WT Forums

I am currently re re re! reading 'Warthog' by William Smallwood and coupled with the recent release of the mishap report on the 23 FG Hog last Sept it got me thinking about 'manual reversion'
Do pilots get experience of the Hog in 'manual reversion' during initial training or currency training, or is this just the preserve of the FCF qualified pilots?

Back in the day, we flew man rev in initial training, and then once in a while during your career. It also used to be part of the Weapons School syllabus. The FCF guys are the most experienced at it.

Coach

Many thanks Coach, always meant to ask the question.
It never fails to amaze me how some of those Hog's got back, not only in GW1 but OIF too with the FT and BC jets getting home.
Then again, they did come from the Republic family line.

I talked to Osans current FCF pilot today. He told me that pilots do Man Rev once in initial pilot training. He said it was like his 4th flight ever in the Hog. He said you will never do it again, unless you are in combat getting shot at and need it, or you just become an FCF guy.

_________________
PIL SUNG!

Thanks HawgMXman, the policy makes sense, I guess once is enough to see how the jet will behave.

OK, I'll bite. What the hell is Manual Reversion? Be gentle with me, I was a load toad.

_________________
Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

It is a backup flight control system for total hydraulic failure. I didn't like doing them on FCFs because you are supposed to do it in a near max airspeed dive. It can be scary. Before the war it was only landed that way at Edwards by test pilots. One young OA10 jock killed himself trying to land a shot up Hog with no hydraulics. He should have punched out. The jet was toast. His SOF should have ordered him to punch. Another guy pulled it off and got a DFC.

Leroy

Oh, I thought that puppy was designed to be flown with little to no hyd. I guess landing one is a whole other ballgame.

_________________
Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

I was reading that part of William Smallwoods book 'Warthog' this very evening, seems he had no upward elevator authority in the usual sense, instead increasing power was the only way to increase the pitch.
Other Hogs had pulled off man rev landings, but they appeared to have better elevator control.

Nail 69 must have felt like giving it a go, he got it down but it flipped over.

He lost control on short final, rolled and crashed...tragic. As Leroy said, supervision should have helped make a better decision. The only man rev landings up to that point were test situations where everything was controlled. Nail 69 had no pitch control other than power...very bad situation.

I think the successful man rev landing might have been before he busted his ass. Even the Edwards boys didn't try it with battle damage, an ALQ 119, and single engine. The rudder is manual as I recall. The nose also rises and falls drastically with power changes. He tried to save a junk jet and bought it. Not smart.

Man rev was intended to get you to a safe area to eject. I wouldn't land one. Although when 2 or 3 HEI 30mm rounds went off under my butt I thought I might get to try.

Lt Patrick Olson (Nail 51) in 77-0197 tried his landing on 27 Feb 1991. This was 5 days after Capt Rich Biley landed a shot to hell 79-1081 in man rev. Biley had no brakes when he touched down. Sheared the gear after a wild ride. Said he would have punched had he known he had no brakes. Beleive or not they fixed the jet.

I think Olson thought he could do it too. They buried his jet near where it crashed.

_________________
Leroy
Retired Hog Driver
FWIC Graduate
Gunsmoke 83 A10 Top Gun

Bileys 181 was buried next to Olsons.
One of the 'Cajuns' had a man rev landing and his jet ended up back in service and eventually in a museum.
The penultimate Hog built, 664, took a decent hit in the starboard wing and is still flying today.

The same 664 that was in the 74th at Moody and now sits here at Osan? Crewed her last week during the exercise.

_________________
PIL SUNG!

Yup.

79-0181 LANDED OK THE JET BLEW A TIRE AND WENT OFF RUNWAY , THE GEAR SHEARED OFF WHEN SHE TRIED TO GO CROSS COUNTRY IN THE DIRT,

77-0197 WAS SHOT ALL TO HELL AND BACK. WHEN SHE FLEW OVER YOU COULD SEE DAYLIGHT ALL THROUGH THE BACK OF THE JET . . AND BY LOOKING AT THE JET IN FLIGHT HE SOULD HAVE NEVER TRIED TO LAND . THE ONE ENGINE RUNNING DID NOT SOUND LIKE IT HAD FULL POWER. HE LANDED HER REALLY HARD AND BOUNCHED BACK UP ROLLED OVER AND HIT THE GROUND INVERTED. I NEVER WENT TO EOR TO SEE BUT I THINK SHE CAME DOWN SHORT OF RUNWAY BY A FEW FEET.
0197 WAS THE 3RD CRASH ON KKMC DURING DESERT STORM. WE ALSO HAD A F-4 CRASH AND A F-16 COME IN WITH NO NOSE GEAR.