Navy Pilots Escorting Emergency Aircraft During Bad Weather Conditions. REAL ATC
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- Опубликовано: 20 июл 2022
- December 2021.
A Piper Cherokee pilot on a VFR flight plan encountered IFR weather conditions, which prevented him from landing at his desired airport. The pilot was not capable of IFR flight and assistance was provided by Air Traffic Controller and two Navy T-6B II pilots to help the pilot find an airport with favorable weather conditions.
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![PASSENGER LANDS PLANE After Pilot Incapacitation [ATC audio]](/img/1.gif)
Hey, guys!
I decided to create a channel with slightly better visualization. The first video is already on the channel. link below and in first comment. Leave your opinion in the comments under the video.
Please, welcome!
ruclips.net/video/8O7hiNLwcSo/видео.html
Man that guy is really lucky he had a great ATC controller and those two Navy birds able and willing to help! Hope that guy gets his instrument rating.
Willing to help?
At sea and in the air, people just Help. it is like a family.
Should be that on the ground too but there people too aften are... **sigh**
As far as I can find online, he previously held his rating for this but it was revoked due to invalid paperwork whatever that means
@@ksm1985 probably expired
Seems like he needs to get more proficient in VMC and avoiding IMC as well. One thing he did do right here was own up to his mistakes and ask for help. Kudos! We live to fly another day!
@@Epic_Aviation Airman certificates don't expire. You as a pilot need to remain current.
VFR requirements are 30min of reserve fuel beyond your destination. If the animation is correct, he was 10-15 minutes from KIKG and only had 30 minutes of fuel remaining. A good reminder of why reserve minima exist.
That’s day vfr
From the context I assumed this was during the day. If it was at night the fuel planning was even worse since 45 minute reserves would be required.
Reserves do get depleted with adverse winds. Cherokee’s are not fast planes and even a ten knot wind difference can screw up your calculations on a long flight.
With two on board a Cherokee can easily handle full fuel and give five hours in the air.
A point to remember is how long was he flying before asking for help. Could very well be he burned up his reserves looking for that hole before calling for help. VFR on top can bite very quickly. Thanks for posting as a great learning tool.
And that folks is todays aviation fact/tip. Always be prepared.
That's why you always keep a condom in your wallet or on you....you never know when you may get f***ed
I had a similar incident when working at ZLA in the 1980s. The difference was, the aircraft was lost, could only communicate with the Grand Canyon tower, and none of the surrounding ATC facilities could see him on radar. I'd just handed off an F-15 to ZDV and had read they have a wiz-bang radar that can see everything! I called ZDV, and asked them to get the F-15 look for a 7700 code. First problem solved - he was no longer "lost", but now he needs assistance returning to KGCN. I had a T-43 on frequency who agreed to assist. So, we have an airplane that is being vectored by an F-15 through comms with ZDV who relays to me and I relay to Grand Canyon. I'm issuing vectors to the T-34 based on info from the fighter via ZDV landline - yes, "sorry, I was on the landline". Still with me? The amazing thing: It worked. Between the military (Navy and Air Force) and the FAA (GCN, ZDV, and yours truly in ZLA) we cooperated and got the guy safely on the ground at GCN.
That's awesome. You had everything going except for smoke signals and fax machines over there! I was a relay once for an approach controller that lost comms with a low flying army helicopter. I could hear both, but they couldn't hear each other. I advised the approach controller who then asked me to relay a freq change. I did something similar with another flight following guy who was out of range. Your story wins, though! Good stuff!
Wow Richard. That sounds like the kind of coordination that you would expect to see in a combat zone. That is awesome.
What an amazing success ! Military jets are something else. The F-15's radar is an airborn trafic control radar, immensly capable.
I virtually shake your hand.
😊😊jha
That is so cool that a Navy plane & pilot could escort a "stranded" pilot. I had not previously heard of such a situation
Occurs more often then you’d think.
They’re up there for training in the Texans, this was a great real-world training scenario for any pilot - getting to help a fellow aviator is certainly an added bonus. Doesn’t matter what the aircraft type is or how much fuel costs, if you’re up there together and someone needs help, you worry about the paperwork later.
That was fantastic helping a pilot low on fuel I bad weather escorting him .you r a super piloy🥰🐋✈️✈️😂👍
stranded = stupid
@@GA-in4mw uhhh...I said stranded?
