I think that the test pilots concerned knew exactly
how they got there but it may not have helped them
much. I re-call seeing a very good video of a Jaguar
that had departed and was tumbling end over end with
fuel being forced out of the jet intakes. I think the
pilot took about 20000ft to find a point where he could
break into the sequence and return to controlled flight.
As a result the action to be taken if a Jaguar departs
is seize the handle between your legs and pull hard.

At 14:31 18 January 2005, Colin Lamb wrote:
'What is most important is 'situational awarness'.
A pilot must learn to
know where he is and how he got there.'

The last part of that statemenht may not always be
true. I have read
reports from test pilots who intentionally place the
aircraft in
out-of-control positions in order to determine a recovery
procedure. A
common response is that they ride the aircraft until
they are in a position
they recognize and as soon as that happens they can
recover. How they got
there was irrelevant.

Although few airplanes use yaw strings (the pilots
are still behind the
curve a bit), they are normally used on helicopters.
Although the pedals
are used to counteract the torque of the tail rotor,
we operate them the
same way - keep the yarn centered.

Colin N12HS


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