Beiträge von The Big Lebowski

Dafür gibts nen großen bear hug, Töbs- chen!

Ne eher im Witze Thread, bitte sei so gut, und verschiebs bitte dahin. Sorry mein Fehler! :beer:

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Klick!

Night Low-Level Instrument Tactical Check Flight over Dusseldorf, Germany by Ike Sweesy*

Zitat

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.

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Quelle

Hoppla, glatt den drag chute in der Luft gezogen, anstatt den alternate gear release. Glück gehabt.

Zitat von Big L.

Kommt auf den Nachbarn an... Einem Betrunkenen Hells Angel würde ich nicht unbedingt die Sicherung rausdrehen wollen... Wer weiß, welche Sicherung dann noch rausfliegt...

Kommt auf das Auftreten an.......
:patsch:

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Zitat

Dave Stock said his final goodbyes, and rode the plane in!

Zitat

'I have ejector seat failure'
At first no one realised the seriousness of test pilot Dave Stock's predicament.
Just before noon yesterday thousands of spectators at the bi-annual Overberg Air Show at Bredasdorp had seen Stock take off in the valuable English Electric Lightning supersonic jet, one of four owned by Mike Beachy Head of Thunder City.
But after a few manoeuvres the jet appeared to be in trouble, and Stock flew to a holding area. Air force firetrucks rushed to the runway anticipating a crash landing.
Thousands of spectators watched as the jet flew east and many assumed Stock was releasing fuel to reduce the risk of fire when coming in to crash land.
The commentator announced Stock was having difficulties and the fire trucks were a precaution.
A few minutes later the commentator again announced the arrangements were precautionary. By then Stock was in serious trouble and was trying to eject. He tried three times. Then came his chilling last message: "I have ejector seat failure." The fatal crash followed.
Spectator Lance McIntosh said many people had not realised Stock was in serious difficulties.
"He circled wide, and was approaching the runway when I saw the jet diving and spiralling before it hit the ground."
Seconds later spectators felt a thud, and a huge fire ball was seen kilometres away, followed by plumes of smoke. The crowd went silent and some people were treated for shock.
Air force Oryx helicopters were dispatched to extinguish the flames, which spread to the veld.
Initially it was thought Stock had successfully ejected and an announcement was made to switch off cellphones as they were jamming the networks, which in turn was hampering the rescue party.
But then word spread of his desperate final message.
Stock, who test flew the first locally assembled Hawk fighter trainer aircraft, was a record holder who, with British tycoon Sir Richard Branson as a co-pilot, attempted to better his fighter jet speed record. In 2007 the show, held at Air Force Base Bredas-dorp, was awarded the best air show in the country by Aeroclub SA.
Industry insiders said it appeared the Lightning developed hydraulic problems and while burning off fuel it crashed.
There were reports that Stock had attempted to eject three times.
A spectator said: "He was flying level, dropped a bit in altitude, and then lost control and tumbled to the ground, where the aircraft exploded."
A shocked and emotional Beachy Head said yesterday he had lost a good friend.

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Quelle!

Hut ab, vor einem Mann, der Angesichts des sicheren Todes derart reagierte.

R.I.P. Dave Stock!

Zitat von Jarschi

so nachdem mein Nachbar unter mir beschlossen hat gegen 03:30 die Mucke aufzudrehen und ich (auch eine Polizeistreife nicht) ihn nicht dazu bewegen kann den Rotz leiser zu stellen, dachte ich mir könnte ich hier mal wieder nachlesen und selber mal wieder pieps sagen.

