F-35 Crashes on Vertical Landing - Pilot Ejects

[French G.]

https://navyaviation.tpub.com/14218/css/Description-50.htm a ballistic spreader.

[BobR]

The "drogue" looks like a separate rocket or something that pulls the main chute out to full length.  I was thinking a drogue was normally just a small parachute.  Does the same job I guess.

IIRC, but memory can be fuzzy, some of the parachute packs for zero-zero seats had a small rocket motor used as a "spreader" to get the chute out of the pack much quicker than a normal drogue chute so it could deploy before the user hit the ground. As far as the conical chutes,those were being tested at the Navy Parachute Test Center in the 90's when we were tasked with going there to be their jump platform while their Buffalo was being overhauled. IIRC they are supposed to be a little more stable and open faster than a standard round canopy, but again, memory.

bob

eta: What he said ^

[Ben]

The "drogue" looks like a separate rocket or something that pulls the main chute out to full length.  I was thinking a drogue was normally just a small parachute.  Does the same job I guess.

French and BobR might want to chime in, but at 1/4 speed, it looks to me like the small ejection rocket pulled the drogue but sperated it right away. It looks like the drogue is right under the rocket and didn't deploy because of altitude (or lack thereof). I found this explanation:

https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/ejection-seat.htm

[kgbsquirrel]

The parachutes have a ballistic spreader. Large segmented grenade basically with a shroud line attached to exact metal chunk. A CAD(cartridge actuated device) in this case about like a 12ga shell fires it. The chunks depart in a circular pattern taking the shroud lines with them. Anytime I have happened into a chute shop and they are working on them I turn around and depart as quickly as I came.

Neat detail!  Thank you.

[230RN]

https://navyaviation.tpub.com/14218/css/Description-50.htm a ballistic spreader.

Thanks for the hard details.

Looks like the powder charge blows out the radial pistons, which themselves knock the shroud spreaders out and the parachute is opened by this, rather than by airflow.

I fail to see why any small parachute (drogue) is required if the pulling and opening is all done pyrotechnically, initiated perhaps by a rocket which yanks it all out, then the spreader goes off.  I suppose you could call the rocket a "drogue," since that's the function it performs, but as I said, I don't think you want to delay anything by relying on mere air flow to perform any of these functions.

Terry, 230RN

[Fly320s]

Foreign Object Debris

I've heard it as Foreign Object Damage or Foreign Object on Deck.

[cordex]

Fear Oncertainty and Doubt

[BobR]

I've heard it as Foreign Object Damage or Foreign Object on Deck.

When I was in Naval Aviation (1972-1992) it was always called Foreign Object Damage.

bob

[French G.]

When I was in Naval Aviation (1972-1992) it was always called Foreign Object Damage.

bob

Which leads to why is it fod if it hasn’t damaged anything yet? Nothing better than getting outside with the whole command before sunrise for a FOD walkdown. Especially when it is cold as crap. Bonus if you bend over suggestively while screaming “Hard FOD!!!” in front of all the officers whilst you pick up a wayward screw.


The drogue, don’t think of it as pulling out the chute because it doesn’t. Stabilizes everything from yawing violently or tumbling when the seat comes out.

[BobR]

Which leads to why is it fod if it hasn’t damaged anything yet? Nothing better than getting outside with the whole command before sunrise for a FOD walkdown. Especially when it is cold as crap. Bonus if you bend over suggestively while screaming “Hard FOD!!!” in front of all the officers whilst you pick up a wayward screw.

That is a team building exercise! When I worked as the Squadron Safety PO in one command we had a piece of Golden FOD, good for a 24 hr special liberty. You do whatever it takes to make people look instead of farting around like it is a social event. We also had a command function where we threw a watermelon into a turning prop, pretty graphic way to bring home the point of being cuisinarted.

bob

[French G.]

We just passed around pictures of the last guy to walk through an E-2 prop. Some made it to the 0-8 level.

[BobR]

We just passed around pictures of the last guy to walk through an E-2 prop. Some made it to the 0-8 level.

That is impressive. I lost all of the pictures I had of a P3 when we landed at night at NADC Warminster and caught a deer with our #2 prop. You just don't realize how much blood an animal has inside it until it is all over your airplane, plus bits of other stuff. We called the crash crew and they were nice enough to hose it down for us, we didn't have a wash rack to drive through.

bob

[bedlamite]

Some F-35s grounded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u_Cq9SH5E