So, so, so glad this guy asked for help, and got just that. Excellent work by him, ATC, and the Navy. In these scenarios, it’s all about fuel, and good decisions, and managing your resources. Good job by all!
Luck this time...
@@mikearakelian6368 Sometimes luck comes into play, and sometimes it helps. But I'd like to think this guy tempted his luck and got himself into something, and made some luck and got himself out. Sometimes you have to reach into that bag of luck, and when it works out you get to put a bit of that into your bag of experience.
He did it right. He asked for help early and he was clear it was emergency. Not "maybe I can get in there".
@@mikearakelian6368You can do everything right and still fail. Take all the luck you can get even if you don’t “need” it.
Love this story. Aviators are an amazing group that take care of each other when one's in trouble.
Ask the Kamikaze's!
The aviation community taking care of it's own. Great story and outcome.
Indeed.
Because everyone of us know we could be in a pickle ourselves.
@@judd_s5643 Especially if one cowers behind an anonymous "name".
It's really touching how those Navy aviators didn't hesitate to provide assistance. Awesome work from the ATC too and kudos to the stranded pilot for asking for help when he needed it instead of being too proud to do that. Truly wholesome story, thanks for sharing it.
also helps you dont have to pay for the fuel
It's also a good training opportunity for the navy pilots.
@@travelphotos7662 Yeah. Since interception and visual identification is often part of military pilots doing air space policing and getting call of "we have something on the radar and they are not responding to radio, go up, find them, visual check them and report back what you see".
So exactly flying to an aircraft under radar/ ground control guidance, looking for it visually and then lining up and flying along in escorting formation. Including sometimes specifically "the craft is ordered to forced land at field X for inspection/detainment", escort them to that field by them following your aircraft and stay on over watch to confirm they actually land.
Usually in more hostile situation with additional "and the wing man stays behind the offending craft on optimal distance and keeps them in weapon sight ready to shoot at them, in case the offending craft is stupid enough to consider trying funny business like shooting at the leading aircraft".
Plus they work for the government and another government agency just asked for assistance. Assisting other government authorities is part of the job as long as they don't have overriding military chain of command tasks. They can always say no, if they have some important training or military command task going on. Lacking that the answer is usually most likely "ofcourse, the military is happy to assist civilian authority X" (since it's listed in the articles of law, that it is part of our job at times).
Plus you know "keeping a citizen in emergency safe via providing assistance".
Any other Pilot that was able would have done the same. It is sort of an unwritten law of the fraternity that we assist in any way possible... just as seamen do the same on the water.
That is because they are United States Navy aviators! The best pilots in the US military!🇺🇸🇩🇰
The mistake would have been not asking for help, good job to all involved.
No, this dude made plenty of mistakes to say anything else is just idiotic. He was just lucky
@@JediOfTheRepublic Yeah, he made a lot of mistakes. He didn't however make the fatal mistake of not asking for help. He got the most important part right.
@@JediOfTheRepublic Yes he made mistakes, which is the basis of most emergency situations.
The reason him contacting ATC early enough is commendable is the amount of GA pilots having an aversion to declaring emergencies before they get well in over there head is remarkable.
It's a mentality that needs to be encouraged and needs to be beaten into all pilots.
@@59thfsaviation79 Everybody makes mistakes .The difference is how we deal with them . I agree with you that the pilot got the most important part right . He also mentioned early on fuel was a concern which the ATC picked up on right away . Text book case on how to deal with a bad situation . Egos have killed many people
@@rwpexpert For sure . I never will understand why pilots refuse to call it an emergency till it is to late
I hope the pilot gets IFR certified after this
And more prepared.
@@shreddder999 And hits a hole-in-one on his next golf round.
Yes, I remember only too well, a few days after getting my IMC rating, I took off and climbing thru 300', the airfield was hit by a sudden snow storm, and there was a white-out. The training saved my day, I immediately went onto instruments and was fine. I would recommend everyone should get that rating if they can.
@@ts757arse I replied to this, but it seems to have disappeared. Search for FAR 61.65 This is the regulation that will tell you what is required.
@@ts757arse It is additional 15 hours of instrument training you have to go through, 2 hrs can be on a simulator, the remainder is flying, and usually involves the student wearing some kind of visor which prevents the student from seeing outside the cockpit, can only see the instruments.
