Range extender---pee pee stories

[spacer]

Not to "nit pick" but the orginal thread theme here is "peeing" and not F-16's     

HA HA !! just razn' ya, Baradium !!

I think the F-16 engine out may involve some unplanned urination...

[Mike]

HA HA !!!

So true !!! I can only imagine what kind of feeling one would get when losing your only engine one a plane that's not necessarily built to glide....


 

[Baradium]

HA HA !!!

So true !!! I can only imagine what kind of feeling one would get when losing your only engine one a plane that's not necessarily built to glide....


 

A bigger problem is that the F-16 is fly by wire.  No mechanical linkage.  Unlike transport category fly by wire aircraft, there is no turbine generator to deploy to run a pump and generator.  When the engine dies the pump stops... pump stops the flight controls don't respond anymore.  That's why you have to eject when the engine fails in an F-16.

[Mike]

...and some poeple have observed a little pee-trail as the pilots shoots out of the cockpit . . .

 


(to stick with the theme of the thread....)

[plsander]

[Hmm... some tubing and a collapsible container... probably end in disaster. Darnit.
I'd thought about running it outside, but I think corrosion would be a problem.

Sounds like a diver's range extender -- "P-Valve" and dry-suit scuba diving....   
http://www.dui-online.com/tech_p_valves.htm

[tundra_flier]

[Hmm... some tubing and a collapsible container... probably end in disaster. Darnit.
I'd thought about running it outside, but I think corrosion would be a problem.

Sounds like a diver's range extender -- "P-Valve" and dry-suit scuba diving....
http://www.dui-online.com/tech_p_valves.htm

Actually I've heard of competition glider pilots using something very similar.  But most of them are in composite planes, so corrosion isn't a concern.  I even read one thread a few years back discussing the best place to locate the other end of the tube.  One guy had placed his on the gear door, so he could open the gear door when he needed to drain and didn't have to 'wipe' off the 'tail' when he finished.   

I think I'll just keep a list of remote airports handy myself.  My luck I'd forget to detach the thing when I exited the plane 

Phil

[cj5_pilot]

That diver P-valve sounded similar to what the astronaughts on Gemni used...I think it was called CVUMPS or something (I'd have to dig out my copy of "Carrying the Fire" to remember).

Repetitive dives may require the diver to change condoms.

Hmm....think I'll leave this one alone.....

[TheSoccerMom]

I know we've been laughing about the "Pee Dilemma" in this thread, and maybe it seems silly...  I used to think I was the only person who had suffered from flight-induced pee-panic.  Imagine how funny it was when I met a retired U-2 driver last winter, and asked him (well, okay, BEGGED him) to tell us some cool, exciting, dramatic, U-2 spy stories.  After some cajoling and several beers, he did share a story -- and it was about trying to manage the pee system they had set up for their incredibly lo-oo-oo-ng flights.  Let's just say it involved a lot of unavoidable Laws of Physics that we don't have to worry about at low altitudes, and it was a hilarious tale of trying to avoid disaster, just because of HAVING TO PEE.

So....  we are not the only ones!               

I thought it was really cool of the guy to tell on himself -- he had NO ego, at least not an ego to match his accomplishments.      

[happylanding]

I met a retired U-2 driver last winter, and asked him (well, okay, BEGGED him) to tell us some cool, exciting, dramatic, U-2 spy stories. 

Oh wow, Soccermom!
You met somebody who flew the U2? Don't you have other stories to pass along about his career?!? Are you still in contact with the pilot?
the only one I ever heard about was francis gary powers. I was so happy that I could give some un-useful information to my brother when he was preparing an exam about cold war history, telling him about Power's misadventures.....

[TheSoccerMom]

Hi HappyLanding!

Sorry it took me so long to see your post..  I get kinda lost and mill around in these posts, checking it all out, just like I act at the airport...  ha!!

Yes, this guy flew the U-2 and loved her..  he has a real lack of ego, and we never even would have heard his background, but that another person was there who had worked with him in the past.  That guy leaked it, and even so, it took a lot of begging to get him to talk about it.

He recommended a great book, "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich and Leo Janos.  It's GREAT..  a real asset for one's aviation library.  It explains the development of the U-2 and the Stealth..  just fascinating.  The pilot said it was by far the most accurate description of those times that he knew of. 

His "pee story" involved him trying to hang onto his now-filled pee bag, and fly the airplane at a gazillion miles per hour, and navigate, and also not drop his dividers (those needle-sharp pointers that you mark map distances with??)...  I can't do it justice -- he had us all crying our eyes out in painful laughter --  but long story short, he ended up SO desperate not to drop his pee bag, that he set it down on his armrest, but it ended up on top of the DIVIDERS...  the POINTS of the dividers.... a total mess... 

Forgive me, J., if you're reading this, but it's so good that I can't resist!!!!   

Besides, you can always deny the whole story!!!   

He's a super guy...  like I said, he just can't blow his own horn at ALL.  It was a real honor to work with him, just because of that attitude.     

[tundra_flier]

We had a U-2 pilot speak at our EAA banquet 2 years ago.  The main points I remember were:

-They ate a 'low bulk' diet for 24 hours before a long mission to avoid bowel movements.  I'm thinking that's a good idea for all of us, I'd love to get a list of foods.

-Part of the job interview was "Can you pee sitting down"?

-At cruise altitude they couldn't reduce power without flaming out, so they had to lower the gear to start desending.

-They had a 4 knot window between stall and Vne (when the tail ripped off!) at cruise.  Talk about your intense flying!

Of course the story about a photo of a naked sunbather taken from 80,000ft and 75 miles was also pretty good. 

Phil