 01 (I think) was the last of 2 yrs that the show was held at RAF Cottesmore. The 'ladder' guys by the fence in the farmer's field by the active runway's threshold were blown off (!) by and felt the heat of the departing B1B !! I think there were a few minor cuts etc ?

Also, to add another much viewed YouTube link ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjGdJN1_8u4

I saw (not that I was involved ;)) the exact same thing happen at Florrennes during TLP, except the guy wasn't wearing lederhosen!

No requirement to move the jet (Tonka) from its slot, a quick check of reheat and this guy cycles past the hanger along a ring road. By the time he was seen it was too late, and over he went.

Needless to say when we realised he wasn't hurt, except maybe his pride, we found it hysterical. Ho hum, the good old days.

threepointonefour,

Is that vid for real?

The first bit looks real but the bloke sat there at the end with a couple of bandages hiding minor injuries looks a tad set up.

I wouldn't have thought there would be enough bits left to fill an elastoplast let alone a bandage!!

2close

Im pretty sure its true, I heard the guy got his arm wedged in the intake, hence why it is in a sling.

Could the German guy not have fallen off his bike from the sudden increase in noise level? I.e. got a bit of a shock?

I recall the roof of a Terminal Building at an airport in Malawi being removed by a Civil VC10 doing an EGR on the apron - with permission.

r supwoods: sounds horribly familiar to the well-documented incident* of a BOAC VC10 at JNB. I can't remember the exact details, but during the after-start checks, the autothrottles were inadvertently selected, and before anyone could figure WTHIH?, the mighty Conways went to full thrust and blew a set of aircraft steps onto the roof of the cargo sheds. :uhoh:

*In the BOAC Air Safety Digest.

Jet efflux
 

When working on an hotel barge in Burgundy with American guests ( bit of a change from flight testing at Dunsfold ) the canal ran right past the end of the runway for the Dijon Mirage 2000 base.

The b----ds took great delight in blowing everything not bolted to the deck straight over the side !

I enjoyed it & had my camera ready, but it got a mixed reception from the passengers - I had warned them...

Had this from a Nimrod taxying out for departure; female on bike about 100yds behind claimed it blew her over (no witnesses). Then there was the Sea King pilot doing C/T on the airfield and saw someone crossing the runway (via traffic lights) on a bike!!

And all of us poor B^£T££D lineys can attest to being/seeing or picking up the pieces to uncommanded or mis-interpreted or missed commands by the biological interface up in the pointy end. If you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined.

The worst one I ever was involved in was doing a hot winchback on the F3 and the pilot dropped the hook onto my mate.....

They changed the procedures after that, I still reckon the safest way to get the damm hook was to walk in from wingtip, walk down under the port donk and put your mitts up to catch it as soon as it released from the latch and give the guy on headset a nod. No Drama.

I saw many guys get flight tested as they turned the jets on the pan, we get taught to duck for a reason!

Thanks for the info, Krystal n chips, and others
 

From what you said, it is possible to knock somebody down or off a bike when the air concussion from an afterburn passes to closely to another person. But in the context of what this guy at work has been saying, I figure it is probably just a pointless story in some attempt to make him look funny in front of the other guys, especially the young guys. To be honest there are a couple of other ex-military guys, older guys, good chaps, at the plant and I've noticed them kind of smiling to themselves whevever this guy is sharing some of his stories from the past. He's only 5' 6'' tall and he has boasted about knocking some guy out with one punch at the mess one night, throwing a pilot through a door one night (I didn't realize officers and enlisted men partied together - maybe the Canadian military is different?:rolleyes: )

Anyway, I'm writing the guy off as a blowhard "wanna-be warrior" with a short man's complex. I'm going to ask the boss not to pair me up with him on work assignments. I know a couple of other guys my age refuse to work with him - they find him annoying.

So thanks for the info. Maybe I'll call the guy on one of his "stories" next time he's holding court in the lunchroom.:)

'Is that vid for real?

The first bit looks real but the bloke sat there at the end with a couple of bandages hiding minor injuries looks a tad set up.

I wouldn't have thought there would be enough bits left to fill an elastoplast let alone a bandage!!

2close'

Very much for real.

His name was John David Bridges. He gave an interview on a TV programme a few years back. He revealed that he only suffered minor injuries and named his son Blade after the incident.

Curious One,

It seems that you have discovered what is known to military and ex-military types as a 'Walt' (sic Walter Mitty).

Walt baiting is a sport in itself and you should launch forthwith on a campaign to identify his shortcomings. Hanging on their every word usually gets them to embellish their stories out of all proportion and it is not unusual to find them in two different global hemispheres at the same time.

If you require any advice, visit the Army Rumour Service website where there are numerous artistes, well practised in this skill, but I'm sure your ex-mil lads can also help out.

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewforum/f=12.html

Was the lederhosen-clad boxhead carrying a toolbox and followed by a film crew? Was he cycling towards the married patch? Was there a lot of twangy 70's music on the soundtrack?

Did the dialogue go something like this?

"I haf kom to fix ze vashing machine und mine lederhosen are dirty, singed and torn after your Britischer Luftwaffe blew me off. Look, my big muscles are exposed!"

"Ooh, you're a big handsome chap and my hubby is away. Never mind, once you have fixed the washing machine you can get those dirty things off and I'll wash them and mend them for you."

"Ooh - be careful, your wrench has snagged the skimpy negligee I always wear around the house."

...

Tea break over, back to work.

I think I've seen that one.... :E

I was on Space Cadet Camp at Bruggen in '87 and spent the week 'helping' as a Flight Line Techs on 31Sqn.
On the first day I was told exactly where to stand on the grass bank to ensure that as the Tonka turned after exiting the HAS I was knocked over (no Reheat needed).

A couple of years Later I used to enjoy watching the newbie Refuellers do their first Rotors-Running Refuel on the Wessex, the fore fuelpoint was just behind & below the Starboard Exhaust. They used to come running in all grins and then stick their head right in the efflux......

I think in both cases it is surprise that caused the falling over rather than the force of the efflux, especially in the Wessex case

Top Ten Homicides investigated by the FBI
 

Despite the weird nature of this thread, I couldn't help but be reminded of the FBI's Top Ten list of Homicides of 2000. This one came in at number 9.

"Patty Winter, 35 years old, was killed by her neighbour in the early hours of a Sunday morning. Her neighbor, Falt Hame, for years had a mounted F6 phantom jet engine in his rear yard. He would fire the jet engine, aimed at an empty block at the back of his property. Patty Winter would constantly complain to the local sheriff's officers about the noise and the potential risk of fire. Mr Hame was served with a notice to remove the engine immediately. Not liking this, he invited Miss Winter over for a cup of coffee and a chat about the whole situation. What Winter didn't know was that he had changed the position of the engine, as she walked into the yard he activated it, hitting her with a blast of 5,000 degrees, killing her instantly, and forever burning her outline into the driveway."

The link is included for the whole list. Number 5 is a killer (literally).

http://www.webwombat.com.au/entertai...dfiles/fbi.htm

Jet efflux
 

Not too sure about that, or at least she was rather on the thick side not to react during the spool-up time...'5,000 degrees' ? Even in fartingheight it sounds a bit high.

Plenty of people have been blown over etc by efflux; at Dunsfold a fitter was left with a smoking coat ( not in the Noel Coward sense ) when a Hunter pilot took a short cut - result one b----cking for pilot, who was not one of the regulars.

On the other end of the engine, I heard there was a photo on the Ark Royal of a chap halfway down the intake of a Phantom, only saved by a chum who'd grabbed his legs.