10. B-57 accidents

We had way too many accidents practicing single engine landings in B-57’s Charley Phelps crashed near the fuel dump and too many more. I had a real single engine and followed the tech order procedures only to find out that they were wrong. You could not stay on a GCA glide path at normal approach speed of 130 kts and keep control of the aircraft. I raised the gear retracted the flaps just to get back up to the glide path, then put them back down as the situation got better nearer the air field. I raised hell with the safety people and standardization that they had not done their homework. Lt Col Milling finally asked me to back off and give them a chance to solve the problem, Col Airing even said thanks for trying to solve the problem . Yes, I had been vocal about the tech order being in error and inviting pilots into a trap of doom, but I wanted to find a solution. Almost all my landings after that were simulated single engine. I learned a lot but had not yet found the solution. That came when my fight leader Stan Moore and I worked really hard to come up with a solution at Albuquerque, a mile above sea level, 85% on one engine would provide about 500 feet per minute climb if the airplane was clean and at less than 35,000 lbs. We could leave high key with one engine at idle and the other at 85% make the penetration ease up to the glide slope at well above the minimum control speed modulate the speed brakes and flaps and gear to stay on the glide slope, if a go around was necessary you simply had to clean up the airplane it would slowly go from a descent to a climb, meager yes, but still a climb, and no change in the rudder pressure because the speed brakes. flaps and gear produced symmetrical drag. You did not have to add power because there was already enough to get you out of danger. Stan was our top instructor and he demonstrated the technique to the Ops Officer and the Commander, we adopted the technique squadron wide and spread the word the best we could but Warner-Robbins said it was too complicated and the tech order never got changed. After several assignments later, Thailand, Maxwell, Hanscom Field, and Albrook, I ended up flying the B-57 again in Vietnam. Art Consta was my Ops officer again, he had been Stan and my Ops Officer at ABQ. We started all over again spreading the word that there was a safer way to stay out of danger during single engine operation. Word of mouth was not the most efficient way to get the word out. But I kept trying. We had one go around accident at Phang Rang where the cockpit section of the airplane broke off, basically intact and slid over near the fuel storage area and the frantic crew were trapped there till after daylight and were discovered. I don’t know if that was a go around attempt or a was single engine or the engines didn’t spool up together. It didn’t matter, idle to full throttle movements were a no-no any how. The spool up times between the engines could be several seconds different and that caused control problems especially at slower speeds.

I went on to Stewart AFB and in a short time on to Otis AFB on Cape Cod, a great assignment. There I may have discovered one of the causes of some B-57 accidents. I led a flight of three one day on a local mission and on returning to the base we shot a formation GCA, when it was time to go around I gave the signal to retract the speed brakes, then the flaps and finally the gear. I never gave the signal to power up because we didn’t need to. we had plenty of power for the go around. Well both wing men shot past me and then struggled to slow up and I told them to knock it off and land solo. At debrief we talked about what had happened and they both being new graduates of flying school and trained in the T-38 had been taught to go full throttle on every go around and then back off to stay in formation. What do they call it an ingrained response? I cautioned to never again throttle burst a B-57, whether they paid any attention I will never know. The B-57 has been retired for many years now and yes we lost far too many of our buddies. I just wish I could have taught every one of them what I had learned over the years that I flew it. What a great airplane. Bob