Bail Out At 28,000 Feet

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    That was a very interesting story bill. Sorry the military was so critical of your AC's actions pretty tough to think like the military does sometimes they do have there ways.



    When I was in the Navy during the 1950s, I was an aircrewman (as a tow-target operator) for about 18 months. During my training for the duty, I had to make 3 parachute jumps near San Diego but only from about 2500 feet. Pretty exhilarating experience - of course, when you're 18 years old, you're naturally immortal. (:wink_smile:) Not sure I'd want to do it again.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    Stumpy,
    You Have Got Me Beat !
    :glare:
    I only jumped Two Times, the second time was in the Late 1950s after They Gave me a Early Out of the U.S.A.F. But I had to Serve Out the rest of my time in the Arizona Air Guard !!
    :yeaahh:
    I was Flying the F-86 A that was the older model of the Jet Fighter down on the Yuma Gunnery Range and The Engine Flamed Out, this time I was at about 3000 Feet and all I had To Do Was Pull The Ejection Lever And I Was Out !!!
    :hyper:
    A few years ago my Son wanted me to go Sky-Diving with Him, but I Chickend-Out, and I told Him
    "Why Would Anyone Want To Jump Out Of A Perfectly Good Aircraft That Is Still Flying !!!! "
    :teeth_smile:
    Bill
    :cowboy:

    I always thought that it was kinda funny in a sick way, maybe they changed but our jets carried enough parachutes for the crew but the flying maintenance technician that flew on all combat zone mission was just out of luck in that department. In the old days flying crew chiefs didnt even have oxygen Ive been told in the advent of depressurization, atleast that is what a friend that flew on cargo/tanker jets in the early 60s said. Like I said the military has there ways, we'd spend millions on overpriced contracts, plasma screens that would report everything that we were emailed by every person in the chain of command so they could feel special, but human life safety precautions were often put low on the list. Dont get me wrong im not negative towards the military or ashamed the least to have been part of it but somethings i will never understand. They had other things i didnt quite understand, like sending our guys into Iraq, giving them M16s then taking there ammo when they got there. And it could be hot, someplaces up to 150 rocket attacks in 4 or 5 months directed mostly at the airfields. But I am glad i could help as much as i could with what i had to do.

    Quote from FarmerSteve

    I always thought that it was kinda funny in a sick way, maybe they changed but our jets carried enough parachutes for the crew but the flying maintenance technician that flew on all combat zone mission was just out of luck in that department. In the old days flying crew chiefs didnt even have oxygen Ive been told in the advent of depressurization, atleast that is what a friend that flew on cargo/tanker jets in the early 60s said. Like I said the military has there ways, we'd spend millions on overpriced contracts, plasma screens that would report everything that we were emailed by every person in the chain of command so they could feel special, but human life safety precautions were often put low on the list. Dont get me wrong im not negative towards the military or ashamed the least to have been part of it but somethings i will never understand. They had other things i didnt quite understand, like sending our guys into Iraq, giving them M16s then taking there ammo when they got there. And it could be hot, someplaces up to 150 rocket attacks in 4 or 5 months directed mostly at the airfields. But I am glad i could help as much as i could with what i had to do.



    Don't get me started, Steve. :wink_smile:

    I could rant for days about some of the absolute total BS I witnessed and personally experienced during 25 years in the military. Not so much about the guys, sometimes including commissioned officers, I worked with but often about those higher up in the chain of command, not to exclude POTUS.

    I've read considerable American history and I'm still amazed that this country has managed to survive for about 220 years, considering the jerks who govern this country.

    De gustibus non est disputandum



    No, Bill, I don't blame everything on the officers - I met some in the service that I'd gladly die for. But nowadays, many of those above the grade of O6 are no longer leaders but politicians. We have very, very few generals/admirals today who are fit to lick the boots of people like Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley, MacArthur, Halsey, Hap Arnold, Lemay, Nimitz and people like that.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    I agree with both of you. I had no problem with majors or lower very often. There were instances, but not many to speak of no more than i had with my enlisted counterparts. The generals of yesterday are gone, if we ever get into a war like WWII or WWI again we may see more of them in the years following. A general has to be disciplined, experienced, and willing to accept causalties for a greater benefit. I think they have lost this, mostly cause we have fought pathetic countries with pathetic armies for so long they have lost experience and hardness needed and sadly we have done horrible in these pathetic countries when our technology and rescourses should have been able to annhilate them in one day. I wish we had some of those generals again. If we had a general now that fought like in WWII they would call him inhumane and the govt would stop him before their members lost votes. Sorry Bill for turning your honorable thread in to rants lol. Didnt the B29 have kinda bad engines that were never corrected Bill? Cant remember. I remember my old friend i mentioned in the email i sent you saying that the old engines consumed so much oil they had 55 gal barrels of oil that the crew chief would periodically inflight pump into the engines. Maybe youve been exposed to these things.

    Edited once, last by FarmerSteve ().