I was on a cross country flight to Hilton Head from Atlanta many years ago. About half way there, the sky ahead was overcast but I was above it. I was a VFR pilot and knew that I was getting in over my head, so I turned back and landed in Atlanta with clear skies. The forecast had been for scattered clouds at my destination but it turned out to be much worse. Lesson learned was to work on getting instrument rating!
An instrument rating can save your life.
Just got interested in aviation and I can not even imagine flying long routes without any instrument
Unless you were just referring to one leg of your trip...atl to hh is not that far...certainly not cross country.
picture perfect example and solution. Been IFR for 45 years plus, lots of ifr landings, and still don't have to go through that crud stuff even though i can. No old bold pilots.....Instrument license is one of the more intense things i have done, and the quiet confidence is/was worth the cost. Love it when i bust out of overcast and runway lights are straight ahead. If a pilot hasn't conquered vertigo, hasn't learned to utterly trust his panel, he don't belong in that airplane in that place that day.
All pilots should receive some level of IFR training, enough to know how to get themselves out of trouble. There should be a distinction between IFR training and IFR rating. Because there is no such distinction currently, pilots are not taught how to scan their instruments, how to use their radios, and how to fly an instrument procedure. You still won't be able to file an IFR flight plan or legally fly in VMC without an IFR rating, but if everything goes wrong and the only way to save your life is to shoot an ILS approach, then nothing else matters.
Wow! This could easily have been a case study analysis of a fatal event. I'm glad it turned out well
That's a wholesome and good story. I needed that today. Go Navy!
What a world of difference this controller made to that pilot. I just finished listening to another one of you videos about a 172 lost in the cloud in Hawaii. The controllers reaction was mostly annoyed, argumental and definitely not helpful to that pilot. These guys in Texas are great. I’ve been flying in Houston for over 10 years and center, approach, departure and towers are always professionals ready to extend assistance if needed. Great video
I know which video you’re talking about, the guy screaming about a spiral descent. That was incompetent flying, not an unhelpful controller.
Amazing work by the controller and navy pilots. It's wonderful to see how people are willing help and get someone to safety. Congratulations to the Pilot for the safe landing and good job staying calm.
You know why so many people watch these ATC helping pilots in need out??? People long for similar, down on the ground, without a plane. People who offer to go out their way to help complete strangers, often at their own expense.
I used to fly out of Corpus Christi many years ago, and it has challenges at times with fog & scud. Navy is all around there and has some great capabilities 👍🇺🇸🇺🇸
Very dangerous situation. Similar to what happened to John Kennedy Junior. He was a private pilot, VFR only, and flew into weather conditions that required IFR operations.
Colin Povey, Kennedy wasn't in IMC, he got disoriented!
@@gavinsingh4450 Yeah and he also neglected flight preparations if I remember correctly.
@@gavinsingh4450 well he basically was...there was fog and low visibility and it was night over the ocean. He definitely had no horizon.
Killary got him.
Flying open ocean at night - no horizon is even tough for experienced IFR pilots. He was doomed unfortunately
A story that this retired ATC is very proud of his brother that did an awesome job. Outstanding. I used other aircraft to spot holes several times in my career.
This will just make me appreciate even more when T-6 Texan II’s fly over my house. Way to go Navy!
Wow, I wasn't expecting this to end well. The fear in the pilot's voice was palpable.
Thanks to the pilots/ATC who brought him home safe. Amazing account.
Take care up there, y'all.
I was a controller for 22 years. I had that happen on shift two times. We didn't have anyone to escort him though. The guy was so panicked that we had to give him no gyro vectors to the airport (Turn Left, stop turn, etc) and had the runway and approach lights turned up as high as they would until the guy was able to get the airport in sight. It caused a bit of a stir when we landed a civilian at an air force base, but it was better than the alternative. Luckily, the second person was able to follow headings and get to the base. It would have been nice if we would have had one of our planes or aeroclub planes up to help them back in.
I'm glad you were able to get the pilot down. Was the issue fuel, WX, or both? Which AFB did the plane eventually land at? I was able to get a PPR into CBM for some work there a little while ago, the ops folks were crawling all over the airplane because they rarely saw anything other than regular wing traffic there. The feeling was mutual, all I wanted to do was crawl all over the wing airplanes!! Nice work getting the panicked pilot down....did you ever have a chance to speak to them?
