RMAllnutt wrote:
but incredibly brave to fight things down to the last fraction of a second...
Not so much bravery, but instinct, and probably not for the heroic reason you might think.
You might be surprised to know that the vast majority of unsuccessful ejections out of aircraft (ergo, the guy died) were because the pilot was continuing to try and 'save' the airplane and waited to long to give up on it.
So, that is something that comes natural to pilots -- to try and fly out of whatever problem is encountered. It's very *un* natural to pull the handles and face a very uncertain future for yourself. I don't think you'll find anyone who is eager to pull the handles and chuck the jet into the dirt at the first sign of trouble. Nobody wants to leave that nice, warm womb of a cockpit for the cold, windy, loud harsh environment that awaits outside the canopy and the possible physical injuries that go with it. In addition, most military pilots are the self-critiquing type, and are usually wondering what
they did wrong to cause the situation whenever there is a serious emergency. Punching out of the airplane is a bit like admitting you did something wrong....
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ellice_island_kid wrote:
I am only in my 20s but someday I will fly it at airshows. I am getting rich really fast writing software and so I can afford to do really stupid things like put all my money into warbirds.
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