Runter in den Keller und die Sicherung rausdrehen, bzw. den Schutzschalter umlegen. Du wirst erleben, wie schnell Ruhe ist.
Nachbar kommt runter will die wieder in Gang setzen , und dann :patsch:

Zitat

The latest buzz on Internet is that the China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group is preparing to test its first stealth aircraft known to world as the J-XX.
According to enthusiasts living nearby, the aircraft has already done taxi run and top level officials are coming to the facility to witness the first flight. This comes as a surprise as both American and Russian think tanks had written off China. J-XX is Chinese competitor in the Fifth Generation race.
It is stated to have very low observability, advance avionics and radar coupled with two Turbofan engines generating 180 kN of thrust.
The exact happenings are still uncertain but the images leaked on the internet are extremely convincing. The aircraft seems to be around 60-70 feet long with forward canards and delta wing configuration similar to the J-10. On first look the aircraft looks very similar to the American F-22. However, it has features such twin DSI inlets and V-shaped tail.
The aircraft seems to be fitted with WS-10 engines rather than WS-15 but this cannot be confirmed. According Janes there are two prototype airframes in existence of which one is flight ready.
Exact happenings are still unknown in the formal media as the Chinese Govt is tight lipped on it. If indeed this aircraft is flight ready than this could have serious implication to surrounding countries which are yet to have such an aircraft.
The first high-resolution photographs appeared on Chinese non-governmental websites of a prototype of the Chengdu J-20 fighter being built for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) The J-20 appears to be conducting a high-speed taxi test.
The latest images show some startling similarities between the Chinese J-XX and canceled Russian MiG-1.44. Both have similar style of delta wing canard configurations and V-Shaped tail section with closely mounted engines. The frontal aspect looks extremely similar to that of the American F-35 JSF with DSI intake which has now become common on all new Chinese designs.

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Quelle des Textes und der Bilder!

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Quelle der Grafiken !

Info auf Wiki!

Der Flieger basiert auf dem Ur- CJ , hat die gleichen Tragflächen, das gleiche Fahrwerk und die gleichen Triebwerke. Es wurden nur 2 Maschinen gebaut. Über deren Verbleib ist nichts bekannt.

Zitat von The Big Lebowski

Jay Johnson, chairman and CEO of Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics, hinted last week that at least one of the aircraft might have achieved supersonic flight during testing.

Ist dieser Absatz aufgefallen??
Wir haben nun den ersten Überschall- Business- Jet! :hurra:

Das kommt auf die Rules of Engagement an, die ich für diesen Fall nicht kenne....

Dazu sollte man die Topographie kennen....
Und wenn über einem ein Pave Low mit nem 12,7 mm MG+ ner Minigun und dazu noch ne Rotte A 10 rumzwirbeln, überlegt man genau, ob man das Schiessen anfängt....

Ein schwacher Trost, für die Arbeitsplätze die im Rahmen diverser Effizienz- Orgien draufgingen. Nix desto trotz ne gute Nachricht....

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Ist leider kein Tonband, sondern ne sehr nette Dame.....

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DIe Gute fliegt Metros für Binair, und war schon öfters in STR. Und immer wenn ne BinAir im approach war, gingen überall die Scanner an.......

