Plane Shoots Itself
Words fail me on this one.
An F-16 shot itself with a 20mm round.
There is, as the article indicates, a history of another plane shooting itself:
Thomas W. Attridge Jr. became the first pilot to do so in September 1956 when, flying as a test pilot for Grumman, the 33-year-old former Navy officer shot down his own F11F-1 Tiger, similar to the variant used by the Blue Angels during the 1960s.
At an altitude of 20,000 feet, Attridge entered into a dive while firing the Tiger’s 20mm rotary cannon.
Continuing the dive all the way to 7,000 feet, Attridge exhausted the gun’s ammunition before the plane was hit by what he presumed to be a bird strike.
Before long, however, the engine began to fail, and his emergency return to the Grumman airstrip was cut short as he crashed through a thicket of trees just short of the runway. – Article
Skynet goes active at 12:00 hours.
Category: "Teh Stoopid"
Hmm. I swear, that story about Attridge sounds kinda familiar . . . .
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=83980
(smile)
Didn’t an F-104 do the same thing in level flight?
My dad used to tell us stories of new jet pilots doing this to themselves in the 1950s…
I always thought that the transition from piston engine to jet engine in the late 40s to early 50s must have been interesting…
At least he landed and and didn’t have to use his para shoot.
I like how the article says it’s “almost unheard of — and impossible.” Then goes on to list just the first such incident (implying there are others, which there are). The art of journalism is really dead.
So I wonder if this is like shooting the ceiling/floor of the range? Do they make you sign your bullet holes?
Did Clair Voyant show up? Is it deja vu all over again?
The previous Marvin Article made me angry. (gimmie back my bullets)
This one made me laugh….again.
I thought sure as hell this was another DuffelBlog entry….