Another Historic Aircraft down

[ufkacbln]

That didn't look like a fun exit for the pilot. Or maybe amazing fun, depending on whether they still had a functioning spine at the end of it.

From my time at Yeovilton and Culdrose, there was a common theme that any landing you walk away from is a good one

 

[ufkacbln]

Comparing military and civilian aircraft is a bit like comparing a standard family car with the Rally version.

The latter has 4 point harnesses, roll bars are compulsory, due to the fact that the performance is pushed to the limits

Many military aircraft do not have them, usually transport and passenger

The Hercules C130 workhorse for instance has never had them fitted

 

[skudupnorth]

There's some background info HERE on Cdr Hargreaves for anyone interested.

You will need FB access to view the above.

@skudupnorth may well have better sources for the info.

It has been transported into a hanger now awaiting assessment

 

[gbb]

It'd be interesting to know what the failure rate was on these kind of military aircraft when they were operational...40 years or so ago when I'm sure reliability wasn't what it is now. I remember dad telling how they occasionally had to recover aircraft that had crashed.
Glad the pilot is ok.

As I wrote that I did a bit of research and found a surprising number of them were lost...55 out of 145 built...a loss rate of 38%. Just goes to show, we all take reliability for granted but it wasn't always that way of course. There's no details of the type of loss, could have been anything but as they didn't didn t operate in full wartime conditions....38% sounds quite high.

 

[DaveReading]

There's no details of the type of loss, could have been anything but as they didn't didn t operate in full wartime conditions....38% sounds quite high.

Loss rates for carrier-based types are typically quite a bit higher than for their land-based contemporaries.

 

[midlife]

It'd be interesting to know what the failure rate was on these kind of military aircraft when they were operational...40 years or so ago when I'm sure reliability wasn't what it is now. I remember dad telling how they occasionally had to recover aircraft that had crashed.
Glad the pilot is ok.

As I wrote that I did a bit of research and found a surprising number of them were lost...55 out of 145 built...a loss rate of 38%. Just goes to show, we all take reliability for granted but it wasn't always that way of course. There's no details of the type of loss, could have been anything but as they didn't didn t operate in full wartime conditions....38% sounds quite high.

The Germans were notorious for losing their Starfighters....when they were meant to turn up at airshows BITD it was always a bit hit and miss they would arrive lol

Great when they did though

Shaun

 

[ufkacbln]

It'd be interesting to know what the failure rate was on these kind of military aircraft when they were operational...40 years or so ago when I'm sure reliability wasn't what it is now. I remember dad telling how they occasionally had to recover aircraft that had crashed.
Glad the pilot is ok.

As I wrote that I did a bit of research and found a surprising number of them were lost...55 out of 145 built...a loss rate of 38%. Just goes to show, we all take reliability for granted but it wasn't always that way of course. There's no details of the type of loss, could have been anything but as they didn't didn t operate in full wartime conditions....38% sounds quite high.

When I was serving in the early 90s we would be.called out 5-6 times a day when fully operational foe suspected issues

Real issues were rarer....

I remember one story about a Sea King which had a landing gear failure ... it hovered whilst a WAFU manually cranked it down

Ungrateful pilot landed on his foot !

The navy had a massive form for aircraft accidents, and onevsection was "Aircraft damage"

This report read ... slight bloodstain on Left undercarrage wheel

 

[midlife]

Quick Google gives German 104 Starfighter losses at 298 !

Shaun

 

[ufkacbln]

The Germans were notorious for losing their Starfighters....when they were meant to turn up at airshows BITD it was always a bit hit and miss they would arrive lol

Great when they did though

Shaun

Totally OT ... but you did say "Big Hit"



Absolutely brilliant album

 

[DaveReading]

Quick Google gives German 104 Starfighter losses at 298 !

The German F-104 loss rate wasn't appreciably more than that of other air forces flying the aircraft - they just had a lot of them to start with (more than a third of all the Starfighters ever built went to the German AF and Navy).

 

[Spinney]

Quick Google gives German 104 Starfighter losses at 298 !

Shaun

Q "How do you get hold of a Starfighter?"

A "Buy a field in Germany and wait..."

 

[classic33]

Q "How do you get hold of a Starfighter?"

A "Buy a field in Germany and wait..."

http://www.byronhartshorn.com/2017/03/11/so-you-want-to-buy-an-f-104-starfighter/

 

[ufkacbln]

Q "How do you get hold of a Starfighter?"

A "Buy a field in Germany and wait..."

From the above album

Catch a falling starfighter
Put it in the pocket of your jeans
You can use it as a cigarette lighter
Or as an opener for a can of beans
Catch a falling starfighter
Shine it up and wear it on a chain
You will find that it will be much brighter
If you empty out its cockpit down the drain
If you empty out its cockpit down the drain