On 20 Mar 2004 19:30:00 GMT, QDurham wrote:
Dan Ford wrote in part:
See my question to Gord about ground effect. Is it really there, as a cushion,
or is that a myth?

Probably a reality, but I don't recall noticing it in teh exercise mentioned.
Did have a friend who lost an engine in a P2V about half way to Hawaii.
Officially, too heavy to stay airborne, dump enough fuel to be light enough to
stay airborne, and one hasn't enough fuel to reach land. Double bind.
[...]
They went down to zero altitude --ground effect max -- went through plane with
bolt cutters dumping everything dumpable. They spent about 4 hours with one
mill feathered and the other operating beyond all redlines. Arriving at
Barbers Point (?) there was no "letting down" to a landing. They simply
lowered the gear onto the runway. Whew!

There was a similar incident in August 1957, when an Air Force C-97 had a
propeller runaway midway between San Francisco and Hawaii. The #1 propeller
eventually separated from the engine, damaging the #2 engine and prop in the
process. The crew jettisoned everything they could, and the aircraft descended
to an altitude of around 100 feet. On two engines, they flew for almost five
hours in ground effect and made it to Hilo, Hawaii with about 30 minutes of
fuel remaining.

The incident is described in great detail in chapter 12 of Macarthur Job's
_Air Disaster, Volume 4_ (ISBN 1 875671 48 X).


ljd