CRASCA Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 (edited) Just got home from the Pensacola trip and had to get these up. These are straight off the stick - no editing. After performing the usual impressive Demo, the Superhornet came in to land. Almost immediately upon touching down there was a loud "BANG" - he blew a tire. He got the jet slowed down and held it in the runway until the other tire gave way, then she broke loose. The back end came around, and you could see him fighting it and adjusting into it as much as possible, but things progressed and the plane spun around. He did almost a complete 360, then the tail end went off the runway and into the dirt. The stabs dug in, the nose lifted up, and for a moment things looked as if the jet would flip over backwards. Thank God it did not, and came to a stop directly in front of me. The aircrew got out quickly, and the jet remained there for the rest of the show.....Amazing. The pilot did an incredible job controlling the plane, keeping it in the runway as long as possible, and getting it slowed. Had it happened differently he actually could have spun off into the Blues line as his tire exploded right before he passed behind them. Thank God no-one was hurt and the plane appeared to have sustained only minimal damage. Here are the pictures: Edited November 12, 2006 by CRASCA Link to post Share on other sites
Twnf16 Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 WOW!!! Awesome photography!!!! "Twnf16" Link to post Share on other sites
CRASCA Posted November 12, 2006 Author Share Posted November 12, 2006 (edited) Thanks - Here's the rest of the progression.......... Edited November 12, 2006 by CRASCA Link to post Share on other sites
Keith Diamond Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 wow, that's a great series of photographs Thanks for sharing Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 great pics! Link to post Share on other sites
VOODOO73 Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Right time,right place.Thanks for sharing us. Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 (edited) Wow Craig, excellent sequence of photos ! Sure glad it JUST looked spectacular and no one was hurt ... Thanks for sharing and nice work ! Gregg Edited November 12, 2006 by GreyGhost Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier01 Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Good thing they seem to have made it no worse for wear. Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Craig, you are bashing the Super Hornet - stop it! WOW - right place at the right (wrong?) time - amazing! Link to post Share on other sites
ThudDriver Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 WHOA BABY ! Outstanding series of shots. Now if they were flying a Cat... The aircrews' lucky that Rummy's gone. They won't have to appear before him and explain why "they" blew 2 mains and got dirt on the jet.... "Right Place, Right Time" ! ThudDriver Link to post Share on other sites
TonyH Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Once in a life time shots!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing those AWESOME pics Tony Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Seems that the flaps were down on this Super Hornet after the shutdown of the engines... Link to post Share on other sites
Almansur Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Great catch! You sure did great there. As for the bird, it looks like a Class-A to me... Link to post Share on other sites
doctorpepper Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 correct me if i'm wrong - but such tyre failures are almost always pilot error? jamming too hard on the brakes upon touchdown; flat spotting the tyre and causing it to burst immediately? i can just see those photos appearing in like... "combat aircraft" or "air forces monthly".. way to go! Link to post Share on other sites
SCOUT712 Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 correct me if i'm wrong - but such tyre failures are almost always pilot error? jamming too hard on the brakes upon touchdown; flat spotting the tyre and causing it to burst immediately? It's not always pilot error, if the anti-skid-system is not working correctly you could jam the wheels, or it's even possible that they had a bad tire, things like that happen. To keep it on the runway you use differential braking. The F-4 Boldface procedures calls for switching of the anti-skid-system after one blown tire to help keep the jet on the runway. I wonder what the backseater was thinking. I would have had my hands on the yellow-black handles in case the jet get out of control and into the weeds at high speed, he just kept is hands on the dashboard. SCOUT Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 correct me if i'm wrong - but such tyre failures are almost always pilot error? jamming too hard on the brakes upon touchdown; flat spotting the tyre and causing it to burst immediately? With modern, sophisticated anti-skid systems it's hardly ever the pilot's fault now; it's usually some mechanical problem, either with the anti-skid system or the tire itself. If it is the pilot's fault, it is typically a case of an extremely hard landing, but since it's a Navy jet, designed for carrier landings, I doubt that's the problem. Regards, Murph Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Incredible set of photos Crasca! The pilot seemed to have done a good job minimizing the damage. Thanks for posting them. Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Crasca Great shots, I'm glad someone from here was able to get those. I was too busy saying "ohsh!tohsh!tohsh!t" to get any pix during the spin. I didn't see that his left tire blew also. Link to post Share on other sites
Av8fan Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Great shots! Glad everyone is okay!! Not to worry, that will buff right out?? Link to post Share on other sites
svaz Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Excellent shots! Those flyboys have b@lls of solid brass to stay w/ their plane; I would've left. Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie Cheetah Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Wow. I can see the pilots callsign being changed to "Slider" Great pics Craig, thanks for posting. Link to post Share on other sites
jefropas Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Craig, Great pics, although I think at some point I would've been backstepping a bit, thats a lot of out of control moving pretty quickly. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites
Wild Bill Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Great shots - great to see nobody was hurt! correct me if i'm wrong - but such tyre failures are almost always pilot error? jamming too hard on the brakes upon touchdown; flat spotting the tyre and causing it to burst immediately? At the Abbotsford Airshow I saw belting showing through on 3 tires (each on different planes). Don't know if that was an issue here, but it made me shudder a bit. WB Link to post Share on other sites
doctorpepper Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 With modern, sophisticated anti-skid systems it's hardly ever the pilot's fault now; it's usually some mechanical problem, either with the anti-skid system or the tire itself. If it is the pilot's fault, it is typically a case of an extremely hard landing, but since it's a Navy jet, designed for carrier landings, I doubt that's the problem.Regards, Murph an F-16 MLG tyre is changed every.. 20 landings right? plus it's got dual channel braking from the toe brakes.. most of the cases i've heard of an F-16 braking problem were usually due to the wheel speed sensors or or the brake controller, or the hydraulic lines, or the valves... etc but i HAVE seen a blown tyre from a legacy type bird - definitely pilot error. a huge flat spot, burst tyre, to the point that the alloy rims got ground off too. whew... David Link to post Share on other sites
CRASCA Posted November 12, 2006 Author Share Posted November 12, 2006 (edited) Craig,Great pics, although I think at some point I would've been backstepping a bit, thats a lot of out of control moving pretty quickly. Jeff Jeff, Not to worry, I have a long lens! <_< Thanks for the remarks everyone. And yes - the right place at the right time. My Wife / Son and I were leaving the flightline to go to the Museum when, by request, I got a call from our own "Meathooks" to let me know the Superhornet was taxiing out. I turned the car around and drove back in so I could shoot the Superhornet Demo. It was truly amazing to watch. One of those things that you just don't see. It was surreal. Once I heard the tire blow I just kept the camera on him and the finger on the button. All of the other press members had set their cameras down or were looking down at their shots. I was just hoping to get some cool smoke shots as I new what had happened. I had no idea what was about to happen. Edited November 12, 2006 by CRASCA Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts