Later: Crashed an F-4 simulator at the end of the boom at the Johnsville Navy (now Warminster) centerfuge from 30 grand trying to come up with a viable spin recovery technique. They did come up with the fix..a window of opp. of 1 1/2 seconds to position the controls properly to avoid a continuation (or reversal) of the spin......Our charter service used to pick up volinteer Airline Captains at PHL, bring 'em up to our field and drive them over to Johnsville to fly the centerfuge simulator. They had a Boieng 720 simulator set up to investigate clear air turbulance technique (I flew that too). The pilot sat on a hydraulic 'shake table' to simulate the turbulance.(Shook so bad the panel was all a blurr). They did come up with a viable technique, but one night I was to pick up a BOAC captain, and we're cleared to takeoff on 09 and I looked down just before throttle advance, to remind the captain to 'fasten his seatbelt'.
Later: crashed in a one man hot air balloon (with two souls aboard) when the 'rip panel' ripped at 200 ft, exposing the inside air to the outside air, from the equator to the north pole. We 'landed' in 10 inches of snow with dents on our craniums from being hit with the burner, grabbing snow to put the burner out, and laughin' our arsess off. The experience was more like my first parachute jump.......
Then later: Landed a Twin Comanchee at Flushing, NY in a 50 K direct left X wind on the north runway. Snow blocked the use of the E-W runway, but they plowed it for my takeoff. First time I had to carry diferental power to keep her straight. Later upon return I was told (by "Speed" Hazlip himself) that the airport was closed due to high winds. I said my guys have their autos in your parking lot and I'm landing, which I did, this time more into the wind. ....
Still later: Landed at Charleston behind a C-5A which had just blown all (18?) tires. Auto brake didn't work.....
Much later: Used to do tail slides (and lumchevak's too) with my homebuilt PJ 260 (cover of Sport Aviation, Nov. 1968) One time, fell backwards too far before pushing (or pulling) on stick, stick got away from me, the backward falling airplane flipped and on recovery I found that it wanted to roll HARD to the right, took heavy pressure to keep it level,looked around and saw all four ailerons hanging down at about a 40 degree angle. Wouldn't turn to the left. The thought of leaving the airplane crossed my mind, but it did fly level, and I thought of all those 5000 man hours I spent on building it, so stayed with it. Had a real low touchdown speed with all those "flaps" hangin' out there. The problem: bent push rod. Bent the rudder too, a few times...finally determined that airplanes aren't supposed to be flown backwards. Duhhhh! Amazingly, the plane is now based in my home town in eastern PA still sporting the ORIGINAL DACRON I put on it in 1967 and it still passes the seboth tester!
Still later: Landed an Italian Waco (remember them?) right gear up (left and nose down). They had just repacked the oleo glands, tightened to nut too tight, on lift off the oleo didn't extend and upon gear up the tire didn't line up with the hole in the wing. The arm went beyond excentric, so no way to get it down. Foamed the runway. Flew the bird to home base the next day (gear down). A week later, the checked-out new owner flying solo did it again. I was overhead watching...no foam, this time. He left 'em all up, did a 360 on the runway, walked away (in disgust)..... I was the lightest guy (and the chief pilot) at our FBO so I had the 'privelege' of flying the birds out of all the forced landing fields other guys put 'em in. I'm an expert in wheat fields (after harvest...no sweat), aspargus, tomato fields, began to feel like a farmer!
Tailspin Mary has had some 'squeekers' too. I sent her on her last required SXC for private. She selected the west runway, did the runup but the wind shifted to favor the SW runway and I advised her on unicom to change, which she did, but forgot to slave the DG to the new runway heading. C-172 had no vac. pump, just venturi, so the DG had to be uncaged shortly after lift off, on runway heading. As soon as she took off I saw she was on the wrong heading, she didn't respond to my calls on unicom (changed freq?) and in about an hour and a half the phone rang, I said "yeah Mary, where are you?" When she said "Willow Grove Naval Air Station" I could just picture me driving a truck down there, dismanteling the plane and trucking it home. She had her long red hair stuffed under her baseball cap, and when she stopped the engine on the runway, with am MP pointing a howitzer at her and he began to inquire "where the f---k do you think you are, but before he could get the F--word out, she took her cap off, the red hair flowed down below her shoulders, the MP recovered his courtesy, and said "Miss, welcome to Willow Grove Naval Air Station." They introduced her to the C.O. who gave her a tour of the base, gassed the plane, fed her, and gave her a quick lesson in navigation, and sent her on her way. It pays to be a good lookin' redhead!
On another occasion, as a pvt pilot and she had gone to another local field to fly, she had carte-blanche to the hangar and go fly whenever she wanted. She decided to go night flying in a C- 172, destination Trenton. Clear night, little wind, took off, and near Trenton, flew into "a wall of fog", climbed to ten grand, still IMC, with only a couple of hrs. of hood time under her belt. Now in the Phila. area (she thinks), she starts flying triangles (remember them, to alert ATC you're in distress?) By this time, "balls" of fire were coming up toward her, really close,(said one passed between the wing and strut!) Finally raised McGuire AFB on 121.5 mhz and told them that she thought she was over the Ball Park at Phila. and that she could see 'fireworks' coming up from below. At that, the 'fireworks' (tracers) stopped, they sent an L-19 up to 'try' to lead her down, but everytime they told her to turn to a certain heading, the L-19 guy did the same and radar got 'em mixed up. Anyway, they vectored her to Trenton, she broke out at 600 ft, landed OK and enjoyed a cup of java with the boys in the tower. Turns out that President Eisenhower was a guest at the base that weekend.
Yes, the statute of limitations HAS run out. Yes, we've got some great memories, she and I, after a 25 year carreer in FBO flying, eating airport chicken, no IRA, paid vacations, benefits, I did a carreer change, got a 'real' job, retired and "miss it all to all get-out!. Eagles up, Keep em Flying!.....Jim