A couple of alert readers have, well... alerted
me to this
article.
Seems like a number of folks have had a couple of
mishaps related to the brake system, in particular non-skid failures.
Let me just say this about that (and
I'm only speaking of my own experience): The FA-18 brake system has never let me
down. Even when it failed. Which it has, a couple of times. Usually after
returning from a long deployment - you don't use the anti-skid at sea. No need
for it, what with all the arresting hooks and wires always getting tangled up
with each other. So like anything you don't use for six months, you sort of
suspect that maybe it won't work when you need it, and you build back-up plans.
Which is not a bad way to go in any case, for any system.
Dirty little secret that the airline
folks don't want you to know? Things break, on airplanes. All the time. Which is
why the engineers put redundant systems in them: Alternate hydraulic lines.
Emergency brake accumulators. Tailhooks (not just an excuse to party!). The
military knows this, just like your airline folks do. It's one of the reasons a
guy can make so damned much money flying a jumbo jet to Singapore, because
frankly? When everything is working right it's just about the most boring, least
demanding job you can possibly
imagine.
We military aviators get paid
a
little
more than other officers who are
nearly
as qualified (sit down ,
over there!),
but what the military understands quite well is that is that its aviators are
very strongly motivated to bring the jet back in once piece regardless of
exigency because A) not doing so reflects poorly on a pilot's professionalism,
2) bringing back a crippled jet safely gives you serious cred, not to mention
bragging rights, and thirdly; you could no-kidding hurt yourself, if you weren't
careful.
The fact is that airplanes are
made to fly, and generally speaking they do so very well, unless foolishly
meddled with. As a responsible aviator, you just do your best to keep them away
from the ground, and by and large things work out just fine. Airplanes are
not
particularly good at drag racing on the macadam however, which is the closest
possible parallel I can think of to the take-off and landing phases of flight.
Those regimes are pretty derned dangerous and unforgiving because (looks over
his shoulder): You're already on the
ground!
So a brake failure at 150
knots can get your attention. Which is why we're taught to get her back in the
air, where she's comfortable, until we can sort it all out. Emergency brakes?
Got those. Tailhook? Got one of those too. Got choices. Choices are
good.
What, not enough gas to go
around? No landing reserve? Well, then. I see. That's a different problem
entirely, and it doesn't trace back to the anti-skid wiring harness.
No - that's usually a
stick-and-throttle-interface issue. Maintenance control can fix that.
Their solution? Remove and replace
pilot. Jet works 4.0.
Posted @
07:34 PM
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"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." - John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Ceasar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friederich Nietzsche
