April
11, 1968 "CHEATING DEATH AGAIN"! From Dennis's Auto-Biography A week or so ago, Dennis had decided that he would
like to get something more of the Navy besides many photos and a lot of women. He cherished all his friendships and all the
women, but he needed something more exciting to stimulate him for a change.
Anyway, he had discovered that the squadron and the
base there at Lemoore had a program. It allowed enlisted men to fly in the back seat in the TA4-E Skyhawk jets. There was
a front seat and back seat in them. These jets were the same as the regular A4-E Skyhawks except there were two seats instead
of one. They used these jets for training pilots and that is why the second seat.
Usually pilots in his squadron flew these jets alone,
so quite often the second seat was going unused. He decided that it might be very interesting to fly in a Navy jet. However,
he first had to complete a special course to get his back seat flying license so he could fly.
Anyway he went through classes on spatial
disorientation, vertigo, high altitude low pressure, ejection seats, breathing from oxygen masks and use of. Consequently,
he had just received his license to fly. Dennis was fortunate as he only had to wait a day or two for his first flight.
The officer in
the electronics shop gives him permission to leave work and he went to suit up for his flight. He walked inside the hangar
area to the supply department which issues flight gear.
They issued to him a helmet with an attachment for radio communication,
oxygen mask, and a flight suit. They helped him with the shoulder harnesses and other connectors. He then walked out to the
flight line, where his jet was waiting for him. He met the pilot, who then instructed him to step into the aircraft's back
seat. The pilot then made sure he was snapped into the ejection seat properly and that Dennis's helmet had radio communication.
The pilot showed him how to check out his oxygen mask to see that it was working properly. Lastly, the pilot gave him an explanation
of what to anticipate, if there would be unexpected ejection.
If Dennis chose to eject himself from the aircraft,
he could do so two different ways. There was a handle between his legs he could pull. The other way was to pull a face curtain
down over his head that would also eject him. During ejection, the canopy is first blown off the top of the aircraft by explosive
charges. Next another explosive charge would shoot his seat up a rail behind it and out of the aircraft. The timing of the
two events is only a second or two apart. The pilot explained that if Dennis ejected, he would go before a Navy hearing to
explain why he had done so.
The pilot then explained that if he decided ejection was necessary, he would eject Dennis by a hookup from the front
cockpit. Dennis would have no choice in the matter. Dennis would be ejected first, followed by the pilot a second later.
Having finished
giving Dennis the last minute instructions, the pilot then got into the front seat and strapped himself in.
After a brief communications
check over the radio with Dennis, the pilot then made a check of all the instruments in the cockpit. Since the nature of this
jet was training, Dennis also had similar instruments in the back. The aircraft could also be flown from the back by a joystick
located just in front of Dennis's legs.
Finally, the pilot flipped a switch that closed the canopy and locked it and the jet started
to taxi away to the runway. Dennis thought that this was really going to be exciting. He really did not have the slightest
idea of what he was in for. After a last minute check of the aircraft by the pilot and the plane captain the auxiliary power
unit vehicle hooked up to the jet. Then the pilot ignited the engine and prepared for takeoff.
The jet taxied to the end of the runway,
the pilot made another visual check of his instruments, and then radioed the control tower for clearance for takeoff. The
control tower radioed back with permission. Their aircraft throttled forward and they were shooting down the runway at close
to two hundred miles per hour.
They lifted off the deck and were now airborne in a steep ascent. Dennis was watching the instruments that showed
the aircraft attitude, altitude, speed and position. They had reached almost twenty-five thousand feet before the pilot leveled
off. Dennis was enjoying everything so far.
The pilot was on a course that would take them to a location called Crow's Landing in northern
California and toward the ocean. It is a military bombing range used especially for practice by pilots dropping bombs and
missiles. Dennis began to get a little sick as the aircraft was banking left and right as the pilot flew through a mountain
range.
He
really had not thought about the fact that military aircraft are not like commercial aircraft that only fly level. Anyway,
he wanted something new and he was getting it. The pilot stopped the aircraft's rolling and banking. They started climbing
in altitude again. Dennis became and more disoriented as the aircraft banked. It was really a strange feeling, but he would
have to overcome it. The aircraft had reached thirty-five thousand feet now as Dennis had his eye on the altimeter.
The pilot now told
Dennis that they were over their location and were about to make their first bombing run. Also, Dennis was to prepare for
a very steep dive toward the ground. Dennis's stomach had still not recovered from the aircraft's rolling through the mountain
ranges.
Shortly Dennis felt the aircraft go into a dive. He watched as the ground came nearer and more detailed.
