Art Nalls' Updates
Art Nalls has kindly added us to his mailing list and from now on we will be posting his updates here.
UPDATE 16 – 15 November, 2007
You may have noticed that the video of the emergency landing and the photos of the prone Sea Harrier have been removed. I’ve been a bad, bad puddy tat. In the hast of getting the video and photos to the web, I neglected the huge, 4 foot by 8 foot sign at the entrance to the naval base stating “Photography Prohibited aboard this Installation.” I didn’t think they meant me.
It was an honest mistake, so we removed all the video and stills and have submitted them to the appropriate authorities for release approval. I hope to have an answer within the next few days. I don’t believe any harm was done beyond failing to get permission. I just couldn’t read the sign traveling at 350 knots, with a HYD 1 light flashing in my eyes.
We’ve taken the past couple of days to recount the events, document our lessons learned, and determine the way forward. Obviously, we need to recover the aircraft to the hangar and fully assess the damage, but it does not appear serious. Parts are on order from the UK and most of them will be bolt-off / bolt-on. A few minor metal pieces will be repaired and we’ll start our ground testing anew to insure that we haven’t damaged the engine or any other systems. The single most time-consuming element may be the export approval process from the UK for the components so we’re starting that immediately.
Our plan is to tow the airplane, intact, from NAS Patuxent River to St. Mary’s airport, 8 miles away. The road is certainly wide enough, there are no obstacles and the permit process is in work. Much larger loads have been moved over these same roads. We will provide pictures of that trek and maybe a few surprises. Our little minds have been working overtime during this, and humor seems to be an outlet for the financial pain sure to come.
I’m attaching comments from the other team member’s perspective for these first flights. The first is from Joe Anderson as the Landing Signal Officer (LSO), who is the ground observer for all takeoffs and landings. LSO’s are used aboard ship and we determined early in our process that an LSO was absolutely essential to flight safety for our operation, at least in the early stages of flight test.
Joe, is a retired Marine Corps Major General (2-stars for those who go by stars), a former Harrier Test Pilot, and a helluva good pilot. He is recently type-rated in the L-39 jet aircraft and will be the second to fly the Sea Harrier. He and I have known each other for nearly 30 years and I’m extremely fortunate to have him join the team. I could think of no one more qualified to act as LSO.
Anyway, here are his comments:
Saturday’s brief was thorough and professional. We collectively came to the conclusion to stay gear down and minimize workload. We also wanted to minimize distractions and it was determined that Chase would make the radio broadcasts and assist in the lookout tasks. This was very useful as the SHAR experienced what sounded to the LSO to be stuck mike on transmit. The appropriate decision to make one full stop roll on landing relying primarily on aerodynamic flight controls worked well. On both flights, we agreed that any serious emergency was best handled with a divert to NAS Patuxent River with its longer multiple runways, VSTOL pad and 24/7 crash crew.
On the Sunday flight, Art personally interacted with the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department and actually postponed launch until they arrived. Shortly after takeoff, I heard chatter about Hydraulic fluctuations on the HYD 1 system. I pulled out my checklist to the same page as the chase observer and listened to the challenges and responses. I then grabbed the 2 maintenance personnel and headed to the base. My fear was that we would be delayed at the gate but we were fortunate. We arrived at the base of the tower and I saw plenty of good concrete and wanted to land the aircraft right next to the crash crew. The tower preferred the newly built Joint Strike Fighter pad (with its fluted grating). This turned out to be ideal and the SHAR started to decell to the pad. I stayed in the truck in order to remain capable of calling out corrections to the pilot who was clearly going to be required to hover well before we planned it. It was unnecessary as the pilot performed a steady and flawless deceleration to a hover over the pad. I got out and checked him out and he appeared to have all his landing gear down and locked. His landing light was on which we had all been misinformed for years as an indication of gear down and locked. After a very smooth and gentle touchdown, the starboard outrigger and nosegear abruptly collapsed and Art immediately shut the aircraft down, safetied his ejection seat and exited the aircraft. In my opinion, his superior aviation skill and calm demeanor probably kept the cockpit intact and prevented serious injury.
Labels: Art Nalls
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