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Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

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Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#21

Post by bigyabai »

arwhatever wrote: post #8

That maneuver they were attempting looks WILD. Would have been amazing to have pulled of. Or, perhaps to have regularly pulled off until today. I'm guessing that must be some sort of vectored thrust trickery.

I don't think anything after the second jet's merge was deliberate. NASA's HARV is the only F/A-18 with a thrust vectoring exhaust designed for it, and it's doubtful that similar kit would go on an EW jet.

What's shown in the video appears to be some form of slipstreaming by the chase craft that causes them both to lose pitch authority, pulling up into a stall state and then a yaw tailslide.

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#22

Post by ericmay »

tonypapousek wrote: post #18
barbazoo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the real purpose of airshows anyway? It always seems like very elevated risk for very little reward but I might just be missing what the reward is.

If we view this through the lens of the “American civil religion“, these spectacles aren’t too unlike crowds of folks gathering to witness miracles.

It kind of is a miracle when you think about what goes in to creating those machines, maintaining them, and learning to fly them so well, of course crashes notwithstanding.

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#23

Post by streetfighter64 »

barbazoo wrote: post #12
avalys wrote: post #3

These are pretty expensive and specialized electronic warfare planes that are identical to a regular F18 in aerodynamic performance. Sucks to lose two of them for an airshow display. Isn’t that what the Blue Angels are for?

What is the real purpose of airshows anyway? It always seems like very elevated risk for very little reward but I might just be missing what the reward is.

Posturing, showing of your military capabilities towards the enemy. Raising morale (aka war propaganda) towards your own population.

Contrary to popular belief, war is mostly about public opinion, not raw strength. Even since (before) roman times, you almost never fight to the last man, you fight until you route the enemy.

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#24

Post by ericmay »

barbazoo wrote: post #12
avalys wrote: post #3

These are pretty expensive and specialized electronic warfare planes that are identical to a regular F18 in aerodynamic performance. Sucks to lose two of them for an airshow display. Isn’t that what the Blue Angels are for?

What is the real purpose of airshows anyway? It always seems like very elevated risk for very little reward but I might just be missing what the reward is.

Crashes are rare. Exposure to the civilian for what their tax dollars are paying for, opportunities for pilots to become more skilled and train other pilots for advanced maneuvers. Things like that. Overall there’s not too much meat on the bone as far as criticisms are concerned.

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#26

Post by binary132 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #2

I don’t know anything about anything but it feels kind of amazing that all four ejected with good looking parachutes given the orientation of the conglomerated plane.

I had the same thought, but those cockpit modules are really designed to maximize the odds of safe ejection, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they consider the possibility of failure and escape as part of the stunt design. Still, it’s amazing everything worked out, especially at that low of an altitude.

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#27

Post by Forgeties79 »

ericmay wrote: post #24
barbazoo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the real purpose of airshows anyway? It always seems like very elevated risk for very little reward but I might just be missing what the reward is.

Crashes are rare. Exposure to the civilian for what their tax dollars are paying for, opportunities for pilots to become more skilled and train other pilots for advanced maneuvers. Things like that. Overall there’s not too much meat on the bone as far as criticisms are concerned.

You can do advanced maneuvers without getting so close to another plane in some weird attempt at simulating a scenario that will never happen.

Did some cursory searches/math and it looks like about 1-2% of aerial shows in the US have a fatality (1-2 deaths annually with about 2000 shows on average over the last 20 years). If those numbers are correct (and they may very well not be as it’s a mix of LLM and Google quick searches) 1-2% doesn’t seem worth it.

Edit: I’m an idiot. .05-.1%. Seems a bit silly still but not as bad as I thought.

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#28

Post by stephen_g »

Waterluvian wrote: post #2

I don’t know anything about anything but it feels kind of amazing that all four ejected with good looking parachutes given the orientation of the conglomerated plane.

Yeah it's pretty incredible, the way they came together the plane on top came pretty close to blocking the canopy of the bottom one, if it had gone a bit differently those pilots could have had nowhere to go but into the bottom of the other aircraft!

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#29

Post by zabzonk »

chilmers wrote: post #20
barbazoo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the real purpose of airshows anyway? It always seems like very elevated risk for very little reward but I might just be missing what the reward is.

Presumably recruitment and PR for the air force, and morale for the aviators, as they can show off their training and skills to friends, family and the general public.

Acting as a sales platform for aircraft manufacturers is also a thing. The RAF Red Arrows are probably responsible for a load of sales of the Hawk advanced trainer they use in their displays.

Re: Two EA-18 fighter jets collide at Mountain Home airshow, pilots ejected safely

#30

Post by tonypapousek »

ericmay wrote: post #22
tonypapousek wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we view this through the lens of the “American civil religion“, these spectacles aren’t too unlike crowds of folks gathering to witness miracles.

It kind of is a miracle when you think about what goes in to creating those machines, maintaining them, and learning to fly them so well, of course crashes notwithstanding.

Agreed, it's amazing they don't crash more often, given the complexity of it all.
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