Kindly submitted by John Ward -
John carries out regular fast taxi runs of the Lightning Preservation Group's aircraft at Bruntingthorpe.
I flew XS420 many times during my time as the senior instructor on the QWI staff at Coltishall in the early seventies. An incident that befell '420 is pictured in Stewart Scott's EE Lightning Vol II.
On 31 January 1973, Capt Gary Catren, a USAF exchange officer, planned a reheat stream take-off as number two in a pair staff training mission led by the 2T Squadron CO, Wg Cdr Paul Hobley. In the right-hand seat was a student nearing the end of his OCU course, Flt Lt George Smith.
Everything appeared normal as the reheats were selected at the start of the take-off roll, but when the stick was moved fully back at around 140 kts it became apparent that the No 1 reheat had failed and that acceleration was less than expected. Gary cancelled No 1 reheat and continued with the No1 in max dry and the No 2 in full reheat. However, at around 155 kts Gary was still unable to raise the nosewheel and elected to abort the take-off. It was at that moment that he uttered a very short expletive which was interpreted by George as 'chute and so George promptly pulled the brake-chute handle from the right-hand seat. Unfortunately, the chute streamed a fraction before Gary had been able to cancel the No 2 reheat and the chute was shock-loaded and candled by the jet efflux. Although there was still around half the runway left to run, Gary was unable, without the aid of the 'chute, to stop the jet and went off the end at around 100 kts, taking out the barrier and finishing up in the grass over-run area. The main wheels sank to about half diameter but the nose-wheel was much deeper, making the task of recovering the jet much more difficult.
It took almost two days to get '420 back to the hangar, assessed as Cat 3. In a stroke of irony, the Squadron senior engineer officer, responsible for recovering the jet, was also a USAF exchange officer. XS420 was repaired by a team from the MU and returned to squadron flying in mid-September.
My thanks go to John for writing this piece and allowing its use on the website.
Return To Lightning Memories Page
John carries out regular fast taxi runs of the Lightning Preservation Group's aircraft at Bruntingthorpe.
I flew XS420 many times during my time as the senior instructor on the QWI staff at Coltishall in the early seventies. An incident that befell '420 is pictured in Stewart Scott's EE Lightning Vol II.
On 31 January 1973, Capt Gary Catren, a USAF exchange officer, planned a reheat stream take-off as number two in a pair staff training mission led by the 2T Squadron CO, Wg Cdr Paul Hobley. In the right-hand seat was a student nearing the end of his OCU course, Flt Lt George Smith.
Everything appeared normal as the reheats were selected at the start of the take-off roll, but when the stick was moved fully back at around 140 kts it became apparent that the No 1 reheat had failed and that acceleration was less than expected. Gary cancelled No 1 reheat and continued with the No1 in max dry and the No 2 in full reheat. However, at around 155 kts Gary was still unable to raise the nosewheel and elected to abort the take-off. It was at that moment that he uttered a very short expletive which was interpreted by George as 'chute and so George promptly pulled the brake-chute handle from the right-hand seat. Unfortunately, the chute streamed a fraction before Gary had been able to cancel the No 2 reheat and the chute was shock-loaded and candled by the jet efflux. Although there was still around half the runway left to run, Gary was unable, without the aid of the 'chute, to stop the jet and went off the end at around 100 kts, taking out the barrier and finishing up in the grass over-run area. The main wheels sank to about half diameter but the nose-wheel was much deeper, making the task of recovering the jet much more difficult.
It took almost two days to get '420 back to the hangar, assessed as Cat 3. In a stroke of irony, the Squadron senior engineer officer, responsible for recovering the jet, was also a USAF exchange officer. XS420 was repaired by a team from the MU and returned to squadron flying in mid-September.
My thanks go to John for writing this piece and allowing its use on the website.
Return To Lightning Memories Page