What happens when a P-3 (CP-140) Stalls and pulls 7g's?

[invertedattitude]

Note not only the separated wing panel, but the noted recovery altitude of such a large aircraft......

Can you say fresh pack of Fruit of the Looms?

[WJflyer]

Lockheed knows how to build their birds tough. Look at how long some of our Hercs have been flying and the flight hours and cycles accumulated; we have blown well past the manufacturer's expected airframe life a long, long time ago. Hence why they are completely bent out of shape and are due for retirement.

[jpilot77]

Holy Crap!!! New pair of boxers indeed!

[bmc]

"...This is what I heared so far (info from several sources put together by me): At NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, P-3C 161331 was doing a Functional Check Flight. They shut down #1 engine. With #1 off, #2 engine exhibited vibrations and was shutdown. With two engines off on the same side the aircraft stalled. 7 G's were reported to pull it out of the stall. 45 consecutive rivets were pulled out on the stbd wing during the 7 G pull out (rolling pull), after peaking at negative 2.4g's as well. They did five spin rotations from 5500 ft- - they bottomed out "between 50 and 200 ft"!! They could see the inside of the fuel tanks when they landed. They were at 160 KIAS, appr flaps during a prop fails to feather drill on #1 when #2 started surging. They bagged #2, but while doing so got to 122 KIAS. When they added power, they were way below VMC air, and departed. SDRS recorded the flaps being raised and the landing gear being cycled down and then back up. Aircraft released all the fuel in tank #3 when it appears that the seam between planks 3 and 4 split. Tank #4 also lost its fuel load when plank #1 separated from rest of the aircraft wing. Regards, P-3 Orion Research Group - The Netherlands..




More pics

http://www.network54.com/Forum/219149/m ... and+Photos



http://navlog.org/p-3_strike.html

[invertedattitude]

That's just insane, unbelievable piloting to recover in such a situation

[pontius]

Invertedattitude said..........



" That's just insane, unbelievable piloting to recover in such a situation"




Excuse me, but........ oh! never mind.

[Flying Nutcracker]

I think what you're trying to say is that if you make a mess you'd better clean it up yourself too!

[grimey]

More pics

http://www.network54.com/Forum/219149/m ... and+Photos



http://navlog.org/p-3_strike.html

[4Stroke]

That's just insane, unbelievable piloting to recover in such a situation

hmmmmmmm.......A PPL multi student with a basic grasp of multi theory and understanding of Vmc could have avoided the whole thing alltogether.

*sits back in armchair quarterback mode. Helmet on

[Hedley]

I had no idea so many people here have Orion PIC time!

[invertedattitude]

I don't speak of how they got the airplane into the situation in the first place, which is at best quite questionable.... but the fact they did recover it regardless of how the spin was entered...

[bmc]

It's interesting to see the damage to the wing in light of the fact that some early L-188 Electra's shed complete wings in flight. The reason's behind it were completely unrelated, but it's an interesting annecdote.

I loved the Electra. I did an 8-9 nonstop flight in one about 25 years ago. Part of that flight was below 300 feet.

Can any of you oldtimers guess who's airplane that was and what we were doing for 8-9 hours?

[linecrew]

You must be talking about Nordair's birds, NDZ and NAY. Must have been a great view from up in that bubble!






NAY after Nordair's merger with Canadian

[crazy_aviator]

Concerning one of the replies about how great the pilots were by rescuing a bad situation, Let me just say that if the pilots were that stupid to get where they got , It wouldnt take much more than the brain of a gnat to get out of THAT predicament ! It is incredible how egotistical and proud and ignorant so many pilots are ( I am a pilot and AME BTW ) Oh , and did I mention self centred and self righteous ?

[Tubthumper]

I am a pilot and AME BTW

...you forgot to add 'Armchair QuarterBack' in your answer to the question nobody asked....

While you're at it, you can critique this one and let us know what you think:

[canwhitewolf]

and how does one pull 7 G at 122 knots at or near stall condition?

[bmc]

Clunk...right you are. Nordair's Electra's. I knew Ed. I worked at Nordair from 81 until it was bought by CP.

Thanks Linecrew. Nice to see those machines again. It's amazing to look at those planes head on with all engines turning. There is only about 10 feet of wing that doesn't get prop wash.

[xsbank]

Tub, nothing seen. Canwhitewolf, give your head a shake and try again.

[Rockie]

and how does one pull 7 G at 122 knots at or near stall condition?

When this thread first started I was going to point out that it's impossible to pull 7 g's unless you're going really really fast. But then I realized it said "rolling g". A while back someone with a really good understanding of aerodynamics gave a good explanation of rolling g, and I certainly think it's possible even from a stalled condition. A 3-4 g pullout from a dive after recovering from the stall, plus an aggressive roll to wings level flight could certainly pop some rivets I would think.

I've been told one of the characteristics of that airplane is the huge amount of airflow over the wing (and the resulting lift) the engines provide. If both engines are failed on one side, that wing would stall sooner than the other side. It says 1 and 2 were shutdown, and it looks like the damage was on the right wing.

[canwhitewolf]

dltd

[xsbank]

Clever of you to have spotted the sarcasm, Canwhitewolf, and kind of you to explain it to me. I interpreted your rather offhand comment as a scoff at the description of the incident. I'm easily provoked, these days.

Haven't you ever pooched a spin recovery in a small a/c and found your self pointed straight down? Imagine the ground being VERY close and having to avoid said terrain? It would be easy to pull g's in a recovery if you thought you were about to intersect with the surface of the earth, and easy to bust the aerodyne if you are pulling more than it was designed (50 years ago!) for.

I actually think this recovery was remarkable, not only considering the recovery was made with 2 dead engines, but the a/c nearly disintegrated. As to why the incident occurred at all, I think in order to pass judgement you would need to have some knowledge of P-3s and what the mission was, otherwise all you can judge is the recovery, which, like I said, was remarkable.

[just curious]

So, a check ride, 2 real engine shutdowns, spin, recover at 50 feet... makes my rides seem pretty tame.

"Simulated low oil pressure right" my ass! I'm upgrading to this kind of ride now. Well, for recurrents anyway.

Wonder how the ride debrief went?

[Highflyinpilot]

HEY EVERYBODY, CRAZY_AVIATOR IS A PILOT AND AN AME. just in case you missed it in the post.


7 posts must be a troll account.

[Siddley Hawker]

I'm upgrading to this kind of ride now.

Yeah but you're gonna stay on the ground and watch, right?

[BigB]

Wow, those are incredible pictures.

Not trying to armchair here, but perhaps this incident reinforces the concept of "above all, fly the aircraft". It's understandable that at times we may get distracted from this primary function.

Great recovery. A round of new Joe Boxers for all.