not making light of a serious thing ... 7

[rb1957]

from flight …
"US Marine Corps F-35B and KC-130J collide and crash" …

oops … what'll that cost the taxpayer ?

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[dik]

biggest cost is the few lives lost...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?
-Dik

 

[JohnRBaker]

It appears that only the F-35B was lost. The pilot ejected and survived. As for the KC-130J, it made an emergency landing at a local airport with all crew members reported safe.

US Marine Corps F-35B and KC-130J collide and crash

https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-...-and-kc-130j-collide-and-crash/140399.article

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[1503-44]

the taxpayer has already paid for that purchase, although there may be some additional cost for repair of the KC. If another F35 is not purchased the taxpayers may be appeased. Thankfully nobody was killed and that's good enough for today....

 

[bimr]

One Marine Corps F-35B will set you back an unbelievable $251 million.

"It’s no small irony that on the same day the change in Air Force strategy was revealed, Winslow Wheeler, a staff member at the Project On Government Oversight and a long-time critic of the F-35 program, reported that American taxpayers will pay between will pay between $148 million and $337 million per jet in 2015, depending on the model.

“A single Air Force F-35A costs a whopping $148 million. One Marine Corps F-35B costs an unbelievable $251 million. A lone Navy F-35C costs a mind-boggling $337 million. Average the three models together, and a ‘generic’ F-35 costs $178 million,” Wheeler wrote."

Link

The most commonly mentioned figure is for the F-35A, the Air Force’s conventional takeoff variant and the least expensive model. The current estimate for the lot of aircraft currently in production is $89.2 million apiece. This figure is the unit recurring flyaway cost—the price tag for just the aircraft and engine, which by themselves do not make a fully functioning weapon system. That $89.2 million does not include procurement funds spent on initial spare parts, flight training simulators, the expensive – and poorly performing – ALIS support system, and more, all unique to the F-35. You need all of it, not just an air frame and engine – literally not including the cost of fuel to fly it. When we also consider the future modifications necessary to correct both the known and potential design flaws and the aircraft’s $44,000 per-flight-hour cost, it is easy to see why the F-35 program is the most expensive in history.

Link


Remember the USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)!

 

[bimr]

the taxpayer has already paid for that purchase, although there may be some additional cost for repair of the KC. If another F35 is not purchased the taxpayers may be appeased. Thankfully nobody was killed and that's good enough for today....

According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a non-partisan fiscal watchdog, the national debt rose from more than $19.9 trillion on January 20, 2017 to more than $25.2 trillion in May 2020.

That plane was purchased with borrowed funds, so it is not paid for.

 

[bimr]

The tanker pilot landed the big aircraft on its belly in a field near the desert town of Thermal.

Link

Link

 

[Lou Scannon]

Man those Herky birds just keep going... 65 year old design?

"Schiefgehen wird, was schiefgehen kann" - das Murphygesetz

 

[itsmoked]

What am I seeing with regards to the props?
Something weird. Did they get hit?

Is that a thousand gallons of fuel pouring out in the farm field?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[IRstuff]

https://f35.com/assets/uploads/documents/F35FastFacts8_2020.pdf

lists single unit cost of the 35B at around $105 million. Even Lot 1 prices would only be around $150 M

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[Sym P. le]

Definitely shredded/missing props and fuel gushing onto the field. It looks like the left outer refueling pod is missing and the right inner pod is damaged.

Youtube: KESQ NewsChannel 3



From Lockheed Martin: C-130 Air-to-Air Refueling Tanker Conversion Kit

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

those props are composite and pretty fragile which has the bonus that when they do get shredded then there is not much shock damage to the engine behind them..

I think the J started getting delivered in 2000. I don't have a clue about mil certification so can't tell you how much of that will bare any relation to the original herc. Its a two crew efis cockpit.

It was a tanker detail which means it carries risk levels above even flying in hot combat areas. Similar to landing on an aircraft carrier.

That won't take long to get back flying again.

 

[davidbeach]

The Herc was an old bird when I was working in their vicinity in '82-'83. Was around some of the oddest Herc's in that I was at Pt Magu, the "summer" (northern summer) home of VX(mumble mumble) that spent the northern summer at Magu and the southern summer at somewhere in the antarctic. Only Herc I've seen with JATO bottles fitted.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

A mate of mine used to fly the classic and the J in the UK RAF. He says the only similarity between the two is they are both ugly and the toilet is useless.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Here's are more recent item on this incident:

After Tanker Collision, Remnants of a Marine F-35B Are Sprinkled Across California

Everyone is safe following the crash ... but where is the fighter jet?

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a34224303/f-35-kc-30-collision-crash-california/

And it appears that someone got a video of the plane crashing in the desert:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFwwzPCDlcL/?utm_source=ig_embed

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[1503-44]

Fine. The US Gov hasn't paid for anything with real money since 1974. Debt (-$) is the US Gov's default currency. Call it already committed debt. I'll rephrase. The debt won't rise if you don't buy another one. And the present value of 150MM in future payments of debt is a lot less than 150MM today anyway. And dont forget to divide by inflated future value. Say x10. Let's see, Hummmm, -$150E6 @ like 0% interest x ... right..like 0.05gm of my weekly hamburger meat. Cant see that with the Hubble telescope. Problem is not 1 x F35. Maybe its the entire military budget.

 

[bimr]

"LA Center LA Center, RAIDER 50 declaring an emergency, midair collision with VOLT 93. We have two engines out, we're leaking fuel, and likely on fire, and in emergency descent at this time. RAIDER 50."

Link to ATC audio of incident

Link to video of F35 cratering

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

looks like they took out the right side engines in the collision. Which must have impacted the nose of the receiver.

When the props got destroyed bits will have likely gone through the fuselage.

All that damage on only one side will have greatly increase the V minimum control airborne (Vmca) which is a function of the drag moment from the none working side side, the thrust from the working side and the power of the rudder to zero it to keep the thing going in a straight line and not rolling. They seem to have been lucky and it was the none critical engine side that got taken out.


The left sides damage looks like it was picked up in the forced landing. The wing touch the ground and took the drogue pod off and the outside propeller.

Lucky there was loads of flat fields around it could have been very different outcome if there wasn't.

 

[Sym P. le]

Your assesment of the incident sounds right. I wonder how the receiver got in so close.

 

[LittleInch]

Hmmm,

Watcha few videos and it seems like once you connect to the drone with a bit of "positive" action, the hose reel maintains a fixed tension and can reel itself in.

The fueling aircraft then has a tendency to go up and forward more than it should.

It loos like the right hand wing centre fuel pod? has been taken out as well as the two props

Pretty good landing though.

Those hercs normally have very little take off roll or landing flare so probably quite similar to a normal landing!

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.