I don't know what to say.
Bryan
Good photos of a pair of F-18 Hornets at Top Gun which had a mid-air
collision and then the pilots "John Wayned" them back to base.
Anyone has got to be NUTS to be a Naval Aviator. Hook down - hydraulics
gone - incredible... This truly is a miracle; two heavily damaged
aircraft. The pilots would have been justified in "punching out" but
instead, they chose to bring the jets in. This endangered their
lives but saved the taxpayers about 80 million dollars. What is
especially intriguing is in picture 03, notice the radome, radar and
all of the avionics equipment, everything, in front is gone. This
created several problems for the pilot: aerodynamics, eventual loss
of hydraulics due to loss of fluid, navigation, and probably the
most amazing, as the pieces fell away, some debris had to be
ingested by the engines (F.O.D.) and he still was able to bring it
home! The story behind them is: Two F/A-18 Hornets from Top Gun were
Dogfighting and made a head on pass, just a bit too close. One got
home with part of the left wing and left vertical fin and rudder
missing, while the other jet is missing everything forward of the
cockpit pressure bulkhead and is a flying convertible because the
canopy is shattered too. These guys are lucky. It shows how rugged
these aircraft are...Also shows how good our pilots are.
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