This morning was very exciting around here. I thought I was going to witness an airplane crash. I'll try to spare too much of the technical jargon that military folks like to throw around and if I can't avoid it, I'll try to explain it.
0930 every Monday is FOD walk. What's FOD walk you ask? FOD walk is when we get as many people as possible to line up on the flightline and we walk from one end to the other picking up rocks, pebbles, debris, etc. We do this because rocks and other debris also known as Foreign Object Damage(FOD) causes a lot of damage to jet engines. Ok, so we are at FOD walk this morning when a two ship of Eurofighters take the runway to take off. The first aircraft departs the field with no problems. The number two aircraft begins takeoff roll and right at the point of rotation, when the nose points to the sky and the rear wheels leave the ground, both engines compressor stall three times. At this point, I guess I should explain a little but just know that "That's a very bad thing" A compressor stall is when the engine(s) lose thrust, it can be caused by a variety of things in a modern jet aircraft. The best way to describe it is that would be similar to a car backfiring, only much louder.
Back to the story... So, the aircraft continues to gain altitude very slowly but then begins to sink. Sink is the opposite of lift and is not a term that people in the aviation business like to hear. Sink tends to lead to another set of words that Safety guys don't like and that is "Crash, Mishap, Accident, etc" In my world those words all mean the same thing "Bad"! So, the Eurofighter continues to sink and at one point I actually lost sight of the airplane because he was so low. I was just waiting to see the ejection seat go flying in the air but miraculously, the aircraft began to gain altitude. Not much, but enough to circle the field and land. Of course, every crash and rescue vehicle was ready to go, Spanish and American forces were standing by but thankfully, we were not needed! We'll never know the full story since it was a Spanish aircraft, but don't you know that pilot is counting his blessing tonight!
Well, tomorrow is Tuesday, hopefully, it won't be just any old Tuesday!
Life Sign Day 5: Am I conscious of influencing those around me for Christ?
1 comment:
You guys are always trying to get attention. Just kidding. Thank goodness everything turned out ok and no one was hurt.
Sounds like a good book you are reading. Day #5-Am I conscious of influencing those around me for Christ? Sounds like a wake-up call huh? I also like Day #3-I am a source of light in a dark world. The question we have to ask ourselves is...are we?
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