Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
GalaxyFlyer wrote:C-5 seats were aged out and only okay. Now, the ACES II seat was uncomfortable, esp for 8-10 hour flights, no padding, no adjustments in tilt, recline or fore-aft position, but when I needed, I needed it very badly. It worked and will forever be my bestie.
GalaxyFlyer wrote:Yeah, A-10 mid-air, at about 500’, nearly head-on.
GalaxyFlyer wrote:Killed instantly, basically flew thru the right wing and out the left engine. Flying one moment, fireball and in pieces the next. Broken vertebrae, some minor burns and cuts for me, six months recuperation.
GalaxyFlyer wrote:He was down low, against the foliage in European One camo, I was in the sun to him. The board even flew it in the planes after the geometry was established from the wreckage and my lead’s view. With some vertical separation, of course. Neither of the pilots saw each other despite foreknowledge of what they were doing. I had lunch with the guy who flew “as me” recently and laughed about how weird it was to fly the tests.
Three weeks in hospital, three months with my parents, mom was an RN, then home on my own all with back brace, a carapace, really.
Funny story, a year later I was back as a 727 plumber at EA. Captain boards using a wheelie cart for his bags, as I did. In 1987, using wheels branded one a ninny who couldn’t carry his own bags. I asked why the cart. He said, I ejected after a mid-year in an A-37 over New York. The co-pilot, a good friend, got out of his seat and said to the cappy, “after you two share stories I’ll come back”.
CrimsonNL wrote:I've always wondered at the lack of headrests on some long-haulers, like the DC-10, and of course older piston designs. Doesn't that get annoying, not being able to rest your head against it, after flying for several hours?
GalaxyFlyer wrote:17 years worth of it. Too much to list here or anywhere else for that matter.
GalaxyFlyer wrote:Nope, but no flaps were a regular flight training and checking event for A/Cs. A dozen or so in-flight engine shutdowns, mostly routine except for shedding a blade at 40W.