Check All Zippers!

 

T-2C Buckeye – Inverted

Loss of Controlled Flight:  A fancy way of saying that for the next few moments, the airplane will be ignoring your inputs.

Inverted (upside down) spins are disorienting and dangerous.  Tactical jets with short wings, big engines and long fuselages are particularly prone to this Loss of Controlled flight.  I won’t bore you with the aerodynamics of them (unless you ask nicely!).  I’ll just say that Inverted spins are pretty high on the list of Things-To-Avoid as a tactical jet pilot.  

Why?  Because while in such a spin, you are defenseless.  If it happens during an air-to-air “dogfight” with the enemy, they will shoot you down and that can ruin your whole day.  Even if you’re not in a dogfight, these spins are so disorienting and violent and that you may have trouble figuring out the critical information you need to recover, like the direction of spin and your altitude.  If that happens, ejection is your only option.  Not the best way to end a flight.

For these reasons, in the 70’s and 80’s the Navy Advanced Jet flight training syllabus required inverted spin recovery training prior to a student flying his Advanced Tactical Maneuvering flights (“dogfighting”) in the TA-4J Skyhawk.

The Skyhawk would have been a dangerous airplane to deliberately spin, so the Navy used the straight-winged T-2C Buckeye for this anti-spin training.  The Buckeye’s flight characteristics were predictable and relatively gentle in comparison to the Skyhawk.  You had to force it to spin inverted and even if you messed up the recovery stick and rudder inputs, the instructor could quickly take over and recover.  The training syllabus focused on showing the student how to avoid spins with just enough practice recovering from actual spins so that their training would take over in an actual emergency and they’d either recover or recognize the point when recovery had become impossible and an ejection was required.

As a senior T-2 flight instructor, I was qualified to conduct these flights and had done a ton of them.  Most of the instructors hated these flights but somehow, I had grown to enjoy them.  My problem was that this familiarity bred complacency. 

As usual, my student was both nervous and excited during the briefing.  I would be in the front cockpit to perform the takeoff and landing.  The student had graduated from flying the Buckeye several months earlier and had been flying the Skyhawk ever since.  All of his emergency procedures and memorized airspeeds would be for the Skyhawk.  My job was to get us airborne, to demonstrate the first spin, and then let him fly two more.  Assuming a successful recovery from all three, he would be as ready as the Navy could make him for flying a Skyhawk at the edge of its flight envelope. 

The most disorienting aspect of an inverted spin is that you are dangling upside down from your four-point seat straps.  But you are not just standing on your head; you are bouncing upside down.  Anything in an unzipped pocket falls out.  But it doesn’t fall down to your feet.  It falls past your head to the top of the canopy.  For this reason, every briefing includes a warning to check all zippers closed on your flight suit pockets.

On this flight, I did not repeat this warning before entering the first spin.  I should have.  I flipped the aircraft upside down, applied full left rudder and left forward stick to initiate the spin, describing my actions on the intercom to the student.  As we began to spin earthward while hanging in our straps, I noticed a problem in my rear-view mirrors (used to watch the student in the back cockpit).  Several coins had fallen out of his pocket and were now in a compact cloud on top of the canopy, slowly bouncing my way. 

And that’s when I discovered how complacent I had become about these maneuvers.  Instead of immediately recovering from the spin and returning to base, hoping that the coins didn’t lodge somewhere dangerous and jam a flight control, I noticed that they were getting closer with each bounce.  I quickly calculated that in another few seconds they would be above my head and within reach if I continued the spin.  It would be a close call though because we were limited to no more than two (2) complete turns during these practice spins.  If you went beyond two turns (720-degrees), you could accidentally overstress the airframe because the airspeed at the bottom and the negative “g-spike” grew higher with each turn. 

While watching the coins in the mirrors, I automatically continued my narration for the student, noting the airspeed, altitude, direction of spin and talking about the proper direction of the controls to start the recovery.  Finally, just before I needed to start the recovery, they were within reach!  With my left hand I had already unzipped my own empty right pocket.  Now I snatched the coins off the canopy and tucked them safely away, zipping up as I moved the stick and rudder to the recovery positions. 

The aircraft stopped spinning, pointed almost straight down but under positive “g” again.  I advanced the throttles, pulled the nose to the horizon and gently reminded the student to recheck his zippers.  He did.  That would be an important debrief item.  We climbed back to altitude so he could perform the next two spins himself.  Without prompting, he verbally called out “Check Zippers!” before each one.  The remainder of the flight passed without incident and he passed this important flight having learned a couple of extra lessons. 

