Wistfully, with the resigned sadness that comes from confronting a decision that comes down to what you have to do weighed against what you want to do-I have been going through all my stuff in preparation for the upcoming move. ( Destination TBA-but probably back to the land of my birth, for at least a little while).
I came across these pictures on a CD. It was in a box of my back up files I had made at work several years ago. On one of those CD’s were the pictures that follow. These are from an incident that occurred in Guam, when a VAW-112 E-2C had to land at Anderson AFB with its right main landing gear stuck in the “up” position. Generally not considered a good thing on the good/ bad scale. I was involved in a very tertiary manner in the follow up operation; mostly ensuring parts and people got to Guam, and convincing people who should have known better that it was in the Navy’s best interest to get the airplane out of Guam as quickly as possible.
I forgot I had these. They do show you just what a tough airplane Grumman builds though (perhaps in contrast to its composite based counterparts). See for yourself:
More pix below the fold!
Sideview looking towards the tail.
Starboard Prop-They probably shut down the starboard engine prior to landing, thus the feathered props. That went a long way to minimizing damage, but it sure increased the level of difficulty factor on the landing however.
Looking at the starboard prop from the front.
Starboard Tailfin on the runway.
Starboard engine nacelle and wheel well.
Underside of the aircraft.
Nose gear
Cracked Skin -starboard side
It looks bad and it obviously is a bad thing to do this much structural damage to an airplane-but if you ask me-this could have been a lot worse. A LOT WORSE. The pilots had to have done a good job bringing the aircraft in and holding the starboard side up until they had to let it drop.
Grumman Iron Works baby. Tough planes. Tough people inside them. Especially the mighty war hummer. 🙂
Cross posted at The Flight Deck
Yep, tough.
It never ceases to amaze me the short shrift that the prop aviators get in the Navy…you all fly the toughest aircraft, on the shittiest missions…
Guess I will have another Smirnoff tonight…
At least it is not at 400 feet below the water-I’ve been on subs but never really thought if I could manage 89 days on one.
You could.
Only 2-3 hours of sleep per 18 hour watch cycle…it goes by quick.
Not to mention…oh, I can’t…
Tough birds indeed – and having spent almost all of my ground jobs in maintenance including my DH job gained additional appreciation. On one of my missions to pick up a new bird from the factory (think a new car smells great? nothing smells as good as a new airplane) had the opportunity to take the full factory tour at Bethpage, from the same presses that stamped F6F’s to the wire looms “manned” by little old Italian grandmoms (whose nearsightedness I cursed some years later when confronted with shortened wire-bundles). Fascinating tour and not what one expected of a typical aircraft factory. Too bad they wouldn’t let me take pictures :/
On a related note, have been invited down in May to be guest speaker at the next NFO winging at VAW-120, so, if your ears are burning around 2 May, you’ll know why 😉
– SJS
It was not me, you can’t prove a thing-and she told me she was 18!