Why do pilots have checklists? (large pic warning)

[Jerk]

So they won't forget to lower the gear on their gillion dollar airplanes:

http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/b-1b_recovery_1.jpg
http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/b-1b_recovery_2.jpg
http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/b-1b_recovery_4.jpg

http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/bombers4.html

I could say something mean and nasty, but I won't. Okay, I can't help it. I graduated with a 3.29gpa from college, got a pilot's license, and had much better than 20/20 vision, and the AF wouldn't give me the time of day (and would not say why). Haha. I hope the pilot was an Academy grad. Yes, I'm bitter.

[SicEmBaylor]

I think a good way to correct this problem is to make them pay the taxpayers back by garnishing their wages.

[afs]

I'm friends with the investigating officer of this incident. Turns out that they didn't realize the gear wasn't down until the nose gear was supposed to hit and they noticed that the plane dropped a little lower than normal.

The pilot and co-pilot will never set foot in an USAF cockpit again.

[Jerk]

I'm friends with the investigating officer of this incident. Turns out that they didn't realize the gear wasn't down until the nose gear was supposed to hit and they noticed that the plane dropped a little lower than normal.

The pilot and co-pilot will never set foot in an USAF cockpit again.

I'm surprised that an airplane this expensive didn't have a Bitchin' Betty system to warn them.

[1stTimeCaller]

I think that was Homey's last flight.

[KABOOKIE]

There are two types of pilots. Those that have had made mistakes and those that will.

[VeeJay]

I guess it's a good thing he didn't belly flop that thing on an aircraft carrier.

That could have been all icky and stuff.

[OUinFLA]

Is that duct tape holding that thing together in the first pic?

Man, that stuff is stronger than I thought.

[Okla-homey]

They messed up. No excuse for landing gear-up, unless the gear were broken and wouldn't extend. That happened with a BONE in 1989 when the nose gear wouldn't extend. They landed that one out in the boonies on a dry lake bed near Edwards AFB and no one got hurt.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5285/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjcw3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

FWIW, here's a page that includes some BONE nose art

http://www.b1b.wpafb.af.mil/pages/noseart.html

[1stTimeCaller]

Homey, how does the nose art work? Does the ranking officer get to put it on there? Do the pictures have to be approved by the chain of command? Did you have any that were yours?

[Jerk]

I found this on that site Homey posted. TAFB sending civilian workers to Deigo Garcia to repair the bird. Looks like this accident happened in May.
http://www.b1b.wpafb.af.mil/pages/pdf/diego_repair.pdf

[KABOOKIE]

3 down and green, 3 down and green, 3 down and green....Ooops I'm a half dot low, 3 down and green, 3 down and green.

[reevie]

I've been waiting to see pictures of that since May 9th. Thanks for finding those Jerk!

I thought there was some kind of bell that rings in the pilot's headset to remind him to lower the gear.

[reevie]

Homey, how does the nose art work? Does the ranking officer get to put it on there? Do the pictures have to be approved by the chain of command? Did you have any that were yours?

This is the most recent article I've seen regarding nose art:

http://aimpoints.hq.af.mil/display.cfm?id=15205


Advocates aim to revive aircraft nose art
BY: Gene Rector, Macon Telegraph
11/22/2006


ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE - There was a time when warriors who flew and maintained combat aircraft - particularly in the Army Air Corps and later the U.S. Air Force - were relatively free to adorn their flying machines with artwork proclaiming their daring-do, humor, history or admiration for a movie star or the girl back home.

The golden age was World War II through the Korean War when pin-up girls, patriotism and bravado were routinely displayed. But that was more than 50 years ago. Today, the rules are much more restrictive, particularly for active duty flying units.

Two retired members of the 116th Bomb Wing at Robins Air Force Base along with a pair of nationally recognized artists are hoping to change that. They want to revive what they believe is a largely misunderstood expression of unit morale and pride.

