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That was most certainly not the PAC for two reasons:

1. The PAC is only for use when firing the gun, which he was not. The switch doesn't do a thing unless the gun is armed up, which it wasn't.

2. Even if it was armed (which it wasn't), the PAC has never kicked-off for me, ever. Granted, I only have 800 hours in the Hawg.

My best guess is one of two things:

1. He was switching the VTR on and off. This is the most likely explanation.

2. He was holding the canopy assist handle during G's, which I do now and again. Seeing as how he put his hand up their briefly and removed it, he was probably just switchig te VTR on or off.

Deleted

That had been my original thought, that it was the hud/tvm switch.

What does the PAC switch do?

I believe it turns on the SAS system during gun fire.

my first thought was he was resetting the G-meter

That is a perfectly plausible and likely explanation as well...

The PAC switch is the Precision Attitude Control switch. In simple terms, when it is on, it provides aimpoint control when the gun trigger is depressed. In general, the gun has a destabilizing effect on the nose track of the jet when fired. In addition, during high angle strafe, the gun will have a tendency to cause the jet to increase its dive angle slightly. PAC uses trim tab control inputs to provide a relatively steady aimpoint once the trigger is squeezed to its first detent. It is one of the systems to makes the GAU-8 one of the most accurate guns to be mounted on an aircraft. I'm not sure why the demo pilot would care about resetting it during a demo sortie, or why he would even engage it at all.

jackb,
I believe the PAC is hwat some of us used to know as the Pitch-Trim Compensator. It keep the nose of the aircraft from moving during gun fire. I have seen in the past that when PAC doesn't work, it can cause a \"pourpoising\" effect during low-angle strafes.

Honestly, it could be the MASTER CAUTION he is reaching for as well. I am looking over the video again now.

The first time he reaches up is (obviously) to raise the gear. Some of the pilots (civillian included) will all tell you that on take off, in a retractable gear aircraft, you keep your hand on the throttle at all times, except to raise the gear, and as soon as the handle goes up, the hand goes directly back to the throttle.

The second time, (4:03) it looks like he is just resting his hand on the glare shield momentarily. The canopy assist handle is below his elbow.

Next, at 4:38, he resets the G-meter, following a couple hard banks, going into a big climb-out.

Okay....so after reviewing, I was way off the the Master Caution thought...but I think I figured it all out.

Anyway, great vid ghorsepower! Thanks!

--Raven

I cant believe you guys are debating what switch Turk was flipping during the video. Yes it was the PAC switch I was there I personally debriefed him the minute he stepped out of the jet. He said every time he bottomed out on a maunever it would kick off and he would just reach up and reset it. The aircraft we were using there that weekend were not demo jets and weren't used to the punishment. I have no idea why he engages the PAC during demos? Could be something due to the aim point as said above?

Heres some trivia for you all as well. Do you guys notice during rolls in the video his decelerons look different in anyway? If you did you get a cookie, during rolls he would open the speedbrakes just a hair to make the hog roll faster. Now I know some of you stick actuators out there are gonna call BS on that but if you know who Turk or Doogie are then ask them, they will back me up.

Seeeeeeeeee?!? I told you so.

yep, fanning the speedbrakes makes the jet roll faster. It's common knowledge amongst pilots, but most have no reason to ever use it.

That really surprises me about PAC but I'll take your word for it. I have no idea why it would even be engaged at all for a demo.

Edited See Below

And for those cavemen among us who don't know how to download torrents (i.e. myself), can you give me a brief checklist on how to do it?

Cheers! M2

Alright disreguard the above post I got the bugs ironed out so here is a direct link.

http://124.40.55.185/2003A10.avi

Thanks man, I can handle downloading the file. However, I replaced the music with some AC/DC...just sounds better to me!

Cheers! M2

Actually I did the exact same video to classical tunes for the older folks , but unfortunately I lost it in a HD crash.