Since those Navy aircraft were “Texans” that would make them training aircraft. Each most likely had an instructor and a student in them. Go Navy!
Well duh, because NAS-CC is a training facility.
@@JediOfTheRepublic not all of us know that...
@@Nords555 I knew about the Naval training station in Kingsville, not far away. I can’t currently remember if I previously knew of a NAS CC
This is what I love about Aviation (specially) in the US. All hands on deck, everybody helps each other out.
I see what you did there :D
Thats fantastic,all lendg a hand for snothrr pilot hurrah to the helpers
I would hope it's mostly the same everywhere but the way you phrased that has me guessing...
Unless you’re in Hawaii lol
that's what communism is all about
Nice to see a happy ending. I think Navy pilots are among the best trained in the world. The Navy pilot were in T-6s. Great experience for the student pilots.
As an ex cfi, I think my students are the best trained in the world
WHOA, now there's a really feel good ATC video. Commendable job all around. 👍
Props to that controller.
That was some great resource management that saved the day. While Stationed at NAS Corpus Christi I did landing practive at Mustang. Back then that was an airport owned by the home owners and opened it up for the public to perform touch and go landings. My encounters with the resident pilots was alway very pleasant so I am sure that the occupants of the aircraft received an invite for a hot meal and use of their telephone to call ATC and the Navy to find out where to deliver a case of those Navy Pilots favorite beverage.
I always love it when the communication is clear, meaning that everyone involved is kept in the loop about what's going on. Here the pilot correctly asked for help, was very professionally assisted and a good decision was made. Based on what the pilot said, it looks like he expected the weather at his destination to be much better than it actually was. ATC informed him about this & provided an apparent suitable alternative. Pilot made it clear that fuel was a concern and did not do the "if I don't talk about it no one will judge me later"-thing. Glad it all worked out well.
One amazing thing in aviation is the way people collaborate and care about you, in general. ATC as well as other pilots. Everybody tries their best to help you out and to make things work. Other parts of the society can take an example of this.
Nice to see the pilot didn't hesitate to call it an emergency . He also did what was asked of him . Glad to see the pilot left his ego on the ground where it belongs . The ATC and Navy pilots were fantastic in their ability and professionalism . Great outcome
This is great stuff, love to see it. I'm so glad he reached out for help and ended up with an incredible ATC. The relief in his voice when he saw the airport and got lined up. Good job everyone 👏🏻
Good work by the pilot for asking for help. Too many accidents occur because the pilot is reluctant to ask for help.
nothing like having ATC to steer you in the soup.. Great job guys
That's awesome! Everyone coming together to help that guy and his passenger out. I just love the flying community!
Ranger 845: *-static-* - Controller: "...affirmative"
845 responding on UHF
Excellent teamwork. The Navy pilots & ATC are heroes.
As a former Marine Flight Instructor, I'd be interested to hear how this played out in the ready-room debrief. ATC and the Navy flight lead put a loose section head-to-Head with a pilot in trouble and only 200 feet of separation. It sounded like Piper was VFR on top for most of that flight and that airport was plenty clear. Not sure why he needed to "follow" the Texans. We all have that desire to help, but need to make certain we are helping vs. putting aircraft and crew at risk for no reason. In '92 a T-34 at Corpus offered to take a look at landing gear with unsafe indication of an F-14 vice having the aircraft fly by the tower. Tight section with a light aircraft (T-34) was not the place to be with a forward swept F-14 trying to stay slow as well. As T-34 approached larger Jet, they were sucked up into their vortices and crashed (2 deceased pilots). IP was my upperclassmen at USNA.
He had to follow the Texans because he was going into panic mode which took away all his confidence and ability to make any wise decision . He has nothing to be ashamed of for declaring an emergency and asking for help . Egos are probably the number 1 reason for private plane mishaps
Yeah I was really curious as to why the intercept was carried out how it was. I feel like it would have been much safer to pass wide to the North then turn on course with the civilian A/C and catch up to it from the rear. The pilot SHOULDN'T have needed an escort, but I can see how it would help them keep their head. In the end they choice of formation on the part of the T-6s made it so he couldn't really follow them anyway. It all did kind of seem poorly executed.
Very cool!! Great teamwork and communication by all!! And. . . It is always good to hear 'safely on the ground'!! Good one RealATC!! 👍✈️✈️👍
Great work from ATC and the Navy and from the emergency pilot as well.