Chief Master Sgt. Glenn Parker and Master Sgt. T.P. Westbrook began by reviving a "Midnight Train to Georgia" depiction last week for the nose of a Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base B-1 bomber. The artists were Mickey Harris of Tennessee and Dru Blair of North Carolina, both advocates for more expressive use of aircraft nose, fuselage and tail assemblies.

The art features a steam locomotive with a menacing full moon in the background. Instead of box cars, the engine is pulling B-1 bomb modules, the racks that haul 28 conventional bombs each. The B-1 can carry three modules in its weapons bay.

Before the Georgia Air National Guard 116th Bomb Wing was deactivated at Robins four years ago, both Parker and Westbrook oversaw the same logo on B-1 tail number 098.

"Nose art is a bomber tradition," Westbrook said. "When we got the B-1s, the Air Force said we could use art but they wanted something attached to the state or with historical significance."

The wing selected the theme for 098 but let Westbrook pick the train. "I found the image online, downloaded the picture and Mickey painted it," Westbrook said.

When the unit was "blended" with the active duty 93rd Air Control Wing and began flying Joint STARS aircraft, all nine B-1s - each bearing some expressive art - were transferred to active-duty units or the Air Force "bone yard," the storage center at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

None of the art survived the active-duty transfers, Parker said, including a "Memphis Belle" logo honoring the famous World War II B-17 bomber that flew 25 missions over Europe.

"They painted over it once it got to Dyess (Air Force Base, Texas)," Parker said, "even though the Air Force had approved it. Somebody complained and it only took one. The only B-1 nose art remaining is on aircraft at the bone yard. It was great nose art."

Both Harris and Blair have a love affair for B-1s and military aircraft in general. They donated their services for the museum aircraft and for all the B-1s in the old 116th Bomb Wing.

Harris' dad was a Vietnam-era F-105 pilot in the Air Force. "So I have a soft spot for the military and I try to help them out when I can," he said by telephone while on a job in Texas.

He is one of the foremost airbrush artists in the world and has produced thousands of murals on metal - particularly for trucks, cars and motorcycles. He also has done numerous murals for the Air Force Art Program.

Blair's work has appeared on the cover of Air Force Magazine and his expertise with air brushing has earned acclaim around the world. His clients include a host of major corporations and publications. He was also the official artist for the "Star Trek: Voyager" book covers.

As a young boy he was interested in aircraft, cars, space ships and trains. In the 1980s he began doing aviation art for his own pleasure and his work drew an unexpected response.

"I saw the impression they made on soldiers, and that had a huge impact on my motivation for doing more," he said.

Today, no aircraft in the 116th - now an air control wing - carries traditional nose art, although one has a decal honoring Todd Beamer's "Let's Roll" charge to the 9/11 heroes of United Airlines Flight 93.

"All flight organizations were authorized one nose art per unit," said 116th spokesperson Judy Smith.

The 116th has no plans for future art work. "It's not authorized by the Air Force due to security and sanitation reasons," she said.

Harris thinks the Air Force stance misses a key point. "Nose art came about to instill pride among the air crews and the people who worked on the aircraft," Harris said. "They chose the designs. It was important for their morale. Now, outside influences are dictating everything they can do and it's restricting creativity."

Blair shares that view. "The people who work on and fly the aircraft are extremely proud," he said. "And having something personal on the aircraft adds to that pride. I don't see anything wrong with it. It reminds them of what they're fighting for."

Harris, who has gotten to know Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael Moseley through the Air Force Art Program, plans to ask the general to loosen some of the restrictions, particularly on aircraft in the war zone.

"Who knows what will happen," Harris said. "The chief understands the importance of morale with those crews. Hopefully I can encourage things to happen."

[Jerk]

I've been waiting to see pictures of that since May 9th. Thanks for finding those Jerk!

I thought there was some kind of bell that rings in the pilot's headset to remind him to lower the gear.

Yeah, like Bitchin Betty....the female computer voice:

"gear up! gear up! gear up! gear up! gear up!"

