Blinded pilot down on one piece

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18 years

Posts: 857

This is one to make your blood run cold:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/7715345.stm

Damned good job on the part of all concerned, not least of all the poor chap in the Cessna who could so easily have lost it. Congratuations.

Original post

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15 years 5 months

Posts: 337

And according to the Yahoo report, the Tucano is a jet now. Typical accuracy I've come to expect from aviation news articles!

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20 years 6 months

Posts: 2,230

Great story, I hope the gentleman concerned also makes a full recovery. This is the RAF at its best.

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20 years 8 months

Posts: 8,505

I second your sentiments mate. It's great to hear some aviation news with a happy outcome. I'm sure we all wish him a speedy return to full health.

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

And according to the Yahoo report, the Tucano is a jet now. Typical accuracy I've come to expect from aviation news articles!

And do you think that really matters in an incident like this? The only important thing is the guy got down safely and was able to receive treatment. Let's hope he makes a recovery.

In a Country with a population the size of the UK there are going to be only a tiny minority who can tell the difference between a Tucano, Tornado and a Tipsy Nipper. I suspect there'd be even less who actually cared.

Congratulations to all those involved in getting him down safely and to the pilot for remaining calm enough to comply with instructions in such a stressful and traumatising situation.

Regards,

kev35

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20 years 8 months

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I concur, that said though it is annoying that the media seem to use "aviation" correspondents who are extremely well informed if they actually know one end of an aircraft from the other.

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15 years 9 months

Posts: 1,684

Great story, I hope the gentleman concerned also makes a full recovery. This is the RAF at its best.

This story sums up all that is good about the RAF and British Armed Forces. As are BA pilots - e.g. safe emergency near crash landing at Heathrow on flight from China when engines failed with supposed H2O in fuel/fuel lines.

For all they are maligned by PC type people the UK Armed Forces are still the best in the world.

Above and beyond the call of duty and succeed they did on this and many previous occasions.

It comes also just before Remembrance Sunday. God, miracles and skill all combined saved the light aircraft pilot and a possible fatal accident that may have taken more innocent lives on the ground.

Both RAF pilot and RAF Air Traffic Controller deserve wide acclaim.

Budgets for the continued training of good armed forces must continue in the UK as should comprehensive UK defence budgets.

In all this we must not forget the tenacity of the light aircraft pilot in being determined to get himself safely down. So what he 'bounced' when landing while nearly blind. I did when training with all my faculties.
God speed a full recovery if such is medically possible for Mr Oneill.

The Tucano is an excellent basic trainer and it served it’s purpose well in this respect.

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19 years 1 month

Posts: 6,043


The Tucano is an excellent basic trainer and it served it’s purpose well in this respect.

???
The Tucano was not (and is not) the best available.
I doubt the RAF ever wanted it !!
They did however really like the PC9 !!
The Tucano was a political solution,like many RAF a/c have been.
You obviously have never had to maintain/service 'Tincans'

cheers baz

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15 years 9 months

Posts: 1,684

Hi Bazv

Tucano best or not the best it did the job in this situation. The word is Basic trainer and if it produces excellent pilots who very quickly progress on to Jets and excel in their skills then it can't be all bad.

I shall not comment or criticise your comment/s about maintaining the Tucano. I do not have any expertise in that arena.

Budgets is what it's all about but it's better than no trainer for the RAF.

Jay

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19 years 1 month

Posts: 6,043

Hi Bazv

Tucano best or not the best it did the job in this situation. The word is Basic trainer and if it produces excellent pilots who very quickly progress on to Jets and excel in their skills then it can't be all bad.

I shall not comment or criticise your comment/s about maintaining the Tucano. I do not have any expertise in that arena.

Budgets is what it's all about but it's better than no trainer for the RAF.

Jay


Hi Jay

Sorry to argue Jay but the a/c does not produce the excellent pilots,that would be the high quality QFI's that instruct on these a/c..no argument from me about the very high quality of RAF flying instruction.
The selection of the tucano for the RAF had absolutely nothing to do with budgets,it was purely to provide jobs in NI.
The RAF also did not want the Bulldog many years ago,they much preferred the SF260 but of course that was not going to be built in scotland so .....
I suppose my final point would be that W Cdr Paul Gerrard would have helped out in any suitable a/c and also to add that Mr J O'Neill did an absolutely superb job getting his a/c safely down in extreme circumstances

cheers baz

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16 years

Posts: 46

Re Tucano; I worked in the MOD(PE) Tucano office for almost three years from the time of the first delivery. There was a saying which went like this:

Embraer designed a Skoda,
The RAF wanted a Rolls Royce,
But they were only paying for a Ford,
And they got a Jaguar!

