Steady as she goes ......

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Someone hold my Beer ... I got this
Col .....

[Leo.G (Leo)]

That's quite an achievement, sheer determination to make it back to the ground in one piece and very lucky they were smart enough to do exactly that.

[leon]

Wow that is incredible, thanks for sharing that Col.

Leon

[Crater101 (Warren)]

I wouldn't have believed it possible. Incredible feat of flying, hats off to the crew! Here's hoping that makes it into the textbooks.

[Astrofire (Dale)]

Wow. Amazing story. Thanks.

[ChrisD (Chris)]

Great pic.

"a forward center of gravity being created with a fuel transfer", strange, I would have thought loss of the vertical stab and rudder would have cause a considerable forward CG all by itself, anyway they'd certainly be looking for wind down the runway when diverting.

I did a search to find out how it happened. It was a test flight by Boeing with a civilian crew, and yes, they strengthened the tail after this event.

Military briefing video about the incident can be viewed here for those interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Ek42EhHsw

Chris

[wasyoungonce (Brendan)]

I love amazing stories like this....like the F15 that lost its wing yet landed ok....I mean you wouldn't believe it unless you saw pics and videos


Had to land fast not to lose control.....video here


We lost an FA18 CO, Ross Fox, a true leader and gentleman...he knew your name and wife's etc. He had been doing 2v2 intercept training against US acft but something went wrong the other Pilot "smithy" put his wing thru Ross's canopy


He was gone in nanoseconds Yes they supposed to keep a minimum separation and coordination in manurers but at fast speeds thing go bad fast!


Smithy returned the other acft returned ok landed ok...despite the drama...the wing from the wing fold pivot was all gone....over 1/3 the wing...yet it handled ok he said (much later). Link to event and some pics Huge SQN loss.


Sadly a few years later we lost John Conlon.... our EXO another fabulous pilot...this time hang gliding . I really like Ross and John. Used to go cycling with John lots Not your typical fighter pilot...loved his combi van with peach flowers painted on it.