Zitat

Coordinates and Contact
Zelko could hear activity around him and stayed as still as possible. He took out his GPS and got a good readout of his position. He reported his position to the EC-130, using a special code directed by the SPINs.
Aboard the EC-130, the young sergeant who received the message from Vega 31 wrote it down and handed the message to Woodard, who knew immediately what it meant.
“He just gave us his position,” Woodard said. “Plot it in the map.” The sergeant did so. It showed that Zelko was down a few miles southeast of the town of Ruma, not northwest of Novi Sad. He was 30 miles closer to Belgrade than initially thought.
After more than an hour flying, Cherrey and his wingman entered Serbia northwest of Novi Sad. They tried to make radio contact with Laushine and his helicopters, but were unsuccessful. Unknown to Cherrey at the time, he and the helicopters had been given different sets of CSAR frequencies. It took a few minutes to sort that out.
Cherrey proceeded into the rescue area, made voice contact with Zelko, and authenticated him using the ISOPREP data. Then Cherrey received a call from the AWACS, with an updated position passed by Zelko. He quickly plotted the new position on his map.
A-10 pilot Cherrey called helicopter rescue commander Laushine and gave him the survivor’s updated location. To save fuel, Laushine had landed his force in a field.
The new coordinates voided the recovery plan. Laushine had to quickly develop a new one.
And there was now another problem. All aircraft were now low on fuel. Flight Lieutenant Graham, up in the AWACS, scrambled to find tankers for all of the aircraft in the task force. Various Sandys would alternate as on-scene commanders.
The helicopters lifted off and rendezvoused with an MC-130P. They refueled from the tanker as it cruised 700 feet above the ground just three miles out of Serbian airspace.
After he had received his fuel, Cherrey and his wingman returned to the general area of the downed airman and reassumed the on-scene command role.
The helicopters were also now full of gas and had repositioned to a location west of Ruma along the Serbian border. The plan was for Sandy 41 and Sandy 42 to escort the helicopters as they proceeded in to the survivor at low altitude. As they approached, Sandy 30 and Sandy 31 would fly in over Zelko.
From Both Sides
After receiving a report that the survivor had been captured, Cherrey called Zelko again to reauthenticate him. Zelko answered correctly and the rescue was on.
The Serbs were closing in on him. In fact, it was later determined that a Serbian force of 80 troops and police were combing the nearby fields and had already found Vega 31’s ejection seat and some boot prints.
Sandy 30 was ready to execute. He instructed the helicopter crews to call him when they were two miles from the survivor. Then Cherrey would direct Zelko to use a signaling device so the pilots could see him. Everybody acknowledged the plan.
Then another problem arose. A low cloud deck formed in the valley the approaching aircraft would use. The rescue helicopters could fly through such weather, but the escort A-10s needed to maintain visual contact with the helicopters to provide them any protection. It would be a helicopter-only rescue.
Additionally, Cherrey could no longer see the ground to assess the threat. This was critical because committing the helicopters for a pickup was his call. He could not fly down below the clouds for a look because the clouds were just too low. Thinking quickly, he called the survivor. “Vega 31, is it OK to come in there?”
Zelko was not ready for that question and did not answer. He knew that the enemy was all around but did not know how close or with what weapons.
After what seemed like an eternity, Cherrey called again. “Vega 31, if you don’t answer, we’re going to have to not do this now and come back later.”
“Let’s go for it,” Zelko said, quickly figuring that if he then needed to abort the rescue effort, he could do it with his authentication data.
“Execute, execute,” Cherrey said, and the helicopters committed to the rescue.
Then, Cherrey had to depart again because he was low on fuel. He quickly passed the on-scene command duty to Haun and his wingman, Capt. Joe Brosious, but Haun had a problem with his A-10.
His primary radio, UHF, could receive but not transmit. Haun had to call Brosious on a secondary radio and tell him what to broadcast on the primary. This was a critical step because the rescue helicopters, survivor, and Haun all needed to be able to instantaneously communicate during the pickup phase of the operation, and they had to do it on UHF. Brosious would have to be Haun’s voice.
Into Serbian Airspace
Cardoso, in his MH-53, led the way with the second MH-53 and the MH-60 in trail formation on each side. Everyone aboard the helicopters was using night vision goggles as they proceeded in at treetop level to avoid the Serbian radars, anti-aircraft guns, and searchlights, but there were other dangers. As Cardoso led the task force in, one of his crew members spotted power lines and screamed, “Wires! Wires! Wires! Climb! Climb!”