    FarmerSteve,
    You have got that Right, the B-29 Had Very Bad Engines and most of the time we Never Came Home With All Four Engines Turning and some of the Missions were 18 Hours Long and we Had "ONE OF THOSE BAD THINGS" In The Front Bomb-Bay !
    :ohmy:
    If You Remember in Those Days We Thought The Bad RED Guys Were Coming !!
    :yeaahh:
    Then The B-50 came in the mid 1950s that was almost the same Airframe as the
    B-29 and had Very Good 4350 Engines !!!
    :wink_smile:
    Bill
    :cowboy:

    The political "correctness", if that is a word, in this day and age would never allow the like's of Patton or similar leader. They are too straight forward and say it like it is for the wussies that are governing us.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    we had prat whitney F117 engines in our jets and they were very good engines, but i noticed that in cold climates they had to make a lot of rotations. We use JP8 jet fuel now i have been led to believe it is alot like kerosene or diesel. Our engines started off bleed air created from a auxillary power unit instead of cartridges. Probable our biggest problems on the C17A were computers/avionics. It takes so long to build a plane right now that the computers are incredibly out of date when they get done. We had 1980s computers on our stuff for the most part, even on brand new jets. All planes have there shortcomings though i guess.

    Quote from FarmerSteve

    our technology and rescourses should have been able to annhilate them in one day.



    Steve,
    I've said this on here before in so many words but you probably missed it.

    We have the technology and military resources to defeat any known enemy. What has been lacking since WW2 is the political will.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    Quote from William T Brooks

    Then The B-50 came in the mid 1950s that was almost the same Airframe as the
    B-29 and had Very Good 4350 Engines !!!
    :wink_smile:
    Bill



    :cowboy:



    Then the B-52 came along and it was so good, we're still using them more than 50 years later. (or have they all been laid to rest - I haven't heard.)

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    Quote from SXViper

    the wussies that are governing us.



    Amen, Brother Todd.

    I watched several episodes of "24" today that perfectly illustrates the kind of leadership??????????? we have in 2009.

    I don't know if y'all are familiar with the format of that show but each season I've watched so far (4) has devoted the entire season (24 hour-long episodes) to catching or killing a mastermind terrorist with huge numbers of followers.

    My viewership today started out with a gang of Islamic terrorists kidnapping the Secretary of Defense and his daughter in order to make a propaganda film of the terrorists trying and executing the SECDEF. It progresses through the gang's top gun (who always directs his underlings from a safe distance in their dirty work) stealing an electronic device that can make America's nuclear powerplants go into meltdown. Then, using an ex-Air Force pilot (who got either a DD or BCD) in an F-17, they shoot down Air Force 1, killing just about everyone on board except the prez himself who, however, suffers injuries that put him out of action for a long period. It turns out that their real goal, though, is to steal the "football" (for those unfamiliar with the term, it's a set of instructions and targets carried around by a presidential aide that enables the prez to launch nuclear retaliation) so they can find out the location and type of military nukes in order to steal one. They want to set it off in an American big city.

    Finally, Jack Bauer pinpoints the real location of the big dog terrorist and is just about to lead a team in to arrest him so they can determine the location of the nuke. The "president" (former VP who's assumed the powers after the shootdown of AF1) learns about the raid and being a gutless wuss of the very worst kind (like those we see so many of today) begins spouting a bunch of legalistic BS protesting the raid. He sends a couple of Secret Service agents to arrest Jack just as he's on the verge of taking down the head terrorist. The big dog, due to noise made outside the place where they're meeting, manages to escape (for about the 15th time). Like I said, this so-called president perfectly illustrates the kind of political leadership we have nowadays.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

    After the B-50 came the B-47 and what a Aircraft, it was a Jet Bomber But Flew Like A Jet Fighter !
    :teeth_smile:
    This was Jimmy Stewart's Favoite Aircraft, remember The Old Film "The Strategic Air Command ?"
    :wink_smile:
    Then came the B-52 and a Few are Still Up There and can Take Out A Target any where in The World at A Drop Of A Hat !!
    :ohmy:
    Then Came The B-1 Super Sonic Bomber, and Then The B-2 Stealth Bomber, and I would Not Even Know How To Get In The Dam Thing !!!
    :stunned:
    Bill
    :cowboy:

    Then the B-52 came along and it was so good, we're still using them more than 50 years later. (or have they all been laid to rest - I haven't heard.)


    As of 3 years ago we still had buffs stumpy. Think they were projected to be used until 2525 or something like that. We have reached a new crisis with airplanes kinda. They cost so much to replace that nobody wants to replace them but there also becoming unsafe due to structural cracking and fatigue.


    The B1b can fly with a fighter plane with in limits, however some restraint is neccesary they will crack if manuevered like a fighter to much. In all reality they have a 60 percent reliability rate and there kinda junk Bill. When they go they do great.

    Edited 2 times, last by FarmerSteve ().