They were flying over five hundred miles per hour toward the ground. The dive angle of the aircraft must have been close to
forty-five degrees. This was far steeper and faster than any roller coaster he had ever been
on. Flying that fast toward the ground was exciting and scary, but the worst was yet to come. The pilot reached an altitude
of about fourteen thousand feet before he released the first two bombs. Immediately after bomb release the pilot put the aircraft
into a steep climb. Due to the nature of the change of direction and the speed, he was now experiencing the gravitational
forces on his body. This approximated to six g's or six times the force of gravitation. With this kind of force on his body,
Dennis thought he was going to pass out. However, he felt his pressure suit inflating. This was done automatically by design.
It has air pockets that inflate against the chest area and causes a person's blood to stay in the chest and head during periods
of high gravitational force.
Now he was really getting sick. Flying in Navy jets was supposed to be adventurous and exciting.
Becoming sick had not been part of his plan. The pilot climbed back to thirty thousand feet and then he flew them into "another"
steep dive. Dennis was getting sick quickly. He used all the mental effort he had to overcome this vertigo and disorientation
that had been annoying him. Also, he did not want to appear weak in front of the pilot or his friends.
Dennis
went through about five or six of these steep dives and climbs and then it was over. The pilot was heading back for Lemoore
and Dennis had not passed out or threw up. He was still feeling a little motion sick but it was starting to pass.
The pilot
now throttled up into a steep climb and then throttled back down to let the aircraft go into a brief drop. Dennis felt himself
temporarily raise a fraction of an inch away from his seat. The pilot explained this he did this so that Dennis could experience
the feeling or effect of weightlessness. It did all right. Dennis explained to the pilot that he had experienced some sickness
through the aircraft's dives and climbs. The pilot said, "Why didn't you say something to me?" Dennis explained
that he didn't want to disturb his flying and ruin his day.
Dennis could now see the runways of NAS Lemoore.
They circled the base a couple of times and then descended to the runway. The pilot went through several of these approaches
and landings called touch-and-go landings. Pilots descend till they feel the wheels touch the runway. Then they give the aircraft
full throttle and climb altitude again. This practice is to simulate carrier landings. Finally, after getting clearance from
the control tower, they landed on another runway to end their flight. The aircraft taxied to the squadron's flight line and
parked. The canopy was raised and the pilot got out. Dennis thanked him for the experience and then exited the cockpit himself.
There was
much more to flying than Dennis ever expected. It bothered him however that the occasion was almost ruined by his vertigo
or motion sickness. He had to make a decision. Either he was going to be afraid of this or he would have to face it again,
and very soon, or he would become afraid to fly again.
The next day Dennis decided to fly again. He had his mind
made up that he was going to get over this motion sickness thing. The only way for him to overcome it was through more flying.
At least now, he was prepared and knew exactly what to expect. He realized that military jets do not fly like commercial aircraft
or light planes. It is completely a different world.
The very next day he donned his flight suit again. It
was a different pilot, but it was going to be another bombing run. The location would be different this time. It was going
to be the Naval bombing range at Fallon, Nevada.
This time he had asked permission to carry a movie camera with
him. The pilot gave him permission. He climbed into the cockpit again, followed by the pilot who climbed into the front seat.
They went through the customary procedures of checking out their radios, the instruments, and the fuel. Then as before the
pilot got clearance for takeoff from the control tower after they were in position on the runway.
As before, the aircraft shot down the
runway and lifted off into the blue sky. They were over desert, and then some cities, and then the Sierra Nevada mountains.
This flight
was going much better than the first for Dennis. He had become familiar with the instruments and the banking and the rolling
of the aircraft was of no surprise. He was mentally prepared and so now he over his motion sickness.
The pilot
headed for Fallon, Nevada. The Navy has a base at Fallon, which has a bombing range. So they were going on another bombing
run today. He could hardly wait. It was exciting, but he was not too sure how his body would hold up to the G-forces.
His aircraft
along with several others from his squadron passed over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The pilot was several thousand feet
behind and below another jet in front. Suddenly the pilot radioed to Dennis. "Care to take over on the flying?"
Dennis was totally surprised at the generous offer. The pilot advised him to watch the aircraft's altitude, attitude, and
simply control the aircraft with the joystick between his legs. So Dennis took control for a couple of minutes. The joystick
was just like power steering on a car. The aircraft would respond with just the slightest touch on the joystick. The pilot
radioed, "You did really well, have you flown before." Dennis replied, "No, sir."
They reached
the bombing range at Fallon and went on to go through five or six steep dives and climbs as Dennis experienced the first time.
