Night Low-Level Instrument Tactical Check Flight over Dusseldorf, Germany by Ike Sweesy*
I was an F-104 pilot in Europe with the NATO Training Division (DOON Team) from 1982 – 1985 and I flew out of many NATO F-104 bases giving Tactical Check Flights to allied pilots including Dutch pilots at Volkel AB, The Netherlands.
Before that assignment I had been instructing in F-104s at Luke AFB from ’79-’82 and then went to Europe through the summer of 1985. I loved that 3-year European tour, and considered it my best assignment in the Air Force. I got to fly with fellow F-104 pilots in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, and even Turkey.
I had an interesting experience March 8th, 1983 on a night TF-104 flight out of Volkel with me flying the front seat giving Captain Jos Engels, a 312th Squadron Dutch fighter pilot, a back seat, Radar Night Low Level Check Ride via the Charlie route in Northern Germany to Nordhorn range.
That night the weather was good enough for launch and recovery at Volkel, but was forecasted to be IMC for the low level route which snaked east then north across the heavily populated northwestern Germany low lands. Jos and I didn't much care about the clouds since it was a night instrument checkflight anyway, and we were carrying plenty of fuel in the 4 external tanks for the long low level navigation route ending with a simulated Nuclear Weapon Delivery on a practice target such as would be assigned in Communist territory during a real nuclear war.
I did the takeoff from the front seat, and after coming out of afterburner and starting the climb I checked the comforting blink of small green fuel lights that told us that our fuel transfer pumps were steadily filling our internal tanks from those 4 bags of gas hung on our tiny wings.
In the glow of the radar screen and the dimmed interior instrument lights, Jos, my Dutch flightcheck 'victim', got his checklists and Low Level Route book opened, and I transferred control of the jet to him with the familiar routine. "You have the aircraft" I said. "I have the aircraft" Jos replied shaking the joystick, then "You have the aircraft" I repeat. That seemingly redundant exchange has saved many a flight crew when each 'assumed' the other was controlling the jet. Now with the Dutchman at the controls we entered the radar low level route into Germany, but soon I noticed that Jos wasn’t doing a very good job of smoothly controlling the jet and I mentally ascribed that to nervousness in getting a very difficult “Checkride”.
Finally he said “Ike, how about taking control - The plane feels funny”. “OK, I got the aircraft” I said, and soon I likewise ‘wasn’t doing a very good job of smoothly controlling the jet’, but of course it couldn’t possibly be my flying skills. 'Something' must be wrong with the flight control system, so we decided to abort the low level and head home. But soon, from just random, uncontrolled inputs, the flight controls rapidly increased in ‘pulsing’ in all 3 axis and it became a full time job to keep the plane in the air.
We were having hydraulic problems with the flight controls and we could have lost control over Düsseldorf. Bad news at 1,000 feet AGL. Now that experience was over 20 years ago, and I had forgotten about that story for a long time until I was reminded of it by a picture of a beautiful F-104 from Volkel AB that Hubert Peitzmeier included in one of his many "memory pix". Alas, there are no roaring F-104’s around Boise Idaho to remind me of those past experiences. But that flight was really ‘exciting’ for a few minutes as the jet bucked and kicked from plus 2-3G’s to negative 1G and rolling from side to side as I struggled for control at 1-2,000’ AGL. It was night with just the glow of Düsseldorf through the clouds below and the radar altimeter reminded us how close to the ground we were. With our heavy fuel weight and the tiny F-104 wings the plane buffeted with each pitch up threatening to stall.
We had considered bailing out if we couldn’t keep an upward vector, but a fully loaded 4 bag F-104 would have made a heck of an explosion in a city, and both of us hated the thought of “walking home”! Finally the contaminated hydraulic fluid caused the Utility Hydraulic System to fail completely, and then the jet smoothed out, and we were able to climb up in afterburner to 10M squawking and calling Emergency on Guard. "Clutch Radar" answered and cleared out the traffic ahead of us then switched us over to their frequency.
