F-18 fake bolter at Nellis

[LVSteve]

Another little sequence from the airshow. This F-18 came into land then slammed open the throttles and went around. Guess it was a simulated bolter. The second and third shots show the gear going back up pretty well.

 

[Mainsail]

Nice photography!

Don't know what a "bolter" is, but then I only have a little over 5600 flying hours.

 

[LVSteve]

Nice photography!

Don't know what a "bolter" is, but then I only have a little over 5600 flying hours.

How many of those hours were on aircraft carriers?

A bolter is where the landing aircraft misses all the arrestor wires.

 

[zonker5]

It's called a "touch and go" by us non-Navy types.

 

[Marine Corps Air]

I'll add what I remember to what LVSteve said.

"Bolters" are related to and associated with carrier landings. There are four arresting cables in the touchdown area and usually the pilot will attempt to have the arresting hook engage the #3 wire - between #2 and #3. If the aircraft is slightly high (the "hook" only extends downward so far when it is in position) or if the hook is not fully extended, or if there is a "hook skip", the aircraft will miss engaging the arresting gear.

Given that the carrier deck is relatively short, it's imperative that the pilot immediately go to the full throttle position, become airborne and then take the aircraft around for another attempt (pass). Ideally, the aircraft will "trap" this time.

 

[Mainsail]

How many of those hours were on aircraft carriers?

Oh now you did it....war story....

We were landing at Howard AFB in Panama while they were working on the runway, so the available landing distance was much shorter than normal. We were heavy with 120 fully equipped Marines in the back. Tower cleared us to land but we had to do a go-around because the tailwinds were out of limits. While we were climbing out we asked tower to turn the field around so we could land into the wind but they didn't want us to land towards the construction, so they asked what our tailwind limit was.

The pilot made the mistake of telling them it was ten knots. So they announced the wind was such-n-such at eight knots, and we started the approach. The actual winds were such-n-such at 12 gust 20....

We flared over the workers and floated way too far down the runway, I'm getting ready to call go-around but with two pilots (one an instructor) and the scanner sitting in the jump-seat with better views, I held my tongue. We touched down on the left side of the center-line and popped back up rolling more left as the right wing found some lift, and touched down again almost on the edge of the grass. I called out "2000 feet remaining" as we screamed past the sign.....

Student pilots are trained that if they do not apply the brakes until below 80 knots there is nothing special that needs to be done, because above 80 knots we have to track through a very complex two-page chart to determine how many millions of ft-lbs of energy the brakes absorbed. Remember, energy can be neither created nor destroyed, and brakes work by converting kinetic energy to heat. Heavy aircraft have enough braking to melt the wheels and start the airplane on fire.

The plane stopped on the last brick at the end of the runway, after the only time in my career I'd felt max anti-skid braking. The student pilot called out, "On the brakes at 80 knots" and the instructor pilot immediately keyed up a correction and said, "On the brakes at 120 knots." I flipped the 1C-141B-1-1 manual to the brake limits chart but my hands were shaking so much I couldn't follow the chart, the scanner took it and he managed.

We were complimented later by a C-130 crew for our "assault landing", something they did in their plane but the C-141 does not....normally. Smoke was pouring out of the wheel wells when we parked so we evacuated the plane and the fire department put some big fans underneath to help cool it.

 

[wundudnee]

Great pictures! My son had two tours on the Nimitz as a navigator. He got to see a few bolters and one net arrest when a plane broke the tail hook trying to land.

He had his first carrier take off and landing ride on his midshipmans cruise.
It was in a retrofitted A-6 that had been made a re-fueler. He said he knew they had screwed up and he was going to die. He had over 200 carrier landings.

I think I would need new underwear.

 

[vt_shooter]

One day while I was working in an Air Force control tower I had an FB-111 land then taxi to the ramp. After he parked he said he had hot brakes and told me to advise the fire department. Seconds later I heard what sounded like dynamite going off in the distance; the airplane was parked a mile from the tower and the sound was clearly heard. When the wheel assembly exploded it sent pieces of wheel or brake through the wing of the airplane, it did a lot of damage. Hot brakes on large aircraft are a big deal.

 

[BUFF]

It takes both jet and prop planes some time to spool up their engines from landing RPM's, so the drill on aircraft carriers is to hit the throttles as soon as the main gear hits the deck, to get powered up for takeoff if the hook misses the arresting cables. If they wait until they know their hook grabbed a wire, they won't have enough time and deck left to get airborne. They leave the throttle(s) wide open until they know they hooked up and get a signal from a deck person. Once stopped, then they reduce power.

Great video called "No Easy Days" available about the history of carrier operations, lots of take-off and landings, especially mishaps. Really illustrates how hazardous carrier flying is and how high the skill levels of the pilots must be.

 

[30-30remchester]

My brother has a unique distinction. He had his small plane filled with holes by one of our F-16's. Probably the only civil aircraft to have suffered major damage and survive.

Now the back story. My brother was having his plane worked on in a hanger at Loveland, CO. An airshow was underway when a F-16 taxied up near the open door of the hanger his plane was in. Upon throttling up the F-16's exhaust was enough to launch a bowl filled with oil pan bolts belonging to another plane being worked on, across the hanger and with enough velocity to completely penetrate both sides of his plane. The Air Force said oops better call your insurance company.

 

[AJ]

A "Touch and Go" is just meant to be that. Touch the tires down on the runway and then apply max throttle to get back airborne. Read a "Practice Landing".

A "Bolter" is when the aircraft misses the arresting cables on a shipboard landing. Then they go to max throttle or afterburners to get airborne and come around and try it again.