badflaps

Last summer the "Thunder Over Louisville" guy ejected during a TN. airshow, didn't seem to help much.

Adlerdriver

Something tells me that some of these pilots flying ejection seat equipped warbirds are going to have some kind of additional "pause" in their decision to abandon ship. Can I save it, dead stick it, is this really the only way out? It's only human nature and I'm sure would be a tough call. Many have a financial stake in the bird and/or just don't want to be the guy that turns it into little bitty pieces. Depending on their background (no egress training every 6 months on a routine basis) some may not really have the ejection decision as crystal clear as most of us did in the military. Even if they were military, it still might be a different decision process for some (rather than just giving it back to the tax payers, as we used to say).

RhinoPherret

100% agree!

UAL T38 Phlyer

It will run for a while, but will eventaully cause (typically) the fuel pumps to fail.

Jet fuel has "lubricity;" ie, "slipperiness," which lubricates the moving parts of the pump.

Gasoline, especially Avgas: has almost none of that property.

Avgas was approved as an emergency fuel in the F-4 and T-38, for one-time flight, and required addition of engine oil to 3% of the total.

If I had to guess, I'd say not the case. I'd guess FOD ingestion just after rotation/liftoff, based on witness observations, and my own experiences with FOD and compressor stalls.

What Adler said (again) about being personally tied to the airplane, and the typical "I can save this" personna of many a great fighter pilot.

That same belief in "Invincibility" is what makes them great warriors.

But it also stacks the cards for a tragic outcome.

Didn't know about Thunder over Louisville, but pretty sure the L39 is NOT a zero-zero seat.

A delayed ejection decision is the number one killer in ejections.

Hacker15e

The bigger root cause was that it (the trim tab system) hadn't been inspected or fixed in decades. The bolts that were affixing the pushrods to the trim tab control horn were still painted yellow, which had been that airplane's paint scheme in the 1980s.

Hacker15e

Yep, this.

HuggyU2

This is misleading. Yes, the rocket motor was fired. If it was due to an ejection attempt by the pilot, it was initiated WELL outside of the envelope, and possible right about the time ground impact occurred.

Not according to the first paragraph in this article: http://www.flyingmag.com/news/mike-m...ies-l-39-crash

CFI Guy

My friend was the eye witness. He blames himself for setting up our mutual friend (the passenger who was going for a ride and also died.)
with Mike.


Such a tragedy. I didn't know Mike but my friend who died was such a great guy. He was so excited to go on that flight. Everyone who knows him is still in shock. I don't want to release the name for privacy reasons (you can PM me) but there will be a memorial for him in Los Angeles on 12/19/15.

I'm not sure if this L39 had operational ejection seats. I've known a few which were disabled due to the added cost ($$$$) of inspections. I've also read there have been a number of deaths/injuries even with operational ejection seats. I guess I would take my chances rather than certain death.