MikeF16

I had this happen to me on a cross country sortie into Tyndall back in '09. I had preheated the canopy for about 100 miles prior expecting issues since we were going from such a dry base (Luke) to such a humid one. Sure enough as soon as I reduced power off the perch the fog slowly starting filling the cockpit and when I selected idle for the landing the cockpit nearly instantly filled up. Preheating the canopy had been a waste -- it wasn't the canopy that steamed over, instead the entire cockpit filled with fog. Changing the temperature of the cabin air while the fog filled the cockpit was useless as well.

I couldn't see anything out the front and I couldn't see the runway edges out the side. I don't recall if the HUD was blanked out like in this mishap, but I was lucky to be in a single bag block 25 which is considerably lighter than the mishap jet in this story. In fact I had quite the opposite reaction, I max braked and got stopped in a very short distance. There were some spacing issues behind me but we didn't bend any metal. Anyway, feel bad for the guy flying this. If it hadn't happened to me I don't think I'd be able to truly comprehend just how bad the vis can be when this happens.

Grumble

Every landing in the F-16 is high speed by most standards. 8k' runway isn't super short but when touching down at 160 your go around decision window is short. He probably didn't realize it had passed (conjecture by me) and most fighters I've flown are prone to horrendous moisture in humid environments. The F-18 will spit ice in your face on occasion. Going IFR in the cockpit after a long transit up high is not uncommon, and it can happen in only a few seconds.

UAL T38 Phlyer

Had this happen one night at Hurlburt, on downwind. Couldn't see a thing; tried both hot and cold. Problem was too much moisture in the air, and it either was condensing into a cloud (cold setting on Air Conditioner), or turning to steam (hot setting).

So, I had the student ram-dump the cabin. Air conditioner: off. Steam/cloud: gone.

Landing uneventful. Canopy rattled a little when the seals deflated.

(Not in the checklist).

HuggyU2

Would normally have to do this in the T-38... except the fact that the seals are already to leaky... so no need.

DC8DRIVER

Gopher
Mole
Earthworm
Hole-in-one
Auger
Miner
Shovel
Drillbit
Gouge
Plow
... etc

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