Why didn’t I abort the spin immediately?  Because I knew that if I’d simply flipped the aircraft back upright, all the coins would have fallen into the floorboards beneath the ejection seat.  Those floors are not solid like a car’s.  There are moving pushrods, cables, and electrical items that could be shorted out.  If I hadn’t been able to retrieve the coins, I still could have recovered from the spin but then I’d have had no choice but to return to base, abandon the training, and hope that nothing would become jammed during landing or the return flight.  It would have been a serious “FOD* in Cockpit” event.  (*Foreign Object Debris)

This incident taught me that some things are important enough to repeat – like the warning about closing all zippers.  I guarantee you that all my subsequent flights included a more thorough explanation of the problem and all future spins were preceded by the intercom call to “Check All Zippers!” and the response “Closed!” 

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  1. Idahoklahoman Member
    Idahoklahoman
    @Idahoklahoman

    My brother did A-4 training at Beeville in the mid-80s. He never mentioned the inverted spin training. Maybe because he was the unzippered culprit? I’ll ask him. 

    • #1
  2. Max Knots Member
    Max Knots
    @MaxKnots

    Idahoklahoman (View Comment):

    My brother did A-4 training at Beeville in the mid-80s. He never mentioned the inverted spin training. Maybe because he was the unzippered culprit? I’ll ask him.

    LOL! I taught in Meridian MS in the mid 80’s. What a coincedence! The question is whether he ever heard a story about someone having forgotten to zip up. I don’t think that I spread the details around. Just the lesson of closed zippers! 

    • #2
  3. navyjag Coolidge
    navyjag
    @navyjag

    Another good one Max. Reminded me of why I never considered being a pilot not that my vision would have qualified me.  Even got nervous on the ship’s helo taking me to Manila. But it was after a big storm. And made it ok. Curious if you saw the story of AA flight with a “security alert” where all passengers had to put hands on their heads for last hour of the flight.  Think more “shoe bombers” out there?  What should a pilot do in that situation?

    • #3
  4. Idahoklahoman Member
    Idahoklahoman
    @Idahoklahoman

    Max Knots (View Comment):

    Idahoklahoman (View Comment):

    My brother did A-4 training at Beeville in the mid-80s. He never mentioned the inverted spin training. Maybe because he was the unzippered culprit? I’ll ask him.

    LOL! I taught in Meridian MS in the mid 80’s. What a coincedence! The question is whether he ever heard a story about someone having forgotten to zip up. I don’t think that I spread the details around. Just the lesson of closed zippers!

    Great! I’ll ask him. He taught at Meridian a few years later. I imagine you two might know each other. His call sign was Roadkill.

    • #4
  5. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    I loved the brevity of the F4 Emergency Procedures.

    “Loss of control at or  below 10,000 AGL, Eject!

    • #5
  6. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    During my FAA check ride, the examiner showed me a high-attitude, power-on stall in a turn, something which could happen on a botched take-off at low altitude.  He recovered the Cessna 152 nicely and had me try it.  The amazing thing was the process: once the plane stalled and the nose dropped in the opposite direction of the climb, you pulled back on the throttle and kept your hands off the controls until the plane reached a stable attitude.  At that point you took the wheel, leveled the wings, then gently pulled the nose up and added power, thus regaining straight and level flight.  It wasn’t exactly spin training, but the guy thought it was important to know.

    The amazing thing was we only lost 100 feet of altitude, and that was the point he made . . .

    • #6
  7. Max Knots Member
    Max Knots
    @MaxKnots

    Kozak (View Comment):

    I loved the brevity of the F4 Emergency Procedures.

    “Loss of control at or below 10,000 AGL, Eject!

    That was the same for the A7 and F-18. The altitude was the critical criteria and that’s why my “Silken Letdown” story was unusual. I didn’t feel like I was out of control – the jet was still flying, though engine-less. In fact, I was in a grey area where I could have justified far easier, simply ejecting immediately rather than trying for a restart. A more experienced pilot or one with less of an engineer’s “I can fix anything” mindset would have pulled up and ejected.

    The Phantom was the fastest boy in town when I started flying. Even faster than the Tomcat. But very thirsty!

    • #7
  8. Max Knots Member
    Max Knots
    @MaxKnots

    Stad (View Comment):

    During my FAA check ride, the examiner showed me a high-attitude, power-on stall in a turn, something which could happen on a botched take-off at low altitude. He recovered the Cessna 152 nicely and had me try it. The amazing thing was the process: once the plane stalled and the nose dropped in the opposite direction of the climb, you pulled back on the throttle and kept your hands off the controls until the plane reached a stable attitude. At that point you took the wheel, leveled the wings, then gently pulled the nose up and added power, thus regaining straight and level flight. It wasn’t exactly spin training, but the guy thought it was important to know.

