"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 18:33:46 -0700, "Mike Kanze"
wrote:

That sounds like an accident waiting to happen.


That's nothing compared to the procedure that Vigie (RA-5C) crews had to
follow at non-Vigie ladder equipped bases:

1. Butt on one of the horizontal stabilizers.
2. Swing legs onto horizontal stabilizer.
3. Stand up carefully, to maintain balance. (Best not attempted when still
a bit W0X0F from the night before).
4. Work your way forward along the turtleback, pilot first.
5. Pilot works way around rear cockpit, enters forward cockpit, closes
canopy.
6. RAN enters rear cockpit, etc.

I'm reciting this from having observed a Vigie crew do this at the East
Overshoe AFB transient line while I was in Base Ops munching on a
one-handed culinary delight and refiguring our DD-175. Damndest thing I
saw that day.

Vigie folks, please step in and correct this if I remembered it wrong.


As an operator of a similarly sized single-seat, single-engine
aircraft, it reminds me of the drag chute installation process for the
F-105.

We'd carry an extra drag chute on cross-country flights stuffed into
the gun drum bay. If the base didn't have a replacement chute for us
or maintenance people qualified to repack, the aircrew was responsible
for installing the spare prior to flight.

The chute compartment was at the rear base of the vertical fin, atop
the engine tail cone. You had to muscle the chute and yourself onto
the slab, then climb up onto the tail cone, being careful not to step
on the speed-brake petals. Then stuff the chute in and close the
door--this was accomplished by climbing onto the door and jumping up
and down on it until it latched. To aid in this process there was a
hand hold slot in the rudder to stick your fingers into for balance.

Fun increased geometrically if it was rainy, snowy or cold.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"

F-4 was similar w/o the spare chute. A decidedly unfun task to stuff the
chute soooo ...
We tried to avoid chute-braked landings. Touchdown on the numbers at
significantly slower than optimum AOA and good ROD. Worked pretty good for
normal days. Then there was this time at Buckley, 5K altitude but on a 14K
long runway. No problem with good technique, eh? Well, a bit of a tailwind
changed that. Used 13,990' of that runway. No hot brakes!?!

R / John