Instinctively, Cardoso yanked back on the controls and the formation cleared the danger. They then descended back down to treetop level and continued in toward Zelko.
As the helicopters crossed into Serbian airspace, a surface-to-air missile site activated and began searching for allied aircraft. An F-16CJ overhead engaged it with a High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile.
Haun saw the missile streak down into the clouds. The site stopped radiating.
Below, the helicopters were rapidly approaching the survivor. The MH-60 would land and make the pickup, while the two MH-53s would orbit above and provide fire support.
The helicopter pilots called on the UHF radio that they were now two miles from the survivor. Zelko was ready. He was given the code word to turn on his signaling device. He complied.
Aware now that a rescue operation was going on, more Serbian missile sites in the area tried to track the intruding aircraft. The A-10 pilots received immediate threat indications on their radar warning receivers and employed their chaff dispensers, jamming pods, and maneuvered to evade the deadly missiles.
At the same time, the A-10 pilots were trying to maintain awareness of what was going on below them.
Cardoso announced that they were now overhead of the survivor’s location—but he could not see Zelko’s signaling device.
Zelko could hear the helicopters and tried to give them vectors. It did not help. He was becoming concerned and asked if the rescuers could see his signal.
Cardoso responded that they could not.
The moment was thick with tension as all realized that the opportunity was slipping away.
Zelko told the CSAR forces to stand by, informing them that he thought his signaling device was inoperative. Time for a successful rescue was running out.
Orbiting now in the pitch black above Zelko’s position, Cardoso could see vehicles moving along the roads. There was no time to waste. “Just give me any ... signal,” he barked on the radio. Zelko lit one of his flares.
The flare lit up the whole area, and Cardoso immediately saw him.
“We are bingo, bingo, bingo. Kill the flare,” he called on the radio. This caused some confusion. To the special operations forces, bingo means “we have the objective in sight.”
However, to the fixed-wing pilots, bingo means “I only have enough gas to get back to base and must leave now.”
It confused Zelko, too, but at least the rescue forces now had a visual on him.
So did everybody else in the vicinity.
Cardoso directed the MH-60 to land and make the recovery. Zelko was right in front of him, about half a mile away.
Disorientation
The bright flash of the flare momentarily disoriented the MH-60 pilot, Franks. “It was like the sun coming up in my goggles,” he said.Zelko crushed the flare into the dirt with his boot. As he did, the MH-53s set up their protective orbit. Franks began a very steep descent and then settled on the ground. Zelko was 100 feet away. The PJs, SSgt. Eric Giacchino and SrA. John M. Jordan, dismounted and moved toward the survivor, rifles at the ready. In the helicopter, the gunners scanned with their mini guns for any close-in enemy activity.
Zelko was kneeling down as he had been trained to do. He used his radio to ask for permission to come aboard the helicopter. Then he noticed the dark forms of the PJs and raised his hands in a submissive pose. The PJs immediately identified him.
“How ya doin’, sir?” one said. “We are here to take you home.”
The orbiting MH-53 crews could see Serbian vehicles about 50 yards away.
When the PJs and survivor were safely aboard, Glover radioed the news that they were lifting off, survivor onboard.
They had been on the ground for 40 seconds. The rescue itself had taken a little over six hours.
The helicopters and A-10s headed west out of Serbia. Aboard the MH-60, the crew members did everything they could to make Zelko comfortable. The PJs gave him a quick examination and some water and food.
The helicopters proceeded directly to Tuzla. There, Zelko was more thoroughly examined by a flight surgeon and cleared to return to Aviano by MC-130.
Zelko personally tried to thank every one of the troops aboard all three helicopters. He received a pleasant surprise when he encountered Glover. Several years prior, Zelko had served at the Air Force Academy. Glover had been one of his cadets.
The MC-130 landed at Aviano at sunrise. The A-10 pilots had landed by then and they and much of the base were out to greet Zelko. He tried to thank everyone.
“He was watery-eyed as he thanked ... us for saving him,” said Brosious.
The wing commander, Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Leaf, asked Zelko if he was ready to get a little rest. “Yes, sir,” Zelko replied, but there was one more thing that he needed to do first: He had to present the young airman who had prepared his target folder with her flag.

