Topic: Typical Marine Corps Report

[toasty0]

California Highway Patrol Officers were conducting speeding  enforcement on I-15, just north and outside of the gate at the Marine Corps Air Station at  Miramar ..
One of the officers was using a hand held radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the crest of a hill.
 
The officers were suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hour. The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but
it would not reset and then turned off.
 
Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar  had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a  low flying exercise near the location.
 
Back at the CHP Headquarters Mike Burke the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint  to the USMC Base Commander 
The reply came back in true USMC style:
 
Thank you for your letter. We can now complete the file on this  incident.
 
You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet  had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to, your
hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back  to it, which is why it shut down.
 
Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully armed aircraft  had also automatically locked on to your equipment location.
 
Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the  situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system
alert status and was able to override the automated defense system  before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position.
 
The pilot also suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them,  since the video surveillance systems on these jets are very high tech.
Sergeant  Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar . It appears the filling is loose.
Also, the snap is broken on his holster.
 
Thank you for your concern. 
Semper Fi.
Col. Ronald McDermott USMC
God Bless those who are protecting our Freedom.....

[Capt. Mike]

Toasty, that's why we could speed getting to the main gate at Clark AB..all the ECM was along that end of the runway   


Mike

[Sirgod]

I love it!

Stephen

[Dash Jones]

Uh, just knowing this from private piloting, but I  could have sworn the max speed under 10000 ft was a little less then 300 MPH, not just under US law, but also under Federal Law...though ATC may approve it if it is non interfering with the local area activities...

You certain that's what the report came back as with a read of 300 MPH+, just wondering?

[Dracho]

Uh, just knowing this from private piloting, but I  could have sworn the max speed under 10000 ft was a little less then 300 MPH, not just under US law, but also under Federal Law...though ATC may approve it if it is non interfering with the local area activities...

You certain that's what the report came back as with a read of 300 MPH+, just wondering?

In controlled airspace.

But this incident probably never really happened.  Still humorous though..

Dash, you stopping at private?  I have a Commercial Multi with instrument and am considering adding a seaplane rating.

[Dash Jones]

Well, I'm in med school right now (though soon I should be graduating, but then comes the h3!! of residency) so I just keep up the private.  I suppose I could get instrument if I really wanted to, but for the time being I'm concentrating on my studies.

I figure there's a lot of time.  Perhaps in the future after I have my schooling and have normal hours again.

[Dracho]

I personally think instrument should be mandatory for any pilot who leaves the traffic pattern at an airport, because it can save your life if the weather deteriorates on you.

If you're going to be a doctor, do karma a favor and stay away from V-tail Bonanzas.

[toasty0]

I personally think instrument should be mandatory for any pilot who leaves the traffic pattern at an airport, because it can save your life if the weather deteriorates on you.

If you're going to be a doctor, do karma a favor and stay away from V-tail Bonanzas.

no sh*t!

[AcePylut]

Max "low altitude" airspeed is 230knots indicated air speed.  I forgot the altitude that you can go faster... it's one of those "I don't fly that fast, so it doesn't matter to me".   That's speed through the air, not "ground speed" (1 knot is 1.15 mph).  Also, that's in "public" airspace.  In restricted airspace (i.e military training zones), most of those rules are waived.  I"m not sure if "every flight" has to "request permission" to waive that rule in a restricted space or if the restricted airspace has a blanket "go whatever speed you want", cuz I'm not military.

Dash, I'd highly recommend the instrument, that's where you actually learn to maximize your aircraft's capabilities, i.e. you really learn to fly-the-numbers, economize the plane and fuel.  You'll be a far better pilot with it, than without... and if you're going to do that, you might as well tack on the commercial rating too.  The commercial rating, basically, you need to learn an extra 3-4 maneauvers, and you learn that you can charge people to cover operating costs of the aircraft, but as soon as you charge more, you have to follow some other set of rules.   I got em both (SEL & MEL, Instrument/Commercial).  But quite frankly, I never bothered doing anything with Commerical (got it to have it, and got it in parallel with the Instruments).  I've done some instrument flying, but aren't current, as I haven't kept up with the 666 rule.  The instrument I remember the best was a 3 hour flight (from Columbus Ohio to NY City) in a single engine Cessna with a friend.  We cruised at 9k feet asl and were in between cloud layers.  That was sweet.  A cloud layer below us, a cloud layer above us, unlimited visibility in between and not a single other soul in sight.  That right there made the Instrument worth it.  That flight ended with a localizer approach down to minimums, in the middle of a rainstorm.  We got down to minimums, couldn't see squat but my friend could look down and see land (I didn't want to look straight down and possibly induce vertigo so I had to trust him, which I did), so since he could see the land, there wasn't anything around, we blew past mins by 70feet and finally broke out under the cloud base, in a driving rainstorm, 2 miles off the runway end... a quick slip and a bankity-bank to line up with the runway, and we landed pretty easily.  It was pretty awesome if I must say so myself.  Especially since I had to abort the first approach due to a comedy of errors on it. )
 


Also, the best thing about an instrument rating is that you can honest say the following to some random hottie:  "Baby, I'll show you the sun on a rainy day, I'll give you the stars on a cloudy night".  Cuz that's what you can do with an instrument rating.  Honestly.  Just file an IFR flight plan on a rainy-day/cloudy-night, and pop above the cloud layer.  Then join the mile-high club.      

