Sooner Boomer
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F-35 crash in Ft. Worth during testing
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Well. being on the ground and hitting the ejection button sure doesn't give much time for the parachute to slow you down.
NateB
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The ejection seats propel up high enough for the parachutes to open even of the plane is on the ground. We once received some training on what we need to do for a downed F16 when our local base had a squadron. We were told of a pilot who came to after a hard landing and immediately pulled the ejection handles because it was the last thing he remembered. The canopy still blasts away and the ejection seat is propelled out like it is supposed to.
I think most ejection seats these days are zero-zero seats. Capable of zero altitude, zero speed ejection. They even orient the seat in the upward direction if it is askew.
From https://martin-baker.com/about/ejection-seat-faq/
"From a zero-zero perspective (meaning that the seat is at zero altitude and travelling at zero knots), the seat would go somewhere between 200 and 300 feet in the air depending on the seat Mk. and the occupant’s weight."
From https://martin-baker.com/about/ejection-seat-faq/
"From a zero-zero perspective (meaning that the seat is at zero altitude and travelling at zero knots), the seat would go somewhere between 200 and 300 feet in the air depending on the seat Mk. and the occupant’s weight."
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Not the sort of thing you'd want to happen on a carrier.
TP
TP
Sooner Boomer
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From looking at the video, it looks like the engine went to full throttle as the plane touched down. It first drove the nose of the plane into the ground (breaking off the nose gear), then caused it to spin around and "scoot" across the runway. You can hear the engine continue to rev even after the pilot punches out.
Original twitter video:
Original twitter video:
There didn't seem to be much forward acceleration. Maybe he just lost the forward vector thrust jet?
Scuttlebutt among some local pilots in the know is that the pilot did not manually eject, an automated system ‘decided’ the right conditions were met for ejection. You can clearly see in the video the ejection event occurs after the plane rights itself. Not sure if that’s what happened, just what a pilot friend passed along. Will be interesting to learn more about it.
The jet was on a pre-delivery flight and it’s been reported the pilot was from Lockheed Martin. No info on their condition that I know about.
Tony
The jet was on a pre-delivery flight and it’s been reported the pilot was from Lockheed Martin. No info on their condition that I know about.
Tony
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The very weird thing is how, once it bounced on the wheels, that it was pitched foward due to thrust. The F-35B has a forward fan (driven by a shaft from the engine, perhaps a gearbox too), while the engine exhaust nozzle at the back pivots down 90 degrees for vertical flight.
So, at the least, it seems like the front fan thrust was no longer synchronized with the engine's thrust. At first I was thinking the forward fan failed, producing little or no thrust. But that does not explain why the vertical thrust from the engine nozzle was so high that it kept the jet's tail raised up off the ground. As though the jet engine throttle was not responding (gotta figure the pilot was trying to throttle down, if not shut it down entirely).
So, at the least, it seems like the front fan thrust was no longer synchronized with the engine's thrust. At first I was thinking the forward fan failed, producing little or no thrust. But that does not explain why the vertical thrust from the engine nozzle was so high that it kept the jet's tail raised up off the ground. As though the jet engine throttle was not responding (gotta figure the pilot was trying to throttle down, if not shut it down entirely).
History's most expensive road rash...
Went to a seminar by a Lockheed Martin guy a few years back. They have a nifty way of driving the lift fan in this bird. It has a turbine blade just behind the jet turbine blades of the engine. By changing constriction of the airflow at the rear of the aircraft (clever nozzle that can swivel and constrict/dialate) they change where the pressure drop occurs, thus where the power produced is directed to. Either out the rear for forward motion or biased to the direct-drive fan at the front. Very clever. There are also other vents for balancing thrusts I think. Maybe a control system problem?
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amazing aeronautics
Pilot gonna need new underwear
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As we used to say...."There's going to be a few new "write in changes" to the F-35B T.O.s soon".
NateB
Well-Known Member
Usually I smile on when a new policy has my name on it, but I'd the ejection seat really bailed out on its own, I'd be worried.
The ambulance stopped at Walmart on the way to the hospital.
In the video on our TV news it looks like the seat is going up and forward at the same time and the forward motion is enough to open the parachute, then when forward motion stops the pilot drops to a point just below the parachute and it is a short distance to the ground.
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
I wonder... did the Heads Up Display show that little hourglass icon and the text.... "Buffering".... 
I hope the pilot is ok.
I hope the pilot is ok.
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Just a WAG
There is a single engine that sends thrust out the rear and via gear/clutch system can drive the forward fan. What if the clutch or gears failed? The sudden loss of driving the fan may have allowed the engine to rev up (think driving your car and suddenly go from Drive to Neutral - without having to push the car the load the engine will rev up.). With just thrust in the rear the aircraft pitches down, breaks the nose gear, etc.
There is a single engine that sends thrust out the rear and via gear/clutch system can drive the forward fan. What if the clutch or gears failed? The sudden loss of driving the fan may have allowed the engine to rev up (think driving your car and suddenly go from Drive to Neutral - without having to push the car the load the engine will rev up.). With just thrust in the rear the aircraft pitches down, breaks the nose gear, etc.
