Pentagon restricts F-22 Raptor Flights

Due to the reported suffering in lack of oxygen of the F-22 Raptor pilots, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force to restrict flights of its most advanced fighter jet, F-22, officials said last Tuesday, May 15, 2012. Some pilots complained of dizzy spells and blackouts but engineers have yet to figure out how to fix the problem.

The F-22 Raptor will no longer be conducting longer-range flights and would stay within the reach of their runaways to ensure the pilot could do an emergency landing, George Little, Pentagon’s Spokesman told the reporters. Under Panetta’s decision, “effective immediately, all F-22 flights will remain within the proximity of potential landing locations to enable quick recovery and landing when a pilot encounter another physiological conditions during flight.”

Panetta also advised the Air Force to assist their men in the installation of the back-up oxygen system in the F-22 planes and provide a monthly progress report on the efforts to control and fix the undiagnosed technical problem. Panetta’s officials said that the first back-up systems would be installed by December 2012.

Known as the most sophisticated fighter in the world, F-22 has yet to be deployed in  combat. According to the Air Force, the F-22 flies at a higher altitude than other jets, above 50,000 feet and relies solely on pressurized oxygen instead of a mixture of oxygen under pressure and air in the cockpit. The plane is also faster and more active than older jet fighters as the pilots face more gravitational forces than in other planes.

Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Boeing Defense, Space and Security, this stealth air superiority fighter possesses capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare and signals intelligence roles. According to the Air Chief Marshal, Angus Houston, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force, said in 2004 that the “F-22 will be the most outstanding fighter plane ever built.”

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News Source: defencetalk.com

Aviation Legend Bob Hoover Help Lands Vintage P-51 Airplane

A vintage P-51 airplane is flying above Mobile, Alabama, as part of its museum tour, when it damaged its landing gear. The pilot, Chuck Gardner, is faced with a dilemma of landing P-51 with just one tire. Gardner had tried all the emergency procedures, but it did not result any good results.

Gardner and his passenger on board relied on a fellow pilot to relay a distress messages to and from Doug Jeanes, the director of Canavaugh Flight Museum and owner of the P-51. The vintage aircraft has been with the museum for 20 years. The museum had spent eight years restoring the P-51. Doug Jeanes was in Dallas at the time.

During its flight, one of tires of the landing gear become more horizontal than vertical. It occurred to Jeanes to call up Bob Hoover, who is a veteran pilot and has a solid experience in flying the P-51. Hoover is a veteran military pilot. When he retired he continued his love of flying as an airshow and test pilot. For decades, he acts as the official started of Reno Air Races. He guides the pilots into a line while flying his P-51 before signaling the start of the race, then circling up to let the race go under way.

“Somebody would have a problem almost every other race, and over the years I must have talked down 30 or 40 airplanes that were in real trouble,” Hoover said in a telephone interview. “As a test pilot, I had more experience, probably, than most people.”

Hoover had experience similar problems with the P-51 landing gear. First during the World War II, then at the Transpo ’72 airshow at Washington Dulles International Airport, where he had to land the P-51 with one tire. He had succesfully land the World War II aircraft, he had stayed unscathed, but the aircraft had to undergo extensive repairs.

Regarding Gardner’s dilemma with the P-15, Hoover said the main wheel was not locked to the fuselage so he advised Gardner to keep performing a couple of maneuvers: an abrupt pull-up that can dislodge the gear with G forces, and a hard yaw to bring the force of the slipstream to bear on the stuck gear assembly.

It took an hour of maneuvering when the the landing gear finally dropped and locked into position, leading to a smooth landing.

Source: http://www.aopa.org