More on Blue Angel's crash: - Democratic Underground

trof

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Sat Apr-28-07 08:43 AM
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More on Blue Angel's crash:

Edited on Sat Apr-28-07 08:48 AM by trof

I got this e-mail this morning. It's speculation, but by someone with a lot of knowledge and experience.

My personal comments regarding high 'G' maneuvers follows the e-mail.
I should explain that a G-suit is a special garment and generally takes the form of tightly-fitting trousers which fit either under or over (depending on the design) the flying suit worn by the aviator or astronaut. The trousers are fitted with inflatable bladders which, when pressurised through a G-sensitive valve in the aircraft or spacecraft, press firmly on the abdomen and legs, thus restricting the draining of blood away from the brain during the period of high 'G' maneuvers.

Pete is a former Navy A-4 and F-18 pilot and instructor.

"More detail available today. Having seen video of the crash, my initial speculation is that there was a G induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). The most aggressive flying in the Blue Angel show takes place in the join ups behind show center. The timing requires "expeditious" join ups involving huge overtake speeds and high G maneuvering in the terminal phase of the rejoin to dissipate the overtake speed. The video I saw shows No.6 closing on the formation for the rejoin, but before he gets there, the jet lags behind the formation, goes outside the turn radius, and descends in seeming controlled flight to the tree line. This would be consistent with GLOC on the rendezvous. If the pilot passed out at the join up, he'd be pulled back on the power. Upon loss of consciousness, the G would ease immediately taking him outside the formation turn radius. At flight idle, the jet would slowly descend. To regain consciousness, the pilot needs blood to flow to the brain which takes a varying amount of time depending how deep the GLOC. The senses return in reverse sequence to their loss. Hearing, then vision, cognition, then motor control. The frustrating part is when you can see and understand the problem but don't have the motor control to manipulate the flight controls appropriately.

I have done this to myself in the Hornet, thankfully not so close to the ground.

Of course, without the determinations of the safety investigation, the foregoing is mere speculation. However, a catastrophic, double engine failure is unheard of in the Hornet, and it would likely provide evidence in smoke, flames and parts emanating from the tailpipes prior to the crash. The media all seem focused on the impact with trees and power lines, but that is inevitable when falling to the earth.

This pilot was no rookie. A former Tomcat driver and TOPGUN grad, he was an experienced fighter pilot. GLOC is something that can effect even the most seasoned pilots and it varies day to day and can turn on something as innocuous as time since the pilot's last meal.

In any event, this is a sad day for the Navy."

And my comment.
trof

You can pass this along if you like. It might shed a tiny bit more light on possible cause of Blues' accident.
The Blue Angels don't wear G-suits. More about that below.

I did a lot of close formation flying in my air guard days. I was part of a TOTALLY UNOFFICIAL ad hoc group of four T-Birds/Blues wannabes. Practiced 4-ship diamond formation loops, rolls, etc. Hey, we were all bulletproof back then.
We had F-84s, which were not equipped with G-suits. High 'G' maneuvers were always a concern.

In pilot training I flew T-37s (no G-suit) and T-38s (G-suit). BIG difference.
Once, when I was a brand newbie in 37s, I couldn't do a Split S to my instructor's satisfaction. He was frustrated with my poor performance. We were on the way back to base and I thought our aerobatic airwork was over. He said "I've got it." and grabbed the stick. I was completely unprepared when he snapped us inverted and said "I'll show you one more time." I was still trying to figure out what we were doing when he started the pullout. I don't know how many Gs we pulled. I went almost immediately to tunnel vision and then total blackout. When I came to I was in what I can only describe as convulsions. My legs and feet were violently kicking the rudder pedals. Scared the hell out of both of us. He took us back to base with a VERY gentle pattern and landing and never said a word about it. And never pulled that crap again.

Last May our group on Ancient Aviators of South Alabama attended a Blues practice at PNS NAS. It's a special invitation to our group each year and always interesting. We get to sit right on the ramp and then go meet and chat with the pilots after practice. I actually met Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis last year.

I asked one of them (don't remember if it was Davis or not) about G-suits.
"You guys don't wear G-suits when you come out. Are they somehow part of the equipment already in the cockpit? How do you get into them?"
He grinned kind of sheepishly and said "We don't wear G-suits. I kinda wish we did."
I was flabbergasted.
Still am.