warbird1 wrote:
T33driver wrote:
The open armament door will cause aircraft to yaw and disrupt lift to the point the airplane won't fly. It is possible to keep angle of attack and speed low to keep door from fully opening. Once fully open, you are toast. The key is gentle turns, low angle of attack and extend speedbrake to create a low pressure area and hopefully cause the armament door to close. The pilot at Trenton did the right thing IMHO.
Wow, I didn't know it was that serious of a problem! Thanks for the input Paul! From what little I know about the T-33, it sounds like that might be one of the more serious problems you could encounter on takeoff. Are there any more serious takeoff emergencies, other than the obvious, like engine failure, fire, etc. that are that serious in nature, that one might not otherwise expect to be?
Given it's apparently highly serious potential for disaster, are any T-33 owners modifying their jets by either putting different or more secure fasteners on their armament bay doors, or possibly safety-wiring them shut? Or do most owners just use the door as originally made? Is there any requirement for easy, daily access to that bay prior to each flight, or is it one of those things that could easily be safety-wired shut with no adverse access/inspection issues?
Along with an engine fire/failure, the armament door is one of the most serious takeoff emergencies one can face in a T-33. Being fully loaded with fuel naturally exacerbates any problem such as a blown tire, open armament door etc. as you now have the additional issue of high gross weight and being able to get the airplane stopped during the abort in the available runway...whether to jettison fully loaded tip tanks on the abort which can create another obvious hazard. The flight manual leaves it up to the pilot depending on the situation and just says it should be considered but...... Historically armament door security has been attributed to human error so the issue of the electronics shelf on the Canadian Avionics Modernization Program aka "AUP" T-33s is a new one on me. Erring on the side of caution, a bunch of us have checked our AUP T-33s for shelf interference with the armamant door latch that was said to be a factor in the recent Trenton mishap and we found them to have plenty of clearance and functioning normally. I don't know of any owners that have modified their armament doors with redundant mechanisms...doesn't mean there aren't any out there. There isn't a reason to do that as long as the latches are functioning normally. He11, I'm not gonna put a safety wire on my canopy lock lever, just don't grope it in flight i.e. the usual care, concentration and situational awareness. There are preflight items in the armament compartment such as circuit breakers, brake reservoir, battery connections to name the big ones...maybe some operators don't preflight that stuff every time but I do...not saying I'm right or better, probably the treachery of my military training that makes me so anal. Having said all that, preflight armament door security is a high emphasis item in the flight manual preflight section and in any T-33 pilot training syllabus that's worth a sh1t since you're a dead man if it opens all the way, and likely a dead man if it's partially open. Again, my hat's off to the pilot of the recent Trenton mishap jet.
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