Very sad, on his way home... RIP US Marine Corps pilot killed in F-18 jet crash in Cambridgeshire Fens - BBC News I guess I never thought about it, but that's got to be a grueling flight, single seat fighter across the north Atlantic..
Very unfortunate incident, it will be interesting to find out the cause. Several years back I picked up the pilots who had delivered F-16s to Pakistan.... If I remember it correctly they flew nonstop from CONUS with numerous air refuelings. That's one of the things I love about the C-130. Long enough legs to go almost anywhere and can land almost anyplace but slow enough that you are out of duty day by the time you get there. Not so "military" as to be restricted to just landing at military bases like fighters/bombers and no air refueling.
Used to know a U2 pilot and his crew chief. At one time or the other I asked both how long one could stay up. The pilot told me it was classified. The crew chief said he didn't know but his plane was gone for 16 hrs once.
Terribly sad. Sure wish he could have bailed out, and I'm curious to see further details as to why that wasn't the case, as the crash area was pretty remote. RIP
To the best of my knowledge, in certain circumstances that is true - and the US military is also (to the best of my knowledge) the only nation to prescribe/issue amphetamines to its pilots. If this is untrue, I'd certainly love to be shown that my sources are wrong.
The article states the Marine Corps as saying that "he ejected". So it seems he did bail out. No other details, though Farmland, many small farms around the actual crash site. Not really that remote.
Rob- Very infrequently and it was voluntary. Never took any on my long deployments. USAF sticks as much as they can to 12 hours for crew day. But Secret Squirrel flew 26 hour missions and some of their TF33s actually ran out of oil. Not as big a deal when you have eight. RIP for the USMC pilot. He had just gotten airborne and may have gotten disoriented. Easy to do when searching for your flight if the weather was rotten, which it usually was at RAF Lakenheath.
I have flown some very long missions, late at night, in the Viper and we never had the go ahead for the flight doc to dole out go pills. There were hoops to jump through for them to be authorized, and, unfortunately, the later stigma associated with their use made it even more rare as high level commanders did not want the hassle of defending it. It's a shame, actually, as dextramphetamine is an ideal stimulant for a fighter pilot, whenever fatigue is a player. When someone abuses narcotics because it's fun, there is no relationship to an injured person or postoperative patient needing narcotics as pain control. Similarly, amphetamine abuse shouldn't be connected to a guy trying to stay alive and get a mission done when all he wants is to stay awake to live another day. There is virtually no potential for abuse in that setting. So, we get left with coffee. A tired pilot who drinks a bunch of coffee is just a wide awake tired pilot, and one who still makes all the mistakes a tired pilot makes. A tired pilot on dextramphetamine is truly awake, alert and functional. Studies in spec ops helo drivers, in sims, showed no degradation in performance up to and over 48 hours of continuous operations while taking go pills. The only significant side affect was noted in one pilot who would just not stop talking, thus annoying his crewmates. Pretty much all of us get to try a test dose on the ground as we gain mission ready status or while in training for the same. All I noticed is that it made my girlfriend happy.
That's likely to be spot on. Crash looks like around 5 miles from the 'Heath after a turnout from either runway they might have been using. Crap weather and a radar assisted trail departure can make you busy...trying to saddle the guy in front, possibly complying with instructions from controllers that speak a different language (actual english), and perhaps trying to visually acquire a leading ship, or dealing with an emergency...SDO is my top bet, unfortunately. Another accident that likely could have been prevented with Auto-GCAS, but that's been my soap box for years. My prayers for all of those touched by this...
Diverted many times while trying to get back to Lakenheath. Sorry the weather likely caught him out. Multiple layers of clouds at very low altitude could be very disorienting and those layers often reached the ground.
Very sad to hear, and always reassuring to hear INFORMED responses from folks who actually know stuff. RIP to the as-yet-unnamed pilot and condolences to his family Jedi
Odd that I just viewed a documentary on the Germans feeding unlimited amounts of amphetamines to German troops (pilots, too) to keep them rolling in their assaults, sometimes for 4 days at a stretch. They said that they did this when they attacked Russia and the troops went all out for days on end. I wonder what the troops were like after they ran out of pills...I just thought, maybe there weren't too many around after the initial year.
On the Navy/Marine Corps side of things I can assure you we are not given stimulants. I can't even drink an energy drink if I'm going up regularly. According to the flight docs different substances like that can have some pretty significant affects on G tolerance. RIP, had two instructors from the same squadron and it seems like an awesome group of guys.
Pilot was a friend of mine and a huge Ferrari enthusiast. He loved cars and planes. Flying was something he loved dearly. Thanks for all the prayers
The pilot is my best friend. Truly a very sad day and still in disbelief. This was his 3rd tour. But he was doing what he loved and believed in. An amazing guy who always put others before himself and always remained humble. RIP brother, you are a true hero.