Flight Without A Fin

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 01/14/2014 at 15:27 • Filed to: planelopnik

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On January 10, 1964, a 4-man civilian crew, flying a B-52H on loan from the Air Force and commanded by Instructor Pilot Chuck Fisher, flew a test mission to record sensor data for high speed, low altitude flight, and how such a regime would affect the airframe. Flying from Wichita, the crew encountered severe turbulence at 14,000 ft over northern New Mexico's Sangre de Christo Mountains. The turbulence, though lasting only 9 seconds, was so severe that the vertical stabilizer was torn off the Stratofortress. With the loss of yaw control from the missing stabilizer, and a center of gravity that had shifted due to the loss of the approximately 2000-pound fin, the pilots followed the first rule of aviation—fly the plane. Fisher and his crew managed to control the aircraft and call for assistance from chase planes and Boeing engineers. After flying for six hours, and deciding to divert to Blytheville, Arkansas for more favorable conditions, they landed the plane safely.

Not wanting to waste a good teaching moment, the Air Force produced the following training film, Flight Without A Fin , to instruct pilots on how to deal with such an event. Narrated by mission pilot Richard Curry, and using video recorded by the F-100 chase planes, the film shows the B-52H flying without its vertical stabilizer, describes the actions taken by the crew and ground-based engineers, and shows the eventual safe landing in Arkasas. Fascinating stuff, and a terrific example of crew coordination in the face of potential disaster.

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 01/14/2014 at 15:28

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flying with a finn

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 01/14/2014 at 15:29

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Shoulda seen that coming.

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 01/14/2014 at 15:30

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nobody expects a Finnish inquisition! our chief weapons are surprise...

Sunray09 > MonkeePuzzle 01/14/2014 at 15:31

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I see what you did there..

Sunray09 > Sunray09 01/14/2014 at 15:32

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Flight without a wing!

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 01/14/2014 at 15:32

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Not the Comfy Chair!!

Fookin' Prawns > ttyymmnn 01/14/2014 at 15:37

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This is so freaking cool. Amazing they were able to fly with only 17% of the fin left.

Chteelers > ttyymmnn 01/14/2014 at 17:04

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I would imagine the wide-set engines gave a significant contribution to yaw control using differential thrust.

ttyymmnn > Chteelers 01/14/2014 at 17:06

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Yup. They also dropped the rear landing gear and used air brake spoilers, both of which were aft of the COG. Damned good airmanship.

Chteelers > ttyymmnn 01/14/2014 at 17:10

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Didn't see the rear gear at first, but that totally makes sense. Brilliant thinking.

ttyymmnn > Chteelers 01/14/2014 at 17:26

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Do you remember the movie Firefox with Clint Eastwood? I read the book long before the movie came out, and it is a great read, with lots more detail than in the movie, especially since, with a mind-controlled airplane, a lot happens inside the pilot's head. Anyway, at a certain point in the dogfight between the two Firefoxes, Eastwood gets himself into a flat spin from which he can't recover. As his mind is racing and he starts to black out, he remembers something he learned flying the F-4: When in a flat spin, extend the gear. The added drag will slow the spin and allow for recovery. I'm not sure if that would actually work, but it certainly sounds plausible. In the case of the B-52H, extending the rear gear only gave them more vertical stabilization due to the increased drag aft of COG. As you say, damned brilliant.

Brian, The Life of > ttyymmnn 01/14/2014 at 19:09

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Much worse: Fluffy pillows!

JACU - I've got bonifides. > ttyymmnn 01/14/2014 at 19:29

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Buff dude!

Chteelers > ttyymmnn 01/15/2014 at 08:10

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Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > ttyymmnn 02/18/2014 at 11:47

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F15s managed to do it without a wing:

Prophet of hoon > ttyymmnn 02/18/2014 at 12:14

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Balls, he's got them. Bet it took a forklift to get them out of that plane upon landing...

I do wonder, however, if a reason for using Arkansas as the landing zone (for favorable conditions) was because they had a forklift standing by that could carry Hillary's balls - and they figured it'd be large enough for the pilot's?

ttyymmnn > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. 02/18/2014 at 12:18

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F/A-18s, too, but with a bit more wing left.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > ttyymmnn 02/18/2014 at 13:09

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With wings, anything more than none helps!