On a wing and a prayer!

Rando

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Joined
Oct 30, 2003
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Mesa, AZ
Is this what is meant by the saying, "On a wing and a prayer"?
 

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Crips Randy

Where did you find those pics. Was there an article that went with them???


Thom
 
Hello Randy.

Thankyou for the lovely pictures.

How about "On a Rotary wing and a prayer". Sounds better.

Regards.
Rehan
 
Wing?

Wing?

I wonder if it was planned to fly that way? How much of an aircraft can be removed and still fly .............. ?

I bet if going fast enough he could have removed the other wing also. I have seen pilots hover a jet two feet off the ground, sitting motionless like a rocket, and shoot straight up. Those wings are just for show...... :)

Thomas
 
I think those jets were from Israel. I think that when they either collided or the wing was shot off..... the pilot was aware of the damage but not the EXTENT of the damage. They flew it home and could hardly believe just how much was missing when they got out to look at it.

I think it was also one of the first time these US made jets actually saw damage from combat and the US was astounded at how well they stood up.

At least that is what kinda remember from the History channel... ICBW


That post was great to read gyronutt..... thanks for typing all that. Pretty neat !
 
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This is the first time I have heard of this story.
My only comments are the landing pic shows the left wing with lowerd flap and no counter aileron, and no rudder application, also the right elevator seems to be partialy missing, but not on the ground.
This landing configuration dosnt make sense to me???
Also tell me who would be game enougth to stand on the runway and let this aircraft fly over while you took pics???
Sam.
 
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"Back in the day" of the old A-N navigation ranges there was a DC-3 departed Denver enroute to Phoenix. IFR being what it was they didn't quite have the altitude they needed and collided with a mountain top. Everything from the outboard portion of the port engine nacelle was torn away. According to the pilot, "It kept trying to turn right so I cranked in some left rudder trim and made the rest of the flight that way."

Sometimes things just defy the science of aerodynamics.
 
When those pictures first made the rounds a scanned PDF copy supposedly of the Isreli pilot's accident report was included. It was a mid-air training accident according, to the report. It has been documented on one of the Discovery channels and if I remember correctly was also reported on Fox News when it happened a couple of years ago.
As for the DC-3, Charlie you got it right on. Less than 3' of wing remained outboard of the engine. They used to have pictures of it a Sky Harbor in Terminal 2. The last time I saw any pictures of it was at Deer Valley (DVT) before the forced remodeling of the terminal. I don't know if the picture burned or not. There were a lot of interesting old photos out there.
 
I Love Stories

I Love Stories

Guy,

I loved reading the history you posted, if there was a special place for such educational stuff on this forum you would find my log in there every day. This country needs more memories like these.

Not many people face crisis in such ways and when some of us do, it is these stories that get us through. What one person has done, yet another can too. Good vs Evil is a never ending story and evil comes in many forms and not just through human hands. Evil comes by way of events and no good follows in its wake. America needs these lessons taught by the good will of others to guide us through difficult times.

I am serious, I never learned much of history except for Columbus sailing the ocean blue. And then I never realized that the west coast was already populated. It kinda takes the wind out of Columbus' sails knowing he was not the first to discover such a great land.

About losing parts of your aircraft .......... Army instructs, "If the aircraft is still flying, continue to fly it." Warning lights on the dash board light up specific areas in your brain also. When the entire board lights up your brain gets jammed and the only thought then is to keep flying the damn thing, try whatever, and use what works. I hope I am not stating the obvious in a foolish way.

Gyros are no different than a billion dollar military fighter when it comes to getting the thing into the air.

Thomas:eek:
 
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