This was not bothering him as much as before either, but Dennis started to black out for a split second. It was due to the
G forces, when the pilot pulled out of a steep dive and their high speed. The speed of the aircraft was in knots that Dennis
did not bother converting, but it was several hundred miles an hour. Pilots do not fly slow, when they are dropping bombs
over the enemy. This was supposed to be simulated bombing practice in every respect.
The only difference was that they did
not have to worry about being shot down or having to eject over enemy territory.
On the way back, the pilot radioed Dennis
again. He asked, "Let me know if you see an aircraft around us. We are about to engage in a dogfight." This was
a term for military pilots trying to lock on to each other with radar. The first one to lock on to the other would be the
victor. The reason is that you must first lock on to an enemy with your radar. You then release your missiles at him to blow
him out of the sky.
The pilot and Dennis were flying at steep angles and then rolled and banked through the
clouds. Dennis was looking all around the aircraft for the opponent. For five minutes or more they engaged in the dogfight
until they had locked on to the other jet from his squadron that had positioned himself wrong. Dennis's pilot had managed
to maneuver behind him. He heard the pilot radio to his opponent. "You are lucky this was not for real. You would be
walking back to the base, Ha!" As they joined in formation with the
other several jets from his squadron, Dennis took out the 35mm movie camera he had brought with them. Dennis started taking
pictures of the jets beside them. He was still taking pictures over the base as they approached Lemoore Naval Air Station.
This was going to be a day to remember with movies and his experience flying the jet and being involved in a dogfight over
the mountains.
Dennis bragged about his flight to his friends that day when he got back to the barracks. He was proud that he managed
to go through all that action and did not get motion sick or vertigo.
Dennis went on more than another half
dozen flights with the pilots over the next several months. Flying was almost getting boring at times. One night they flew
toward the California Mexican border. Their destination was Chocolate Mountain, which is another bombing range. On this occasion
they did some nighttime bombing practice, which was different and exciting. Dennis observed the brightness of the exploding
bombs from high in the sky.
One night, on a different occasion, they had been refueling the other jets in the squadron.
Their aircraft carried extra fuel, which was used to fuel up the other aircraft. Dennis was bored to death as all they were
doing was flying straight and level. They were close to the Los Angeles area. All they had been doing was refueling the other
aircraft. It was interesting to watch.
It is a tricky maneuver for the jets involved to position themselves properly.
One jet must be immediately behind the other and slightly lower. The jet he was in would then lower a fuel hose down and behind
the aircraft. This hose extended from the back of a center fuel pod. This fuel pod hung beneath the aircraft between the rear
wheels.
At the opposite end of this hose was a funnel with which the other jets would hook up with. The hookup was accomplished
by means of an in-flight refueling probe that extends in front of the aircraft. This fuel probe would be guided by the pilot
flying behind and below into the funnel. They would connect through this and then transfer fuel between the two jets.
Dennis
had just started to doze from the unexciting nature of their mission. Suddenly the fuel warning indicator light came on. It
was directly in front of him on the instrument panel. It scared the hell out of him. Then he noticed that the pilot was flying
extremely slow. He radioed to the pilot, "Do we have a problem, sir?" The pilot radioed back, "Maybe, I cut
us a little bit short of fuel by giving too much away." Then he explained that this was why he was flying so slowly.
He was conserving fuel by flying the aircraft at a slow speed. Dennis, recognized that they had just passed over a big city
beneath, and the pilot confirmed that it was Bakersfield, California. Dennis held his breath. He knew that Lemoore was only
a hundred miles away. He observed the fuel gauge and watched it drop ever so close to the zero-pounds indicator. Aircraft
fuel is measured in pounds, not gallons as in an automobile. A pound of fuel is equivalent to about 15 gallons or one minute
of flying time.
Dennis broke the silence and said, "Sir, what is the glide ratio of an A4-E Skyhawk. The pilot joked, "About
the same as a rock." Oh well, the pilot was at least finding some humor in the situation. Dennis had decided that if
the aircraft started to drop or stall, the pilot was going to be flying by himself. He would eject and explain it later. He
did not like the idea of ejecting over the desert at night, but at least it was an option.
Dennis would for the time being just
stay alert as the pilot was doing. After another fifteen or twenty minutes Dennis could tell that they were close to the base.
He heard the pilot radio the control tower, "We are on approach. We're coming straight in with no fly by, as we're out
of fuel." Military jets normally circle a base or ship in a holding pattern.
Dennis watched while they descended.
The runway lights got closer and closer and finally the aircraft landed and slowed as it taxied down the runway. When the
pilot felt the aircraft touch down on the runway, he radioed to Dennis, "Ha, Ha, I cheated death again!" When they
taxied over to the aircraft hangar and left the plane, Dennis heard the pilot's plane captain remark, "I've
never seen a jet so low on fuel."
