A Successful Landing
by Bob Novotney
The command was “Eject – Eject - Eject!”
It seemed like an eternity after pulling the handles for the
ejection seat to fire. Time slows when you’re having fun the pilot thought to
himself! Watching with great interest, the pilot observed his feet drawn in by
the stirrups and the seat slammed back. The canopy that was once protecting him
from the elements disappeared from view. Suddenly the force of twenty-one G’s
pressed him to his seat as the blast of the veneer rocket sent him upward and
away from the aircraft. This is a once in a lifetime ride; I’d better make the
best of it the pilot thought.
Everything was working as advertised in training.
Although traveling at more than 350 knots at the time of the
ejection, he had hardly noticed the violence of the windblast or the loss of
his flight helmet. Even with the distraction of the loss of his helmet, his
training took over.
Once kicked free of the ejection seat, he started the
routine taught to every pilot who finds themselves in the situation after
getting a good chute. The routine came automatically – Canopy, visor, four-line
and finally, prepare for landing.
At the end of every flight, there is a landing. In this case
- a parachute landing! The PLF (parachute landing fall) as known to many), is
designed to reduce the shock of hitting the ground. It distributes the load of
impact to multiple points of the body.
In reality, most pilots look at the termination of a flight
in this situation as having two possible outcomes. You can make a PLF or you
can make a PFL (poor f*@king landing). The real difference here is, the PLF is
taught in training, the PFL is how you should not accomplish the task, as
something always manages to get your attention when you come to a full
stop.
The C-9 canopy (parachute) is not noted to be the most
maneuverable parachute in the world and today was no exception. While the pilot
did not attempt to steer the chute at first, some rather rough looking terrain
was coming up fast. Trees and fence
posts are not the most desirable of landing areas!
Turning the chute into the wind, the now first time
parachutist managed to miss the trees but hit the fence line at about twenty
miles per hour. The sudden stop was not the most welcomed of outcomes but the
pilot realized that he was alive on the ground.
It is kind of funny how the human body works. You can sometimes suffer some rather significant injuries and still function in a rather normal capacity. Adrenaline and survival instincts are hardwired into each of us and today was no exception.
The pilot actually completed his post-landing checklist by detaching
himself from the parachute by releasing the quick disconnects on the harness.
He also took stock of where he dropped the seat kit that was attached to him
while coming down. The seat kit holds some rather important items – a radio,
food, water and in this case a rather useless one-man life raft. Basic stuff
when you think about it, but even in a peacetime training environment these
simple items may make the difference between living and dying.
Taking stock of his location, the young pilot realized that
he had two options - He could go get the seat kit and use the radio to call
Rescue or he could walk over to the nearby farmhouse and try to use the phone
to call the base and have someone come get him. Since it didn’t appear that he
was hurt, he elected to do both. But
first, he needed something to drink.
He felt as if he had cotton in his mouth and he could feel
some of the effects of shock starting to take hold of his body. And then there
was this streak of pain in the lower back that was starting to take over his
conscious being. After retrieving the seat kit, the young pilot decided that it
was time to take a seat and let everything from this point forward come to him.
Finding a cool place to sit, the pilot began to reflect on what
brought him to this point in time…
So, you want to become an Air Force Pilot! The odds are not
with you the recruiter told the new recruit. Only about two out of two thousand
that apply actually make it to a flying position. But since you are transferring
over from the Marine PLC program you may have a shot at getting a flying slot
with us. But you’ve really got to want to succeed to fly airplanes in the
military.
These words were to hold true in the coming months.
The real truth of the matter is, the military has to have
use for you, i.e. want you! There are only so many flying slots to go around.
It helps if you graduate from the Air Force Academy, but even this is no
guarantee of successful completion of pilot training. Some very bright and
accomplished students have washed out of pilot training and some not so bright
and underachievers have gone on to fly some rather great aircraft. The only
thing that holds true is that if the Air Force wants and needs you and you have
the desire and discipline to stick with it, you’ll succeed the recruiter went
on to say.
This sounds like a “Catch Twenty Two” the recruit thought to
himself. School was always easy to him he thought. There will be no problem with
graduating from college and flight-training academics should be no problem as
well. After experiencing Marine Corps basic training, anything the Air Force
could throw at him physically should be a breeze he thought. With nothing but
positive thoughts of how he would succeed at this challenge, he was ready to
sign up!
Awaking from his thoughts of the past, the young pilot could
hear the sound of rescue vehicles in the distance along with the sounds of
rotor noise from a helicopter coming toward his position. He readied his survival
radio and made the call. “Rescue, Rescue, Rescue - This is Mustang three-two,
I’m on the ground and ok.” My location is in a field next to a fence line about
three-quarters of a mile west of a farmhouse just off of what I think is
Highway 50. Ready to pop smoke to mark
my location.
