Thumping
 

I enjoy all things British and spend quite a bit of time reading old BBC, Guardian etc articles. The one I was reading this afternoon was about the Chinese fighter pilot, Wang Wei, who in 2001 flew his jet very close to a US spyplane. He held up and pointed to a piece of paper containing his email address. Depending on one’s point of view, what he did was either derring-do or a silly antic. Whatever it was, his plane crashed and he died.

The article had this: “Incidentally, we were sent this interesting explanation from a reader of what the Chinese fighters pilots may have been doing just prior to the crash: "There is a well known habit among the Chinese and Russian fighter pilots to harass spy flights for obvious reasons. Since we are not at war, nor does anyone want an international mess like we have, they resort to harassment. It's called thumping. The jet positions itself, in front, and slightly under the prop plane. This disrupts the air flow across its wings, and make the plane fall, rather hard, about 20 feet or so, then it’s clear of the "wash" catches air again and "thumps" to a stop (of altitude loss). This rattles the pilots and crew, and can damage the aircraft when done repeatedly (and it is)."

Can anybody verify this? Is there really such a thing? Do these guys actually do it? I apologize if this is a sensitive matter after all.

can neither confirm nor deny the actions taken by the fighters when they escorted our reconnaissance (not spy ) flights in international airspace - but I do have some upclose and personal pictures of almost every fighter in the old Russian Air Force (1981-1992) - the Chinese also liked to get in tight formation -

All kinds of things went on during the cold war. Not just aircraft but ships and submarines too. I think there are books about these kinds of things. It's pretty well known in the defense community, and I'm fairly sure it's not classified in general. Specific mission details involving our intel platforms would have been classified of course.

Ever see the movie Top Gun? The film industry didn't just make up that stuff. Same with Hunt for Red October.

So they really do play volleyball in the Navy? :D

Actually, if you read the original Top Gun script, very little of that retarded stuff is in there.

Actually, yes. They got that part right.

I've always enjoyed the volleyball scenes. The real question is whether anyone in the Navy has Rick Rossovich's body and good looks. He once was quoted as saying he would like to be Martha Stewart's houseboy. Well, I'd like to be his ...... ;)

I don't fly spyjets, but if you do a steep turn in an airplane and cross your own wake you will always feel a thump as it reaches the disturbed air. It's a bit disconcerting. Any discontinuity in the freestream will produce a change in lift until it reestablishes equilibrium.

Someone actually went throught the trouble to locate and read the TopGun script? Hahahahahahhahah!

There was a script?

In fact, the Navy has a long history of being Gay. Winston Churchill once said the British Navy was founded on Rum and Sodomy.

There is a nice thump in the T-37 also. Most of the time I don't hear it because you IP is to busy "correcting" my F-up's. But in the rare case that I'm doing good and he is actually silent (not very often) you can hear an accumulator thumping behind the seat. Talk about disconcerting!!!! The first time you hear that your like Matain A/C control, analyze the situation......etc. Then you realize wtf it is and you hear rate goes back down and you take you hand of the handgrips....lol. Remember this plane is older than my parents and about 2x my age :eek:!!!

If you eject from a Tweet for anything other than a fire or wing falling off you're nuts. It's built like a tank w/ a big fat wing on it. That's the only way I was gonna jump anyway. Beat the seat, my a$$.

LT, don't tell that story at the bar, just a bit of advice.

I usually don't tell any flying stories in the bar, I have <100 hours in the A.F. I really don't have stories worth telling. Something about listening twice as much as you talk. By friday night were all ready to forget about flying for a few days, so being in a class with almost all academy, I just usually tell them stories of what it's like to go to a real college. Then listen to them b!tch about how they should have went to a regular college. Apparently they didn't enjoy the 3 to 1 girl to guy ration that I did. :D Besides, wasn't meaning for it to be a story more of a joke maybe a bad one, whatever.

-Slice-

Your right this plane is a tank and personally I don't like my chances with that seat. I am outside the "safer operating range" of the seat, being that I weight about 210. As far as beating the seat, I have heard it's been done but then again 10% comes into play.

Oh now THAT'S comedy.


Take a bow

Rum, the lash, and sodomy.

He would know he was 1st Sea Lord for many years.

Anybody from the NJ guard on here....:eek:

That's not very nice...;)

A Little NC Guard action though...

True. I was just wondering if anybody remembered.

You talking about the F-16 that shot up the school?

-LAFF

Actually there are plenty of women in today's navy, no need for sodomy any longer :rolleyes:

That wasn't the NJANG and that's not what he was talking about.

No, those who know will remember. That's about all I've got to say about that. (Forrest Gump)

Slice,

How is brown. You just started over there right? I have a few buddies over there. I here it's a great place to work.

Thumping Spyplanes
 

Never heard of it (thumping) . There were numerous incidents where USAF/USN, etc. spy aircraft were shot down during the cold war. Our squadron had a RB-57F "disappear" in the Black Sea on Dec 11, 1965.

The list is long but interesting to read.

http://home.comcast.net/~anneled/ColdWar.html

Check your PM.

1980 A Soviet Tu-95 Bear, flying from the USSR to Cuba entered US airspace and passed very close to Langley AFB in Virginia (it could be seen from the control tower). The aircraft was intercepted by F-15s from the US Air Force 1st TFW and escorted out of US airspace.


... niice

???? They should have splashed it! That's within ALCM range of DC! The bear can carry AS-15's right? :eek:

Not a true thumping when the aircraft actually collide.

Good point brother.

Don't include all of the NJANG in that:rolleyes:

Not at all bro. Quite a while ago. I just remember how crazy that one was. Didn't mean to group everybody from NJ into that.

"The Event" was actually pretty long ago. I don't think that hardly anyone who was in that unit then is there now.

They're also the first ANG unit to discover that airliners have TCAS. That was on the National news! I think that was right around the same timeframe as the famous "near thump".

I have many good friends in the NJANG and wouldn't include them in the same group of numbskulls who gave that unit such a bad name.

I think that jet was actually from the DCANG but was using a range owned by the NJANG.

Saying he "shot up the school" is a stretch, but we can get some humor out of it since no one was hurt. A janitor in the school at the time only thought that vandals were running across the roof of the building, not that 20mm rounds were falling on it from 20,000ft.

I think there was some poor PVI in the airplane that contributed highly to that incident. The pilot thought he was firing the laser but do to a switch error he was firing the gun. The laser was pointed at somthing on range but the aircraft was pointed roughly in the direction of the school when the gun fired.

Its all good... I knew what you meant.. I made the face because that whole thing is really silly!