Posted on 12/01/2005 4:06:47 PM PST by SandRat
12/1/2005 - SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) -- “Mayday. Mayday.”
The distress call is familiar to most people who watch television and movies. But when it is made for real, it can make a pilot’s mouth go dry and his stomach cramp.
That is the feeling pilot Naim Fazlija said he when he had to make the distress call to German radar controllers when his Piper Chieftain twin-engine lost its electrical system on a flight from the Netherlands to Geneva last month.
The civilian charter plane was flying at 11,000 feet over a hazy Germany.
Mr. Fazlija said he and co-pilot Artan Berisha remained calm so as not to alarm their five passengers.
“This was the first time in my 10 years of flying that I had to make a distress call like this. I was like a bird without eyes,” the pilot from Kosovo said. “There was absolutely no power in the plane except for a hand-held radio and a small global positioning system.”
Knowing he could not risk flying in such low visibility the remaining 200 miles to Geneva, Mr. Fazlija knew he needed help -– immediately.
At the same time, Maj. Pete Olson was flying his A-10 Thunderbolt II back to Spangdahlem after a training mission with three other aircraft. The 81st Fighter Squadron pilot received the distressed aircraft signal from a German ground radar controller.
“I was a little worried when I got the call, but I knew I had to act fast,” said Major Olson, who is also the 52nd Operations Support Squadron chief of A-10 wing weapons and tactics.
The major cleared his team to return to base and put his 12 years of training to work. Within minutes, he was in airspace over Baumholder, Germany, and tried to contact the civilian aircraft on the radar controller’s search and rescue frequency.
“Follow me,” Major Olson told Mr. Fazlija over his crackling radio,
But Mr. Fazlija continued flying a triangular route because he could barely hear the major’s instructions and could not even track his own speed.
Hope -- like Mr. Fazlija’s ability to see from the plane -- seemed to dwindle until he spotted something.
“I didn’t even see the A-10 coming,” Mr. Fazlija said. “His plane just appeared under mine like a rocket climbing. It was definitely something like you’d see in the movies!”
In true wingman fashion, Major Olson flew his jet around the Chieftain. He stayed in formation, at times from 10 to 20 feet, to as far away as 3,000 feet.
Mr. Fazlija said the major’s maneuvering signs were a critical factor in leading his plane under the weather to a safe landing at Hahn Airport 15 minutes later.
Mr. Fazlija said the 15 minutes seemed to elapse in the blink of an eye. But it still allowed him ample time to ponder his mortality and that of his passengers.
“I didn’t care that I might die,” he said. “I could only think that the lives of my co-pilot, passengers -- and possibly people on the ground -- could be cut short by my actions.”
Major Olson’s supervisor said the feat comes as no surprise to him.
“Certainly the outstanding airmanship and skill displayed is what I’d expect from Pete every time he flies,” said Lt. Col. John Cherrey, the fighter squadron commander. “This shows the type of decisive decision making we get from our daily combat training.”
Mr. Fazlija said the brush with disaster has only bolstered his love of flying and his gratitude to his unexpected wingman.
“I truly appreciate Major Olson and the entire U.S. Air Force,” Mr. Fazlija said. “His professionalism led us to safety. I knew we were in good hands.”
It was cool to see, but I was shaking for the next 30 miles. ;~))
Hey, pretty good.
Ha!
Article I read on it several years ago claimed that the gun was driven by two hydraulic motors. If one motor was selected, the rate was about 2700 rounds per minute, with both motors, the rate was 4500 rounds per minute. It empties the full load of 30 mm ammo in about 30 seconds if it is just fired continuously.
I've seen it just decimate an old tank carcass with a good burst.
Even better?
Go to a gunnery range and watch them perform there!
They are an amazingly deadly airplane!
God! Everytime I see warthogs I think 1) could they be any uglier, and 2) I guess you really can fly a barn door if you put a big enough engine on it!
What a story! If Hollywood was smart, they'd make a few movies detailing incidents like this.
Oh, and after reading your post, I was sitting on the edge of my seat! clicking into your bio, I thought you may have been speaking from experience!! But fear not! You're still cooool in my book...
Never flown an A-10 - but have a few cool things in my hangar.
;-)
DD
(blush)...
Lord have mercy...
Just think what the bad guys feel when the Gattling gun is firing at 'em...
Do we also thank God for the electrical failure?
General Characteristics
Primary Function: A-10 -- close air support, OA-10 - airborne forward air control
Contractor: Fairchild Republic Co.
Power Plant: Two General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofans
Thrust: 9,065 pounds each engine
Length: 53 feet, 4 inches (16.16 meters)
Height: 14 feet, 8 inches (4.42 meters)
Wingspan: 57 feet, 6 inches (17.42 meters)
Speed: 420 miles per hour (Mach 0.56)
Ceiling: 45,000 feet (13,636 meters)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 51,000 pounds (22,950 kilograms)
Range: 800 miles (695 nautical miles)
Armament: One 30 mm GAU-8/A seven-barrel Gatling gun; up to 16,000 pounds (7,200 kilograms) of mixed ordnance on eight under-wing and three under-fuselage pylon stations, including 500 pound (225 kilograms) Mk-82 and 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) Mk-84 series low/high drag bombs, incendiary cluster bombs, combined effects munitions, mine dispensing munitions, AGM-65 Maverick missiles and laser-guided/electro-optically guided bombs; infrared countermeasure flares; electronic countermeasure chaff; jammer pods; 2.75-inch (6.99 centimeters) rockets; illumination flares and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.
Crew: One
Date Deployed: March 1976
Unit Cost: $9.8 million (fiscal 98 constant dollars)
Inventory: Active force, A-10, 143 and OA-10, 70; Reserve, A-10, 46 and OA-10, 6; ANG, A-10, 84 and OA-10, 18
Some of the coolest things about the Warthog are it's speed envelope, slow almost to a crawl, and the sound of the Pratt and Whitney engines. Nearly silent on slow approach and addictive on departure. The fans are just music to me.
BTTT
ping!
Thanks for the ping!
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