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| One of my favorites from "Wildcats to Tomcats" by Barret Tillman, this story is from Wally Schirra, one of the Mercury astronauts.
One of the base pet peeves at Quonset was gear-up landings, especially in context of the budget restrictions. Land wheels up and you were in big trouble. Therefore, one day a group of pilots watched the landing pattern with additional interest when an F8F gear-upped. We gasped in horror as the Bearcat skidded off the runway on its belly. A wingtip caught in the soft shoulder, slowly flipping the Grumman onto its back. It was propped on the rudder and pilots headrest.
Several of us sprinted to the scene, anxious to save the pilot from his inverted embarrassment. But we needn't have worried. That was one astute aviator hanging upside-down in his seat. By increments the landing gear began unlocking, inching its way to the down position (straight up in the air) as the pilot frantically worked the hand powered hydraulic pump to "lower" his wheels. If he pumped fast enough, the gear would be fully extended by the time the accident investigators arrived-avoiding the penalty for a gear up landing!
You have to get up pretty early to outsmart a fighter pilot. | |
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No highway in the sky.