    The amazing thing was we only lost 100 feet of altitude, and that was the point he made . . .

    Yes. That works well with the Cessnas and Pipers. But once you put a delta wing on a plane and add leading edge slats, recovery becomes less certain.  It was a good lesson to learn  though. It’s not the stall that kills you; it’s the ham-fisted recovery. Gentle is best.

    Do you still fly?

    • #8
  9. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Two videos that you might find interesting:

    • #9
  10. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Max Knots (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    During my FAA check ride, the examiner showed me a high-attitude, power-on stall in a turn, something which could happen on a botched take-off at low altitude. He recovered the Cessna 152 nicely and had me try it. The amazing thing was the process: once the plane stalled and the nose dropped in the opposite direction of the climb, you pulled back on the throttle and kept your hands off the controls until the plane reached a stable attitude. At that point you took the wheel, leveled the wings, then gently pulled the nose up and added power, thus regaining straight and level flight. It wasn’t exactly spin training, but the guy thought it was important to know.

    The amazing thing was we only lost 100 feet of altitude, and that was the point he made . . .

    Yes. That works well with the Cessnas and Pipers. But once you put a delta wing on a plane and add leading edge slats, recovery becomes less certain. It was a good lesson to learn though. It’s not the stall that kills you; it’s the ham-fisted recovery. Gentle is best.

    Do you still fly?

    Naw, gave it up ages ago.  I really wanted my own plane, but when you see doctors and lawyers buying quarter shares for one plane, you know it’s expensive . . .

    • #10
  11. Max Knots Member
    Max Knots
    @MaxKnots

    Stad (View Comment):

    Max Knots (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    During my FAA check ride, the examiner showed me a high-attitude, power-on stall in a turn, something which could happen on a botched take-off at low altitude. He recovered the Cessna 152 nicely and had me try it. The amazing thing was the process: once the plane stalled and the nose dropped in the opposite direction of the climb, you pulled back on the throttle and kept your hands off the controls until the plane reached a stable attitude. At that point you took the wheel, leveled the wings, then gently pulled the nose up and added power, thus regaining straight and level flight. It wasn’t exactly spin training, but the guy thought it was important to know.

    The amazing thing was we only lost 100 feet of altitude, and that was the point he made . . .

    Yes. That works well with the Cessnas and Pipers. But once you put a delta wing on a plane and add leading edge slats, recovery becomes less certain. It was a good lesson to learn though. It’s not the stall that kills you; it’s the ham-fisted recovery. Gentle is best.

    Do you still fly?

    Naw, gave it up ages ago. I really wanted my own plane, but when you see doctors and lawyers buying quarter shares for one plane, you know it’s expensive . . .

    True. They are. One of my brothers has an older Bonanza – a nice cross-country traveler. Our dad owned a Piper Tripacer for a few years and made at least one emergency landing with a blown cylinder. For medical reasons I haven’t flown since leaving the Navy except with my brother. I do miss it sometimes. If I had the funds and could pass the flight physical I’d love to fly one of the new  planes like the Cirrus (https://cirrusaircraft.com/aircraft/sr22t/)  or Pipistrelle (https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/cruising/panthera/).  They are so much better than anything else in that category.  A different kind of flying!   :-)

    • #11
  12. Max Knots Member
    Max Knots
    @MaxKnots

    Doug Watt (View Comment):

    Two videos that you might find interesting:

    Holy C….!  The problem with manned aircraft these days is that the airplanes are more robust than the pilots.  You can pull so many g’s that you put yourself to sleep.  Not good. 

    • #12
  13. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Kozak (View Comment):

    I loved the brevity of the F4 Emergency Procedures.

    “Loss of control at or below 10,000 AGL, Eject!

    A flying brick. Still, it beats a lawn dart. 

    • #13
  14. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Doug Watt (View Comment):

    Two videos that you might find interesting:

    Wow! Amazing system.  As GCI controllers, we had to listen to fatal missions under our unit’s control and create transcripts from our recordings. It is a sober thing. I had accompanied my husband to a hypoxia training class and sat outside the chamber watching and listening to their performance following commands as the oxygen level lowered. When I listened to the tape of the crash later, I recognized the symptoms of hypoxia. Neither the controller nor his wingman recognized it at the time (controllers weren’t trained unless they were assigned to an AWACS back then). It was a shame, especially since the loss of consciousness wasn’t sudden but gradual due to a system malfunction. 

