Since today’s the day before Thanksgiving – traditionally a 4-day weekend for most, with many leaving work early on Wednesday – I thought the WOT should be early this week. So here ya go.
Since it’s nearly Thanksgiving, I also thought I’d provide a Thanksgiving-themed video clip or two. Enjoy. (smile)
Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone.
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PS: FWIW, the WKRP “Turkeys Away” episode was apparently based, loosely, on an real-life radio promo stunt for an Atlanta radio station that went awry.
The military is a dangerous profession. You often need a bit of luck just to make it through the day unscathed.
But sometimes, you need a whole lotta luck. Or a Guardian Angel working overtime.
That’s especially true for some duty positions and specialties. Here’s my pick for perhaps the luckiest guy ever in the history of the US Navy.
A 5+ minute clip of the incident, uncut, can be viewed here.
The incident happened on the USS Theodore Roosevelt on 20 February 1991. The lucky soul was saved from death or permanent disability when a crewmate witnessed him being sucked into the intake and signaled the aircraft’s pilot to kill his engines. (Other sources say the pilot of the aircraft in question heard his helmet and safety goggles beginning to impact the compressor blades and immediately shut down his engines.)
Remarkably, the man received only relatively minor injuries. And if he needed new trou and skivvies afterwards . . . well, I probably would have too. (smile)
The incident caused a change in Navy flight-deck training and procedures to prevent recurrence.
Enough for today. Enjoy the WOT – and the weekend – everyone.
“Then there was that time a jet aircraft shot itself down . . . .”
No, that’s not the beginning of a sea story, a “no sh!t” story, or a tall tale. At least once . . . it actually happened.
And the pilot – though injured in the resulting crash-landing – lived to tell about it. He also later flew again.
. . .
The time frame: mid-1950s. Supersonic flight wasn’t new, but aircraft actually capable of same were still fairly uncommon. Manufacturers were still gaining experience in dealing with supersonic flight issues.
Enter the Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger.
The Grumman F11F Tiger was developed under the Navy’s pre-1962 numbering scheme; it was re-designated the F-11 under the 1962 Tri-Service numbering scheme. It was the Navy’s second supersonic jet aircraft (the F4D Skyray was the first); and it was fairly successful. A total of 200 were ordered by the Navy, and it was flown by the Blue Angels from 1957 to 1969.
It also was armed with 20mm cannon. And that – coupled with the fact that it was also Grumman’s first supersonic aircraft and the company was still learning about supersonic flight peculiarities – led to the aircraft gaining a unique place in US military aviation history.
How so? On 21 September 1956, a Grumman F11F Tiger became the first jet aircraft to shoot itself down.
. . .
Here’s what happened. On that date, Grumman test pilot Tom Attridge was flying a Grumman F11F Tiger – BuNo 138260 – off Long Island. He put the plane into a dive, and fired a 4-second burst (some sources say he fired two bursts) from the aircraft’s 20mm cannon.
He was at approximately 22,000 feet altitude when he fired. He then continued his dive; some sources say that he increased his dive angle and accelerated as well.
At an altitude of about 7,000 feet, Mr. Attridge got a rather nasty surprise. His windshield caved in, and his engine started losing power.
Attridge thought he’d struck a bird, and tried to nurse his damaged aircraft back to Grumman’s Long Island airfield. Unfortunately his engine soon quit altogether. Since the F11F was a single engine aircraft, this was truly “bad news”.
Attridge crash-landed the aircraft. He survived, but was injured and unable to fly for some time. However, he did eventually recover and return to flight status. (The aircraft did not; it was a total loss.)
. . .
What had happened? Well, as Attridge dove his aircraft was under power; some sources say he used his afterburners and increased his dive angle during the dive. His aircraft thus almost certainly picked up speed while in the dive.
However, his 20mm cannon rounds didn’t; due to air resistance, their speed continually decreased. And since they were fired at around 22,000 feet altitude and at an oblque angle, they had a rather long time of flight.
Bottom line: at some point after his firing run, the aircraft’s speed matched – then exceeded – the speed of the rounds he’d fired. And when that happens, it becomes possible for the two trajectories to intersect.
On 21 September 1956, those trajectories intersected at approximately 7,000 feet altitude off the coast of Long Island. Post-crash investigation showed that Attridge’s aircraft was hit by three of his own previously-fired 20mm rounds. One of those rounds was recovered from his engine and was determined to be the cause of its failure.
. . .
OK, that’s enough “odd aviation history” for today. Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend.
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Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F-11_Tiger
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a27967/the-fighter-plane-that-shot-itself-down/
Happy Humpday TAH. The above photo shows an artist’s depiction of what plant coloring could be like under an alien sun. It’s possible that some planets could have vegetation that’s permanently in different shades of red, orange, yellow, green, or even black.
You could read more here.
Other than that, this is your middle of the week “anything” goes thread.
In honor of the fine photos of the King Tut Exhibit from this article earlier in the week, here ya go. (smile)
The popping sound you hear is SJW snowflake heads exploding due to the lyrics. (smile) That skit probably couldn’t be broadcast today due to being deemed “too offensive” by the “Progressives” controlling the media.
Don’t ya just love the Left’s hypocrisy today concerning artistic license and freedom of expression?
Enjoy the Weekend Open Thread, everyone. And hey: be careful out there, OK?
The photos for this post was taken by HMCS(FMF) ret. In his own words on the New Years Open Thread:
Originally posted by HMCS(FMF) ret:
Saw the King Tut exhibition at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) on Saturday — it was FREAKING AWESOME!!!! It’s there until January 27th (last stop on the North American tour).
Here’s a link to a brochure that is given to the museums that put it on — it includes a history of Howard Carter finding the tomb and some awesome photos of the pieces on display.
http://www.sc-exhibitions.com/exhibitions/[http://www.sc-exhibitions.com/?sc-downloads=1412]
I took 19 photos of some of the items I saw — I’d like to forward them to one of the admins for use in a future Open Thread.
Here are additional photos:
The link in his post provides additional details to the King Tutankhamun exhibit.
Happy New Year to your family, to your friends, and to you, members of TAH! Here’s hoping that you see success in your endeavors this year and beyond.
Well, here we are on the eve of a new year! Another year has come and gone. This past 365 days has been a mixed bag of enjoyment, sorrow, and emotions in between. Here’s wishing you guys a happy new year ahead.
For those planning to get liquored up in conjunction with welcoming the new year, here’s the water tip. This should be a refresher for some.
For every volume of wine, champagne, and beer that you drink, drink an equal volume of water. For every volume of liquor, drink twice the volume of water. Partying the rest of the year away with wine, beer, liquor, etc., adds to the enjoyment and excitement ringing in the new year.
But, no need to spend the first day of the New Year in misery.
This does work. Every time I’ve used this, not only did I get the same enjoyment that I did not using this technique, but I had good quality sleep, real sleep. I woke up as if I didn’t even drink any alcoholic beverages the night before.
Additional recommendation? Include Gatorade somewhere in the sequence. These have worked for me, variations of this have worked for others.
Stay safe tonight, we look forward to you guys coming back in the new year.