I asked for a Radar vector to any military base "that could speak F-104", and we flew north toward Jever - an old Luftwaffe base from the ‘30’s with enough runway for us. It had been an F-104 base and was transitioning to Tornados. Jos and I knew we were going to have to jettison those 4 external tanks to get down to landing weight, but we sure didn't want to do it over populated areas. As we descended for the approach to Jever we flew over the Jadebusen, a bay of the North Sea just east of Wilhelmhaven, and I pushed the "Panic Button" which cleaned the jet of those 4 bags and almost 10,000 pounds of jet fuel. I want to tell you, that’s a spectacular FLASH in the dark in the clouds as the explosive bolts fire only 5 or 6 feet away from the cockpit! Our lightened Starfighter almost leaped forward and we then were vectored to a 20nm final for runway 28 at Jever AB. I rolled into a gentle left turn for a very long final at 240 knots and the two of us ran through the Emergency Check List a couple of times together with me repeating each step before we started through it.
Failed Utility Hydraulics meant an alternate gear release. We’re ready. Now here’s the bad part. Mike Vivian and Fritz Washburn will remember that we DOON pilots were dual qualified in both the -104 and the SabreLiner, and I had just returned a couple of days prior from an extended trip through the Med hauling ‘brass’ around. Plus, I’d had a checkride in the SabreLiner doing, you guessed it, an Alternate Gear Release in that T-39. Just guess where that gear release handle is in the T-39? On the panel ahead of your left knee. Guess what handle is in that location on the F-104?!!! The DRAG CHUTE HANDLE! 240 Knots, Pull, Pop, Huge Deceleration, Shoulder Harnesses lock, RRRriiipppp as the drag chute tore away! Steady at 180 knots, “What was that?!” Whew! Uh Oh, Now what?! Pull the real Alternate Gear Release Handle which is 12 inches to the Right on the panel and then Flaps Down, On Course/On Glidepath, Touchdown. HOOK! HOOK! HOOK Jos yelled! We engaged the departure end barrier and came to a stop… Heavy Breathing on both intercoms … Engine running (BTW, that’s singular in an F104), call for a ride to the BAR!
In those days I could speak pretty good German (I was born in Munich to American parents) so I explained in German to the ground crew what happened as they looked all over the runway for the drag chute and only found the connection and a few inches of cable still attached to the jet. I guess some German housewife out on extended final got dozens of nylon panties made! As I debriefed the German ground crew, Jos was surprised that I spoke German and commented on that, but he was busy calling Volkel and he told them about our divert to Jever. The GAF maintenance guys took fluid samples of everything, and as we were debriefing one of them brought over to us a vial of hydraulic fluid. There was visible residue already settled out to the bottom! All jets at Volkel were then grounded until they could figure out what happened. That was lucky because several fighters were found with contaminated hydraulics from that same hydraulic ‘mule’. Jos and I soon went to the historic Jever bar (built in the 1930’s!) and several of us pilots, German, Dutch, and me the American, traded stories well into the night. Of course most Dutch pilots speak German (many Europeans speak at least three languages), and since I was 'fairly' proficient also, we all had a great time. We finally stumbled over to the BOQ and got a room for the rest of the night. The next day we returned to Volkel by helicopter. What a terrible end to a Fighter Mission, but at least our Landings equaled our Takeoffs!!Jos and I got a nice write up in the Dutch Flight Safety Magazine but I never got a copy - too bad. Of course, I couldn't read Dutch anyway. However, my picture with my TF-104 at Luke is on the cover of a Japanese Modeler Magazine and I have 3 copies of that, but of course I can't read Japanese either - I just look at the pictures. Plus, Bob Irwin an ex- Phantom guy, who is with the modern-day “Starfighter” Airshow Team found a Hasegawa 1/72 plastic model of my TF with the right tail number, and you can read my name on the decal (with a magnifying glass!). Bob graciously gave it to me, and I’m having the model built by a professional-quality model builder nicknamed “Blaze” here in Boise, Idaho.
A great adventure, but I don’t tell too many people about the “dual-qualified” risks! And of course, there are other flying stories I don’t tell people about either – yet.
Hoppla, glatt den drag chute in der Luft gezogen, anstatt den alternate gear release. Glück gehabt.