    • #14
  15. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Kozak (View Comment):

    I loved the brevity of the F4 Emergency Procedures.

    “Loss of control at or below 10,000 AGL, Eject!

    A flying brick. Still, it beats a lawn dart.

    The nickname of the F-16.

    • #15
  16. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    This is a fun YouTube to watch about Final Countdown. Go to around the 17-18 minute mark and watch the F-14 dogfight a “Zero” to see an, um, unplanned flying maneuver. See if you can spot it. Also, this is one of my favorite movies.  


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzMiKjzFbOg

     

    • #16
  17. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    There have been nine saves attributed to the GCAS system. The GCAS system is also installed on the F-22, and F-35.

    The Auto GCAS, developed jointly by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is designed to reduce incidents of what is known as controlled flight into terrain, or CFIT. According to U.S. Air Force statistics, CFIT incidents account for 26 percent of aircraft losses and a staggering 75 percent of all F-16 pilot fatalities.”

    • #17
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Max Knots (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Max Knots (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    During my FAA check ride, the examiner showed me a high-attitude, power-on stall in a turn, something which could happen on a botched take-off at low altitude. He recovered the Cessna 152 nicely and had me try it. The amazing thing was the process: once the plane stalled and the nose dropped in the opposite direction of the climb, you pulled back on the throttle and kept your hands off the controls until the plane reached a stable attitude. At that point you took the wheel, leveled the wings, then gently pulled the nose up and added power, thus regaining straight and level flight. It wasn’t exactly spin training, but the guy thought it was important to know.

    The amazing thing was we only lost 100 feet of altitude, and that was the point he made . . .

    Yes. That works well with the Cessnas and Pipers. But once you put a delta wing on a plane and add leading edge slats, recovery becomes less certain. It was a good lesson to learn though. It’s not the stall that kills you; it’s the ham-fisted recovery. Gentle is best.

    Do you still fly?

    Naw, gave it up ages ago. I really wanted my own plane, but when you see doctors and lawyers buying quarter shares for one plane, you know it’s expensive . . .

    True. They are. One of my brothers has an older Bonanza – a nice cross-country traveler. Our dad owned a Piper Tripacer for a few years and made at least one emergency landing with a blown cylinder. For medical reasons I haven’t flown since leaving the Navy except with my brother. I do miss it sometimes. If I had the funds and could pass the flight physical I’d love to fly one of the new planes like the Cirrus (https://cirrusaircraft.com/aircraft/sr22t/) or Pipistrelle (https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/cruising/panthera/). They are so much better than anything else in that category. A different kind of flying! :-)

    I thought about ultralights, but the gas and weight limitations rubbed me raw.  That and the fact someone could sneeze on the ground and send you into a spin . . .

    • #18
  19. Max Knots Member
    Max Knots
    @MaxKnots

    Yes- ultralights a little too rudimentary and not suitable for any distance. I flew on early one once. A Lazair like this. https://sky4buy.com/Lazair-Ultralight-Airplane-282634763651/012508

    But the one I flew had a nosewheel I think. I was a jet instructor and one of my student pilots had one at a nearby airport. He offered me a ride. Did I mention it only has one seat? There’s no one to help you when learning to fly it. I flew it once. Just as I cleared the trees on takeoff, a gust of wind lifted my right wing to 45 degrees bank angle. My instinct to roll back level with the ailerons and rudders had no effect due to the low airspeed and lethargic control response. I decided to go with the left roll (if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?) and swooped back down the runway gaining enough speed to regain control and level the wings and climb! Once I was up to 2000 feet, I decided it was time to land. I didn’t like this lack of precise control. The landing was uneventful and we had a good laugh about my clumsy takeoff and the craft’s unresponsive controls in roll. In pitch it was fine but that long wing and short fuselage meant that the rudders (inverted V style) were ineffective. And there was a significant adverse yaw from the ailerons. So you needed the rudders! Once was enough. Of course the new ones are much better.

    • #19
  20. Max Knots Member
    Max Knots
    @MaxKnots

    Doug Watt (View Comment):

    There have been nine saves attributed to the GCAS system. The GCAS system is also installed on the F-22, and F-35.

    The Auto GCAS, developed jointly by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is designed to reduce incidents of what is known as controlled flight into terrain, or CFIT. According to U.S. Air Force statistics, CFIT incidents account for 26 percent of aircraft losses and a staggering 75 percent of all F-16 pilot fatalities.”

    That’s a remarkable statistic. Some happy endings where otherwise there’d be coffins.

    • #20
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