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Quelle!

[video]

Zitat

The Night They Saved Vega 31 
By Darrel Whitcomb
The rescue of F-117 pilot Dale Zelko was a close-run thing.
On March 27, 1999, the fourth night of Operation Allied Force, USAF Lt. Col. Darrell P. Zelko turned his F-117 to an outbound heading, returning to Aviano Air Base in northern Italy. Zelko had reached his objective, and both of his aircraft’s precision guided bombs appeared to have hit their target near Belgrade.
Zelko was flying with the call sign of Vega 31. It was his third sortie of the air war over Serbia. Deployed from the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman AFB, N.M., he was engaged in his second combat operation. He was a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War.
However, Zelko was still deep in enemy territory. Vega 31 was west-northwest of the target area when his routine suddenly was shattered by indications that Serbian air defense systems had targeted his aircraft. The F-117 was not as maneuverable as most fighters, and Zelko could only watch and press on as the enemy tried to find him.Seeing the enemy fire as it approached his aircraft, he closed his eyes as the brightness of the explosions temporarily blinded him and threw deadly shards of jagged steel into his airplane. The aircraft began to pitch and roll violently.
There were witnesses. Capt. Mark Baroni was the aircraft commander of Frank 36, a KC-135 that had just refueled several other aircraft. Baroni was looking toward Belgrade when he recalled that “all of a sudden, I saw a series of airborne explosions and then one really big one.”
Zelko’s aircraft, a legendary stealth fighter, was hit. Realizing that his aircraft was dying, he reached down and pulled the ejection handles. The canopy separated from the aircraft and the ejection seat fired, propelling him into the frigid night air.
Moonlight Ride
“My mom is not going to be happy with me,” Zelko thought as he fell through the darkness. His parachute and life support equipment deployed. He quickly checked his chute, noting with some shock that the white and orange panels were clearly visible in the moonlight. Well-lit Belgrade was off to his right, and he sensed that enemy forces below would be alerted to capture him.
The propaganda value of shooting down and capturing an F-117 pilot would be enormous. The stealth fighter had until then seemed invincible. Zelko was determined to deny the enemy the second half of the prize—himself. It was about 8:45 p.m. local time. He was in for a long night.
Zelko took out his survival radio. “Mayday, mayday, mayday, Vega 31,” he broadcast on the emergency “Guard” frequency.
The crew of Frank 36 heard the call, as did a NATO E-3 AWACS aircraft in an orbit not far away. Flight Lt. Frank Graham, a British officer onboard the AWACS, returned the call, “Vega 31, ... Magic 86 on Guard.” Zelko was not at that moment able to respond.
Graham and the other AWACS crew members began frantically to react. Digging through reams of data, they had to quickly determine who Vega 31 was and what he had been tasked to do.
At the same time, they were beginning to get calls from several other agencies as the word of Vega 31’s troubles quickly spread.
Zelko made another radio call. “Roger, roger, out of the aircraft.” He paused and then continued, “Vega 31 is out, beacon on now,” as he switched his radio to transmit the emergency signal.
Knowing that the Serbs were probably monitoring the frequency, he stopped the beeper after three seconds, but it was critical that Zelko get a signal out quickly. Time was of the essence, and he knew that coalition rescue forces would respond.
The crew in Frank 36 acknowledged his call. Zelko put away his radio and oriented on the terrain. Still descending toward the Earth, he was only about 20 miles west of Belgrade.
At about 3,000 feet above ground, he passed through a cloud deck. The wind was from the southwest and he could see that he was drifting down south of the town of Ruma in an area of open farm fields. There were many vehicles on the roads and he was concerned that somebody would spot his parachute.
Zelko picked his landing spot and turned his canopy toward a plowed field about 50 yards west of a north-south rail line and a road with a “T” intersection.In Enemy Territory
Zelko landed, quickly hid his parachute, harness, and life raft, and scanned the road. Seeing no activity, he moved to a hiding site he had noticed just before he landed. It was about 250 yards away.
There, he grabbed some of the rich Serbian dirt and smeared it all over his face, neck, and hands.
Fortunately, Zelko had worn several layers of clothes, and he had some extra insulation. Tucked inside his T-shirt, right over his heart, was a folded American flag. It belonged to the young airman who had prepared his target folder for this mission.
As he settled into his hiding site, Zelko anticipated that rescue forces were marshaling. The United States did not send its warriors into harm’s way without providing the capability to rescue them.
In preparation for combat, Zelko maintained excellent physical condition and had spent long hours reviewing the rescue procedures as directed by the special instructions (SPINs) in the daily tasking orders for the aircrews. He had received combat crew survival and evasion training and worked with specialists in his unit to develop a workable escape plan of action for just such an occurrence.
