combat aircraft

Above left: Local

fl ights at lower

altitudes are

conducted with

the pilots wearing

standard

fl ight gear.

Gert Kromhout

Above: Replacing

the detachable

‘pogo’ outrigger

wheel.

Gert Kromhout

second and possibly last attempt the next

day with the stipulation that the ‘pogos’

would remain attached until I performed

three ‘satisfactory’ landings. If I didn’t show

improvement, the  ight would be a short

one and I would be on my way home.

Take two

Fortunately, I had a lightbulb moment

the following afternoon after the  rst

three landings when I managed three

‘sats’. The ‘pogo’ safety pins were removed

on the runway and we were o without

their assistance. Curiously, my wings-level

perception immediately improved with

the knowledge that the ‘pogos’ weren’t

attached to save the day. Every landing

improved thereafter and ‘PF’ sensed that I

was catching on enough to demonstrate a

no- ap landing, which was not suitable for

the faint of heart. It simulated a complete

hydraulic failure and the no- ap/no-speed

brake approach arrived over the ‘T’ at 5ft

and just 2kt above stall speed. In this clean

con guration it took 1,000ft of runway to

bleed o 1kt of airspeed in ground e ect,

aided by the residual idle thrust of the J75

engine, which was set abnormally low for

a turbojet. This low idle was by design, as

just a few per cent higher and the aircraft

couldn’t be landed without shutting down

the engine. It furthermore explained the

six-to-nine-second lag from idle to max

power during a go-around. ‘PF’ smoothly

planted the tailwheel on the ground for

100ft or so before the stall dropped the

main gear to the runway and mentioned

something about it being ‘Miller time’ at

the bar as he brought ‘the Goat’ to a full

stop. I was thrilled to later hear that the

overall mission was graded as ‘satisfactory’,

earning me a third  ight.

Crunch time

The following day arrived with blustery

crosswinds and the usual thermals that

were common at Beale in the afternoons.

As ‘Snake’ and I were being strapped in, I

heard him ask, ‘Ready to have some fun,

Rick?’ I answered to the a rmative. After

‘Snake’ saw my normal landings remained

consistent, he demonstrated and talked

me through normal and no- ap simulated

 ame-out landings. When the crosswinds

http://www.combataircraft.net // July 2018 91

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