[AcePylut]

Another thing too... that the max speed of 230 knots indicated air speed is just that... knots of indicated air speed.

That's not your "ground speed", which is what a radar detects.  You've got to disconnect thinking that aircraft speed is a direct relation between ground speed.

Think of it like this:

If your aircraft is indicating 100 KIAS, and you're flying into a 20 Knot headwind, then your "ground speed" is 80 knots.

If your aircract is indicating 100 KIAS and you're flying with a 20 knot tailwin, then your ground speed is 120 knots.

Here's a brain teaser:  If you're going to do a roundtrip flight of 115 miles, and you're KIAS is 100 (i.e. 100 knots - 115 miles)...  is it faster to do it if there is no wind at all, or if there's a constant wind (so that you have a headwind on one leg and a tailwind on the other... or does it matter at all if there's wind or not?


Now, other things factor into your KIAS, such as outside air pressure, temperature, etc...  but that above example is there to tell you how an aircraft with a "100 Knot Indicated Air Speed" can have a greatly varied ground speed.

[Dash Jones]

If If you have a 20 Knot headwind going up, and then a 20 knot tailwind going down, that means your airspeed will remain at 100 Knots, but your Ground speed will be at 80 Knots going up, but 120 on the way back.  It'll be easier for me to figure out this in Nautical Miles however.  So if you are travelling 120 NM, that means you will take a total of 2 hours and 24 minutes without any wind (1 hour 12 minutes both ways).

With the wind it will be 1 hours and 40 minutes up, and 1 hour on the way back, so in essence, in that light, it would actually take you longer with a constant wind.

However, what's more important is your altitude.  I believe it's like almost 5 Knots per 1000 feet, which greatly increases your speed.

However, if the jet was at low flying, let's say 1000 (edit, up to 2000) feet, that means it would be travelling faster then it should already.  252 Knots * 1.15 = ~290 Miles per hour, if we adjust for an altitude difference of 2000 feet, that would give us the approximate speed of 300 Miles per hour.

[C-Los]

                   

                " Semper FI "

[AcePylut]

If If you have a 20 Knot headwind going up, and then a 20 knot tailwind going down, that means your airspeed will remain at 100 Knots, but your Ground speed will be at 80 Knots going up, but 120 on the way back.  It'll be easier for me to figure out this in Nautical Miles however.  So if you are travelling 120 NM, that means you will take a total of 2 hours and 24 minutes without any wind (1 hour 12 minutes both ways).

With the wind it will be 1 hours and 40 minutes up, and 1 hour on the way back, so in essence, in that light, it would actually take you longer with a constant wind.

Doesn't seem right does it, 'eh?  It's one of those questions that you tend to instantly answer "it doesn't matter if you have wind or not, cuz you're going faster with the wind at your back and that cancels out how much slower you go with the wind on your nose"... but when you work out the numbers, d=rt, it is what it is

[Dracho]

If If you have a 20 Knot headwind going up, and then a 20 knot tailwind going down, that means your airspeed will remain at 100 Knots, but your Ground speed will be at 80 Knots going up, but 120 on the way back.  It'll be easier for me to figure out this in Nautical Miles however.  So if you are travelling 120 NM, that means you will take a total of 2 hours and 24 minutes without any wind (1 hour 12 minutes both ways).

With the wind it will be 1 hours and 40 minutes up, and 1 hour on the way back, so in essence, in that light, it would actually take you longer with a constant wind.

Doesn't seem right does it, 'eh?  It's one of those questions that you tend to instantly answer "it doesn't matter if you have wind or not, cuz you're going faster with the wind at your back and that cancels out how much slower you go with the wind on your nose"... but when you work out the numbers, d=rt, it is what it is

Crosswind component also matters.

[Just plain old Punisher]

The radar warning device on a F-18 wouldn't respond to a civil K-band cop radar gun. Not enough signal strength or PRF...beyond that the aircraft would be past the cop so fast that there wouldn't be any time for the signal to register as a threat to the onboard computer. Otherwise everytime the aircraft flew over ANY populated area it would be getting all sorts of false alarms from everything in the K-KU band -- which covers a lot of the frequencey spectrum.

Not to mention that the area is Class A airspace, and going that fast that close to the ground would get ANY pilot busted.

Nice story, but probably never happend =)

[Spartan-039]

Hoorah!  Also, the military, over their own airbases, need not worry about the FAA rules due to the fact that they own the place and no one else is allowed to fly over it.  They are allowed to go supersonic over their bases alot, I live near Eglin and the AF pilots go supersonic all the time, my father is an ex spec-ops marine and he swore that he saw an entire formation of F/A-18s went supersonic right over the barricks he was in, he also cut himself when they did because he was shaving at the time. He found this story quite amuzing when he read it.