Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!sun!amdcad!amdcad!military From: A.G.Poole@newcastle.ac.uk (Ford (Alex Poole)) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Can the backseater in f-18's bring it home? Message-ID: <1991Apr29.052824.6574@amd.com> Date: 25 Apr 91 12:58:24 GMT References: <1991Apr19.071041.14331@amd.com> <1991Apr23.054150.24804@amd.com> Sender: military@amd.com Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU Lines: 39 Approved: military@amd.com From: A.G.Poole@newcastle.ac.uk (Ford (Alex Poole)) >From: Ian Deeley > Whilst not strictly relevant, I thought fellow dot mil netters >might be interested in an article which appeared in our national press >last week. It concerned a two seater Tornado (unspecified type #), in >which the "back seater" with no pilot training at all, brought back & >landed the aircraft after the pilots parachute had deployed in flight, & >disabled the unfortunate pilot. The story brought a terse "no comment" >from the MOD. Which usally means the facts are quite accurate! What actually happened was the drouge 'chute deployed, after the pilot accidently nudged a lever. Had the full chute deployed, he would have been dragged clear, as happened with a Harrier a few years back (in that case, widely reported at the time, the 'plane kept going over the sea, and there were some nifty pictures taken (somehow) of the plane flying with no canopy or pilot). The navigator didn't actually land the plane, he fed instructions to the pilot, [who] was not disabled, but merely blind, as the drouge was wrapped around his head. How the nav could see with the chute over the canopy wasn't mentioned. BTW, according to the RAF, the navigators are all given basic flying training alongside the pilots, and are only seperated when the pilot goes to the tactical weapons training unit at (I think) RAF Valley. I believe that includes flying a Hawk for a while, but it would still be difficult (though in theory possible) for the nav to land, assuming he had had dual controls in the first place. Incidentally, a friend of mine went in a GR1 simulator last week, after about 12 hours basic traing, and managed to take off, land, and kill two other a/c inbetween. We suspect the supervisor may have made the sim slightly easier for the trip! P.S. It was a GR1. Alex