Just Don't Make Fighter Pilots Like They Use To
- Thread starter mscard88
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Velocity173
P-51 pilots never used O2 when flying over Germany at 30k ft.
SkyDog58
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Canis Non Grata
What a bunch of wusses.
Plano Pilot
Line Up and Wait
Wrong.
"On the way up I check and recheck every instrument, hearing every imaginary engine roughness. I put on my oxygen mask at 8,000 feet."
http://www.historynet.com/p-51-pilot-a-day-in-the-life.htm
Melting
Pre-Flight
We I was a kid we didn't need any stinking oxygen. We played baseball underwater all day and never breathed, we never whined, we were just having fun.......dang kids today......
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Clark1961
Touchdown! Greaser!
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Just because you have a sense of humor fail doesn't mean the rest of us suffer the same problem...Wrong.
"On the way up I check and recheck every instrument, hearing every imaginary engine roughness. I put on my oxygen mask at 8,000 feet."
http://www.historynet.com/p-51-pilot-a-day-in-the-life.htm
Plano Pilot
Line Up and Wait
Sorry, I did not catch that.
I call BS on that statement, and that's from a guy who once spent over three hours at 15,500. When I got out of the plane I was very wobbly. It's good I wasn't PIC.
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Velocity173
There's a reason why they were called "America's greatest generation." Physiologically, they were way ahead of present day fighter pilots.
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
Had me going for a second......
“We have received some reports from the engineers that some pilots were taking breaths into their masks,” Leonard told reporters. “Additionally, we’re investigating some disturbing reports that some of our fliers were also handling the flight controls while in the air.”
Then I saw it was Duffelblog.....
“We have received some reports from the engineers that some pilots were taking breaths into their masks,” Leonard told reporters. “Additionally, we’re investigating some disturbing reports that some of our fliers were also handling the flight controls while in the air.”
Then I saw it was Duffelblog.....
35 AoA
Pattern Altitude
Speaking of this, I'm reading "Bold They Rise" right now, about the early shuttle program. In the beginning of the book, they talk about Robert Crippen and the centrifuge training he had to do down at Brooks getting ready for the MOL program. It mentions some insane profile like 2 mins at 12G, and 30 sec at 15G. Is that even physiologically possible? I could see 30" at 15, but not really 2 mins sustained at 12. Maybe it is true, but sounds a lot like some artistic license being taken on the part of the author.
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Velocity173
That does sound a bit exaggerated. I thought they only got around 3 Gs flying the shuttle. Not sure why they'd need to train that high.
Excellent series is the Discovery Channel "When we left Earth. The NASA missions." Goes into a little bit of what Crip and John Young did. Love the early NASA stuff.
X3 Skier
En-Route
35 AoA
Pattern Altitude
I'd buy that the capsule re-entry was probably more aggressive, but same same, when I went to the 'fuge the first time, they said their astronauts only did 3G's and did it laying on their backs.
All that said, I think the late 1970's/early 1980's was really the biggest golden age of aerospace development that we have seen yet......and so much of it entirely built on the backs of professionals in Southern California. I'm not sure the industry will ever be that cohesive or productive ever again.
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Velocity173
[/QUOTE]
I think all the early programs (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo & Skylab) right up until the Shuttle, represent the synergy that that can occur with right people and a lot of $$$. Just amazing these developments were done by a govt agency working with the lowest bidder.
Great scene in documentary "In the Shadow of the Moon" where Jim Lovell talks about the last minute flight plan change in 1968. They went from doing an Earth orbital flight, to a Moon orbital flight. He talked about how bold it was and how it was a time when we took bold moves. Everyone involved dedicate a common purpose of putting a man on the Moon. Another excellent documentary on early space exploration.
X3 Skier
En-Route
F-14, F-15, F-16, F-18, F-117, B-1 to name some Military. Only 2 1/2 of those from CA. I was lucky enough to spend time on all of those developments except the F-14. Did some work on the Tomcat later as a consultant.
Cheers
Cooter
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Cooter
Which system did you work on?
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Having read "The Pentagon Wars" it's amazing how half of those aircraft got from the drawing board to operational service.
35 AoA
Pattern Altitude
I was more talking to the extreme cutting edge of technology at the time......like the stuff that led up to STS-1.....ie the digital FBW F-8, the lifting bodies, the orbiter test program, and then of course on the mil side, the F-117, the B-2, the ATF (though I'll admit the winning bid for that was a non CA entity). Still, a pretty exciting time to be involved in aerospace in socal I'd think.