No Problem or other fighter jet mechanics

[Phu Cat]

Long shot, but here goes:

Many years ago I read a book about what I think was an F105 pilot , that got court martialed after bombing an unauthorized anti aircraft site in North Vietnam and getting his high pressure hydraulics shot out on his pull out.  He was able to nurse his bird in the rarefied air to put out the fire on the OUTside of the engine and managed to hook up with a tanker just seconds before the fire on the INside of the engine went out.  The tanker towed him to keep his engine turning then he dived to gain enough air speed to relite the engine, flew it home and landed without crashing!

Anybody else familiar with this account?  I can't remember the name of the book.

PC

[Dennis The Menace]

PC, never heard of such a story, but not real far off from what happened on the Hudson this, eh?  lol

Not an expert, but I wouldnt think the hookup connection of a tanker to the jet would be strong enough to pull it.  Not sure that the boom materials end to end would be strong enough since the weak link would be the rubber hose portion on the end.  Then again, as I said, not an expert.

I almost joined the AF to be a boom operator on a KC-135, though.  The AF recruiter was ticked when I went over and signed up with the Army to be a grunt...which is really what I wanted to do since I was a kid anyway.  That, and I was scared of flying at that time.  lol

Anyway, I would like to read about that story if its in a book.  Lots of heroics there.

menace

[No Problem]

it wasn,t a thunder jet 105 cant rember what type i rember it being a 2 seat  side by side bomber right after they bombed it the goverment made it legal to bomb that target theyt never went to court they made a some what real movie about it  just so you know jets arn,t planes as jet when they lose power they are nothing but a rock with wings .a plane will glide ,jets don,t my opion they are real lucky  he was a glider pilot to dead stick a jet took both pilots an a lot of luck if i had to fly i,ad want him in the first seat

[Tsani]

Flight of the Intruder

[f-x-d-w-g]

Airplanes fly on their wins, not on their engines.  I was an AF pilot, airline pilot, glider pilot, corporat pilot, and general aviation pilot (in fact I list 55 different aircraft types in my log book).  A Boeing 727 has the same glide ratio as a Cessna 172.  I'm sure the newer airliners have a slightly better L/D ratio so the landing in the Hudson was a no-brainer for a glider pilot.

For those interested, read the story of the Gimli glider, an Air Canada flight that ran out of gas and made a safe landing on a closed airport being used as a drag strip. 

http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html

I'm vaguely familiar with the story of the Thud mentioned in the original post.  Another great story is about one F-4 which pushed his wingman by having the wingman lower the tailhook and he pushed by putting his windscreen up against the hook.  Here's a link to that: 

http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html

http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/viet/kolf4cb.jpg

[CndUltra88]

I'll second the "Flight of the Intruder"
But, then again I could be wrong....
Rob

[dbhwt]

You might be thinking about Pardo's Push ...good story........spent some time at Danang many moons ago....also live around Cincy

[Juice]

Was it about the A6
or side by side cockpit ?

[Phu Cat]

I read Flight of the Intruder, it was a novel, as I recall.


Yikes, I remember reading that now that you mention it Fxdwg.  Great story.  Was there a similar story about a pilot that ran out of gas and his wingman put the front end of his bird against the exhaust and pushed him home?

when they lose power they are nothing but a rock Lots of people think that about choppers too.  I've never been in a chopper when it auto-rotated, but they can land without a WHOLE lot of damage.

PC

[f-x-d-w-g]

I really should have read my post before sending it.  Here's a link to Pardo's push:

http://www.af.mil/news/airman/1296/pardo.htm

[darrelbarrows]

it was an A-6 intruder. Most airliners have a glide ratio of between 10:1 to 20:1

[truck]

And a sail plane (glider) has a ratio of about 40:1 (40 feet foreward to 1 foot down).

[highlander]

I'll second the "Flight of the Intruder"
But, then again I could be wrong....
Rob

Flight of the Intruder was a great movie, and yes in the movie they  bombed a sam sight in the north, but they never hooked up with a tanker, and infact they crashed in the jungle.