[hurricane'bone]

http://www.b1b.wpafb.af.mil/images/noseart/whoopee.jpg

Heh. The Macon Whoopee was a minor league hockey team from Macon, used to play in the CHL.

[Okla-homey]

When I flew 'em in the 80's and 90's, the crew chief* pretty much painted it on. See, unlike WWII, no single crew is assigned a specific tail #. You fly the one designated by the scheduling shop.

Now, that said, as a morale dealio, they did apply crewmembers and the crew chief and assistant crew chief's name to the aircraft exterior. For the crewmembers, it was kind of a random thing. For the crew chief, it was to "his" jet.

*crew chief: the middle-level maintenance NCO who is primarily responsible for making sure the jet is ready to launch when scheduled to fly. This guy coordinates with all the maintenance sub-specialties to make sure the jet is fueled, all write-ups are fixed and when he signs the aircraft maintenance record book (a/k/a "the forms" or "781",) he's certifying it's "good to go."

Perhaps interestingly, when I flew BUFF's, occasionally, we would sort of randomly make the crew chief go fly with us...it kinda kept them on notice.;) In BONE's that's impossible, because there are no extra crew positions.

For the most part, the crew chiefs did, and do, a marvelous job and enjoyed the opportunity to go fly.

[reevie]

http://www.b1b.wpafb.af.mil/images/noseart/whoopee.jpg

Heh. The Macon Whoopee was a minor league hockey team from Macon, used to play in the CHL.


I remember they had a t-shirt titled "top 10 reasons for Macon Whoopee on ice"


But I don't remember the list.

[Mixer!]

http://www.b1b.wpafb.af.mil/images/noseart/whoopee.jpg

Heh. The Macon Whoopee was a minor league hockey team from Macon, used to play in the CHL.

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/5294/macwho97ea4.gif
Their original logo (it's a fig leaf, ICYW)

[Mixer!]

http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/187/bombergirlillycs6.jpg (http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/187/bombergirlillycs6.jpg)

Old logo from the Brownstown Bombers, a juniors level hockey team from Michigan.

[mfosterftw]

Since I'm the local expert on junior hockey, I'll tell a little story about this logo. The Brownstown/Downriver Bombers were from the south side of Detroit, right next to Ford's Willow Run plant that by the end of WW2 was cranking out a B-24 every 63 seconds... So when they unveiled the name and logo I emailed the owners and told they how great it was to see someone incorporate the history and nose art into the design...

Their response: "What is nose art?"

*smacks head*

Marc

[Okla-homey]

The Capital City Bombers, a Single A affiliate of the New York Mets, played at Capital City Stadium in Columbia SC. The team is named after the B-25 Bombers that the Doolittle Raiders flew. The Raiders began their training in Columbia, SC before striking the first blow against Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. The team moved to Greenville SC in 2005 but kept the name.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1844/pppppppbrandwp7.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[hurricane'bone]

The Lakeland Tigers, a single A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, are now the Lakeland Flying Tigers (http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061113&content_id=143847&vkey=news_l123&fext=.jsp&sid=l123)

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5043/294547268b6db5af241ue0.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2401/294547268b6db5af241xu4.jpg

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1134/294547268b6db5af241og1.jpg

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/8413/294547268b6db5af241as2.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/5383/294547268b6db5af241nh0.jpg

[Okla-homey]

The Lakeland Tigers, a single A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, are now the Lakeland Flying Tigers (http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061113&content_id=143847&vkey=news_l123&fext=.jsp&sid=l123)

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5043/294547268b6db5af241ue0.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2401/294547268b6db5af241xu4.jpg

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1134/294547268b6db5af241og1.jpg

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/8413/294547268b6db5af241as2.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/5383/294547268b6db5af241nh0.jpg

That is waaaaaaaaaay cool. Much better than the Montgomery (Alabama) Biscuits.

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6277/pppppppppppppppppbiscuife9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)