Zelko assumed that enemy forces knew of his arrival and also were actively organizing a search operation. Instinctively, he knew that his actions would be critical to the success or failure of any rescue attempt.
The downed pilot was equipped with several items to help facilitate his rescue. Besides his radio, he had Global Positioning System location equipment, several signaling devices, and a 9 mm pistol.
Rescue forces were in the region. Before the start of the conflict, three special operations squadrons deployed to an airfield near Brindisi, Italy. They were joined there by pararescue jumpers (PJs) from the 720th Special Tactics Group.
All were attached to Joint Special Operations Task Force 2. Their helicopters could be called on to perform combat recoveries under the tactical control of the Combined Air Operations Center at Vicenza, in northern Italy.
The CAOC worked for Lt. Gen. Michael C. Short, the 16th Air Force commander and combined force air commander for this operation. Short had made combat search and rescue a high priority.
Brindisi was almost 250 miles from Belgrade. To reduce reaction time, several of the helicopters had been ordered to Tuzla, Croatia, and were on alert there.
The task force launched just before Zelko took off. It consisted of a lead MH-53M piloted by Capt. James L. Cardoso and Capt. John C. Glass, an MH-53J flown by Capt. Shawn Cameron and Capt. Mark Daley, and the MH-60G of Capt. Chad P. Franks and Capt. Matt Glover. (See “Silver Stars,” June 2000, p. 80.)
Lt. Col. Stephan J. Laushine, commander of the 55th SOS, flew in the lead aircraft as rescue mission commander.Arriving at Tuzla, the alert aircraft proceeded to the hot refueling area while Laushine went into operations for an initial orientation. The operations center was soon notified that the F-117 was down.
Their immediate concern was Zelko’s location. Information coming in from several sources initially indicated that Vega 31 was down northwest of Novi Sad, along the aircraft’s planned egress route. Based on that analysis, Laushine built a plan. The three helicopters would take off as a flight. Each would have a full complement of Air Force PJs and would be augmented with Army Special Forces.
As the rescue teams were getting ready to go, CNN showed scenes of the still-burning F-117 wreckage, footage being supplied by Serbian news services. The imagery sent a chill through the operations center at Tuzla.
Hunkered down in his hiding site near Ruma, Lt. Col. Dale Zelko waited.
The Search and Rescue
CSAR doctrine calls for the formation of a task force composed of helicopters and A-10 attack aircraft. The escort aircraft would provide command and control and close-in air support for the helicopters.
For this operation, the A-10s from the 81st Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem AB, Germany, had been deployed to Aviano. That evening, two A-10s were on rescue alert: Sandy 30, piloted by Capt. John A. Cherrey, and Sandy 31, piloted by Capt. John O’Brien.
Also orbiting—well to the south and at a safe altitude—was an EC-130E Commando Solo command and control aircraft. It had also monitored Vega 31’s radio calls.
One of the team members, Capt. Ripley Woodard, an A-10 pilot from Spangdahlem, was monitoring intelligence reports. Strong enemy forces were in Zelko’s area, and they were beginning to actively search for the F-117 pilot. Woodard knew that rescue forces had to move quickly.
Maj. Phil Haun, the A-10 weapons and tactics officer at Aviano, was in the operations center when it received the report that Zelko was down.
Another pilot delivered Zelko’s vital isolated personnel report (ISOPREP) information. This data, known only by the downed pilot, would give the Sandys the ability to authenticate the survivor and avoid being drawn into a trap.The A-10s then took off. Arriving over the survivor, Cherrey would become the critical on-scene commander.
Using the same coordinates given to Laushine, Haun also began working with the intelligence section at Aviano to develop a battle plan. He met with representatives from the F-16 squadrons also at Aviano and suggested targets for them to bomb.
Haun intended to launch two more A-10s half an hour after Cherrey departed. These would be Sandy 41 and Sandy 42 and would be available to escort the helicopters for the run in and egress.
Then, 30 minutes after them, he would take off with another A-10, to be Sandy 51, and Sandy 52, able to swap out with Sandy 30 and 31. This should allow for continuous contact with Zelko.
Haun also calculated a rendezvous place and time for the helicopters to join up with the A-10s and had that location passed to the command center at Tuzla.
Unfortunately, the rendezvous time passed to Laushine was indicated in local time. Haun was doing all of his planning in Zulu time. In this theater of operations, local time was one hour ahead.
When Laushine got the message, he realized that his force would be late for the rendezvous and he scrambled his crews to proceed to the meeting point, which was near the Serbian border west of Novi Sad.

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