Navy fighter pilot manual#
Navy fighter pilot full#

The tape shows an overshooting turn onto final, then apparent engine failure, followed by an audible wave-off and gear-up command from the landing signal officer. Īs with most approaches to a carrier landing, Hultgreen's incident was videotaped by two cameras. The F-14A lost in the crash, BuNo 160390, had been one of the two involved in the Gulf of Sidra incident of 1981, when it was previously assigned to Fighter Squadron 41 ( VFA-41) at NAS Oceana, Virginia, and embarked with Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8) aboard USS Nimitz.

Navy fighter pilot full#

On November 21, she was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, with full military honors. On November 12, 19 days after the crash, the Navy salvaged the plane and recovered Hultgreen's body, still strapped into the ejection seat, from a depth of 3,700 feet (1,100 m). However, by the time Hultgreen's seat fired 0.4 seconds later, the plane had exceeded 90 degrees of roll, and she was ejected downward into the water, killing her instantly. First in the automated ejection sequence, Klemish survived. Matthew Klemish, initiated ejection for himself and Hultgreen as soon as it was apparent the aircraft was becoming uncontrollable.

The radar intercept officer in the rear seat, Lt. This, combined with a high angle of attack, caused an unrecoverable approach turn stall and rapid wing drop to the left. Īfter aborting the approach, Hultgreen selected full afterburner on the remaining engine, causing an even greater asymmetry. Loss of an F-14 engine results in asymmetric thrust, which can exceed rudder authority (the degree of control exerted over the aircraft), especially at low speeds.

Navy fighter pilot manual#

For this reason, the F-14 NATOPS flight manual warned against excess yaw. The port engine suffered a compressor stall and lost power-a well-known deficiency characteristic of the F-14A's TF30-P-414A engine when inlet air is no longer flowing straight into it. Finding herself overshooting the landing area centerline, Hultgreen attempted to correct her approach by applying left rudder pedal, which caused the nose to disrupt the airflow over the left (inside) wing, as well as the airflow to the left engine intake. The incident occurred off the coast of San Diego after a routine training mission. Hultgreen was the first female fighter pilot in the U.S. On October 25, 1994, Hultgreen died when her F-14A-95-GR, BuNo 160390, coded 'NH 103,' crashed on approach to USS Abraham Lincoln. Following a television appearance in which she wore noticeable makeup, she received the additional call sign of 'Revlon'. Her call signs were 'Hulk' or ' She-Hulk', for her ability to bench press 200 pounds (91 kg), her 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) frame, and a play on her surname. Upon completion of the VF-124 Category I fleet replacement pilot syllabus, she was assigned to the Black Lions of Fighter Squadron 213 ( VF-213) and began preparations for deployment to the Persian Gulf. While with Pacific Fleet F-14 Fleet Replacement Squadron, Fighter Squadron 124 ( VF-124), Hultgreen failed her first attempt at carrier qualification, but she successfully carrier-qualified at the end of July 1994 during a second period aboard USS Constellation, becoming the first 'combat qualified' female naval aviator. Hultgreen was selected in May 1993 to be among the first female pilots to undergo F-14 Tomcat training at NAS Miramar, California. Upon the Navy's integration of women in combat, Lt. įollowing designation as a naval aviator, she received orders to fly EA-6A Prowlers with Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 ( VAQ-33) at NAS Key West, Florida. Screened for the Strike Pilot training pipeline, she underwent follow-on training in the T-2C Buckeye and TA-4J Skyhawk II with Training Air Wing 3 at NAS Chase Field, Texas. Upon graduation she was assigned to Training Air Wing 4 at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, for primary flight training with VT-27 in the T-34C Turbomentor. Hultgreen was commissioned through the Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where she was a Distinguished Naval Graduate. She graduated in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in aerospace engineering. She attended Alamo Heights High School and received a congressional nomination to the United States Naval Academy but did not get an appointment. She was raised in both Chicago and Toronto, then San Antonio from 1981 on. Hultgreen was born on October 5, 1965, in Greenwich, Connecticut, the granddaughter of Norwegian immigrants on her father's side.