Flying the F104A with the aging J79-3b engine we practiced
'precautionary patterns' a lot because we still had problems with the
oil system. On a nice VFR day with winds not a problem, you started
over the 'numbers' at the end of a long runway at 15000 AGL at 260
KIAS, gear up, T/O flaps set, sink rate about 4500fpm. One turn and you
were on final, aiming for a 'window' (envision a volleyball net) right
over the approach end of the runway. As you gently flared through the
middle of this window about 20-30 feet up you slipped below 250 KIAS
and pulled the emergency gear extension handle all the way out freeing
the uplocks. All three gear fell out and back (like an A4) and locked
down in about 3 seconds or so. Once on the ground you lowered the nose
and pulled the drag chute (same size as an F4's but about one-third of
the weight to stop so it worked very well at slowing the Ziper down.)
Made a bunch of these with oil failure light, oil quantity gauge
failure, or zero pressure showing on the gauge. My own patent routine
was as I said, to be able to go off the far end as I began the descent,
move the touchdown point to halfway down the runway at the 180, keep
moving it back to the 500 foot marker as you approached the end of the
runway. They were a lot of fun when you were practicing, somewhat more
serious when you'd been sweating engine failure on the way back over
the field and on down the slide, waiting for that tell-tale engine
vibration that would tell you the bearings were starting to fail. Walt
BJ