Posted on 03/20/2020 7:08:53 AM PDT by Lazamataz
The F-16, hit by the cannon fire, caught fire and exploded having recently been refuelled and made ready for a training sortie due to take place later that day. Another aircraft received minor damage.
If anyone ever needed a reminder of the lethal dangers of working with live munitions, then a recent incident at Florennes Air Base in Belgium is the ultimate wake-up call.
It is thought a maintenance worker accidentally activated the six-barrel 20mm Vulcan M61A-1 cannon hitting another plane parked on the runway.
No-one was in the line of fire, but two technicians were taken to the medical centre on the base suffering from noise related effects
(Excerpt) Read more at warhistoryonline.com ...
Just needs some duct tape and WD-40 and shell be good as new, and flying again...
It could be bypassed for systems checks, but that was a deliberate action, not an accident.
That said, late at night working on some Mk-4 20mm gun pods, we did get to scheming how we could rip off a burst up at the hills.
In 1957 I was in the Air Force stationed at Naha AB Okinawa. I was sitting in the cockpit of an F-86D waiting for a start cart so I could run up the engine. I looked over at the left hand console and saw this button that was marked, Drop Tanks. I wondered if it would work with the battery switch off. It did.
No way that’s gonna need polish and maybe some paint....
Hey Bevis what happens if I......Uhhhh..... OK
They need to go to Chicago gangland outfitters and get a silencer.....
Don’t push the button man.
You really should check on the facts before posting. Kindly look up the history of Big Mo.
That’s OK - I was on USS Jouett and, for some unknown reason, we got a lot of messages destined for USS Jarrett. It was interesting reading.
I learned after my first deployment to bring along everything I’d need (personal items, uniforms, tee-shirts, stamps, etc) to last for 7 months. After that, have done the same thing at home. All the stories my parents told us about the Depression weren’t forgotten. That was worse.
Those were the priorities over the last 9 years!
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