Bearing in mind that Skodas were a joke then, and Jaguars had good performance and poor quality/reliability (at that time ), I think it is still a pretty accurate summary.

But they have only lost two Tucanos in accidents, I believe - that must say something positive, surely?

And, yes, of course, the procurement decision was political - what galled us was for MoD then to get criticised by the House of Commons Defence Committee in a large report which failed to even mention the name "Michael Heseltine", who was a friend of the Chairman (Michael Mates). And it still hurts.

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15 years 9 months

Posts: 1,684

[SIZE="1"][SIZE="1"]Re Tucano; I worked in the MOD(PE) Tucano office for almost three years from the time of the first delivery. There was a saying which went like this:

Embraer designed a Skoda,
The RAF wanted a Rolls Royce,
But they were only paying for a Ford,
And they got a Jaguar!

Bearing in mind that Skodas were a joke then, and Jaguars had good performance and poor quality/reliability (at that time ), I think it is still a pretty accurate summary.

But they have only lost two Tucanos in accidents, I believe - that must say something positive, surely?

And, yes, of course, the procurement decision was political - what galled us was for MoD then to get criticised by the House of Commons Defence Committee in a large report which failed to even mention the name "Michael Heseltine", who was a friend of the Chairman (Michael Mates). And it still hurts.

[/SIZE][/SIZE]
This is adding factual but humorous overtones, I like it and I am sure when Mr. O'Neill recovers he will also be able to laugh about it as he sounds that sort of 'chap'.

Embraer could have rather than a Skoda designed a Lada and then everyone would have been deep in the 'brown' stuff but they didn't.

Thanks to the 'Tuc' being a Skoda the RAF aren't as yet joining the land army 'down on the farm' where most of the 'brown' stuff ends up.

Let's all toast to good times and better informed politicians and civil servants and a forever increasing standard amongst RAF pilots. Hats off to the boys in blue.

As a footnote when I learnt to fly it was in an Auster, which got pranged badly on a huge pile of granite placed near the grass strip awaiting a runway tarmac upgrade.The superb Auster (in those days) was replaced by an Indian built Pushpak with a very sluggish (snail like) throttle.
It was like flying a Hindustan Ambassador car - Indian built version of ancient Morris Oxford which had leaf springs guaranteed to give you a sore back on the roads, but with a set of white walled tyres the same car was used by the Indian PM). - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Indian style.
It was inevitable that one bounced in one's early days as a trainee pilot as fine throttle control was non existant on the Pushpak - (pity they didn't include the Ambassador like leaf springs on the Pushpak for the amount of bouncing we did - synonymous with Tigger in Winnie the Pooh).

That said two of my school and batch mates are senior captians on Airbus and another is a Senior Captain on United Airlines so like the RAF trainees on the 'Tuc' who go on to better things they too succeeded the rigors of the Morris Oxford like Indian Pushpak.

Also we had no RT, it was all by visual and in an emergency the tower would use a very pistol if any unscheduled civillian airline flights came in. We used grass parallel to the main runway and our circuit and landings were well clear of routine airline flight paths.

When I first flew out of Biggin Hill I remember coming in with my instructor into finals and the ATC squalked in my ear "Watch your landing speed Cessna G.... (I was in a Cessna 150), there is a twin engined Beechcraft coming in right behind you at over twice your landing speed, so any doubts about making it first time please go round again". I remember glancing back over my shoulder and there was a continuous series of light aircraft all lining up in circuit waiting to come in to land. With my instructors hand on my hand on the throttle I made it safely down, and the Beechcraft didn't 'prang' us.

Member for

19 years 1 month

Posts: 6,043

Just a last comment Tucano - wise,when these a/c are ground running or taxying the noise is unbelievable,extremely loud and unpleasant,when any of the Pilatus PC trainers (PC9 etc) taxys past you hardly know they are there,very quiet indeed. Doh !! :rolleyes:
I have never heard anything from our Health and Safety fascists about this a/c noise hmmmm strange that,they like imposing minor irritating rules on us but when it comes to major issues.... silence !!:rolleyes:

cheers baz