[Neil E. Wright]

Interesting bit of aviation history. DON'T try this yourself, it could cause you to have a BAD day!!!

America! It's about

★ FREEDOM! ★

★ Estimated Value – PRICELESS! ★

[oyez]

Hey, CV(S)-11. That used to be my address.

[freedumb2003]

Jeeze, I thought that only happened to Irving — the 142nd fastest gun in the West...

It also was suggested in the Mad Magazine spoof of the original Star Wars movie (now known as “A New Hope”)...

:)

[freedumb2003]

Not F-16 but a fun and interesting milcraft article if you would like to ping the crew.

It isn’t every day that conditions allow one to shoot oneself down.

[Ramius]

How did this happen? The combination of conditions reponsible for the event was (1) the decay in projectile velocity and trajectory drop; (2) the approximate 0.5-G descent of the F11F, due in part to its nose pitching down from firing low-mounted guns; (3) alignment of the boresight line of 0° to the line of flight. With that 0.5-G dive, Attridge had flown below the trajectory of his bullets and, 11 seconds later, flew through them as their flight paths met..

That's why you always need to aim a little low when shooting downhill. :-)

[tanuki]

The F11F Grumman Tiger-one of the great ‘what-ifs’ of history. A great airplane that could have had a great future.

[tlb]

I'd have expected you to use an illustrative picture like this.

[Howie]

Jimmy Mattern, famous Lockheed test pilot shot himself down while testing the machine gun installation on a new P-38.

He lived here in in Palm Desert Ca for years and used to have a little radio show where he would read stories, jogging his memory from logbook entries. I would listen every day that I could, he was famous in the early days of aviation.

He put the new Lightning into a shallow dive out over the Pacific coast and fired the .50 caliber machine guns at the ocean. When he pulled up the bullets ripped through the airframe from the bottom, sending fuel spraying out of the wing tanks.

As I remember the story, he made it back to the Lockheed runway and landed (and walked away).

[Waverunner]

If he did it 5 times, would he be an ACE?

[Roccus]

My Dad told me about this problem back then when he worked for Republic.
Thanks for that memory.

[Neil E. Wright]

Don't know if you saw this or not. For your NavAir ping list.

America! It's about

★ FREEDOM! ★

★ Estimated Value – PRICELESS! ★

[magslinger]

SONOBUOY PING!

Click on pic for past Navair pings.

Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
The only requirement for inclusion in the Navair Pinglist is an interest in Naval Aviation.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.

[SwinneySwitch]

Ouch!