combat aircraft

the worst, but by the grace of God I

had survived.

Good chute!

I have been told that the terminal

velocity of a Martin-Baker ejection seat

is somewhere around 180kt. Something

interesting happens when you are

hurtling along at racing car speeds and

then are rapidly decelerated to nearly a

standstill. At that moment the straps on

your parachute harness cause friction

burns in all the places where they are

riding close to your skin. Your light suit

ofers very little protection as the heat is

transmitted directly through the material.

It’s amazing to think that the friction

created from just a couple of inches of

I looked down and to my right and saw

the burning wreckage of our F-14 as it

spiraled towards the water in a left-hand death

roll. It was almost completely engulfed in flames

CDR Neil Jennings

strap movement is enough to cause

burns that last several days, but that is a

part of the process.

Immediately after my parachute

opened, I saw a large splash in the water

directly below me. I looked down and to

my right and saw the burning wreckage

of our F-14 as it spiraled towards the

water in a left-hand death roll. It was

almost completely engulfed in lames.

Panels were missing, I couldn’t tell the

top from the bottom and what was left

was nearly unrecognizable. Hanging in

my parachute, watching the scene unfold

Above: Jennings

and Gusewelle

had been tasked

with flying a

simulated attack

on the USS John

Paul Jones (DDG

53) on September

20, 1995. This

image shows

VF-213 F-14Ds

preparing for a

mission.

Ted Carlson

FEATURE ARTICLE // F-14 TOMCAT

78 November 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net