I love how the Navy pilot had that "test pilot drawl" going there. Great work guys!
That's the Chuck Yeager impression they all learn.
Thanks for posting, that was pretty close. Can't imagine what the last moments of flight 19 must've been like...
An amazing ATC controller doing their job in a very efficient way. God bless you.
Good Job by the Controller and the T-6 guys. Retired AF but used to fly T-44s outta Corpus.
Sounds to me like some beers are on order 😎
Damn... about 30 minutes of fuel and stuck in IFR conditions as a VFR pilot... ouch.
Man, that's scary flying VFR and then your hole closing and being trapped above the cloud base
Yep. If I was him I think I would try to learn IFR flying even if he doesn't plan on getting a license for IFR.
@@Republic3D Let's say you have learnt IFR flying but you have no license for it. Can you in situation like this one say that you are IFR capable?
@@Republic3D You need an IFR capable aircraft too. NVFR is more common in Cherokee’s. IMC approach to minima is not fun in the best hand flown aircraft (and particularly when low on fuel and to an airport with no aids).
@@jaroslavsevcik3421 no you technically can't because you aren't.... I mean you can try to punch thru cuz the regs state that in an emergency you can do whatever you need to do to meet that emergency but if I'm talking to ATC they'll ask if you're actually current. You definitely wouldn't be current nor rated. If you kinda know what you're doing you could try it but I wouldn't recommend it. Actual IFR is much more difficult than even simulated hood time IFR.
@@jaroslavsevcik3421 No, you can't file an IFR flight plan. But in this exact situation he would be able to get out of it much easier.
I'd be putting those rangers, and that ATC guy on my Christmas list!
Excellent work by ATC and those Navy Pilots to help out.
That’s great cooperation! Applauding them all !
Very touching true story. When in doubt, ask for help and help shall come. Thank you for this heartwarming story and god bless the guys in the two Texans!!
Also thanks the ATC for finding such an exellent assistance
Heart warming. Cheers, from Copenhagen, Denmark.
This type of situation was a monthly situation up at TVC except we luckily had the Coast Guard H60's that would go out and escort lost of stuck on top aircraft to a airport that they could land at.
Men this guy need to be very thankful to ATC and Navy Pilots!
Thank you guys for great video!
Instrument rating is highly desirable in situations like these.
Well done to all! That is professionalism!
I find it amazing the number of pilots who will push limit on fuel willingly.... I never land with less than a hour of fuel when VFR most of the time it more than that. To many thing can go wrong with only 30 min of fuel. Gear might not come down now I need time to troubleshoot,fuel tank might not switch so if you run your tanks to fumes before you switch your screwed,airport could be shut down because another plane gear up landed ahead of you etc.... In my 20 years of frying my motto is the same as my dad's in his 60 years of flying and my grandfather's in his 50 years of flying... The only time you have to much gas is when the wing is on fire. Seriously stopping along the way to top off isn't that big of a deal
True, but in this case, the pilot estimated 30 mins of gas left and they hadn't even reached their primary destination yet....so it's likely there were issues with their planning to begin with. If their flight planning was sound and the winds aloft ended up being different than forecast, that's one thing, but whatever the reason, if you're not yet at your destination and you're down to 30 mins, something is very much amiss, as you know.
I really appreciate the graphics which were informative unlike some channels which compulsively post all sorts of irrelevant aircraft creating a distraction not enhancement. You do it right here. Thank you.
Navy pilot…”Hi sir, no problems, you’ll be fine, we got you” just with voice tone!
My father did this in Oregon back in the 70s. He was flying a King Air and had to circle the pilot as he couldn't go slow enough. Got the pilot through the clouds, and landed safely.
maybe I missed it, but good on ATC to not wait for pilot to declare emergency before he started treating the situation as such
Great assist by ATC and the Navy pilots. Go Navy!
Just wanted to say thank you for your channel and the excellent videos such as this. God bless!
I am so happy, and this guy is so lucky that the navy guys were there and we can watch him in this video and not an accident report.
Back in the 1990's I was similarly boxed out of my home airport by a marine layer arriving ahead of "schedule." (RUDE) Luckily, I grew up next to Point Mugu NAS, whose ATC handled the corridor between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. They quickly set up a "Special VFR" for my flight and got my plane load of friends home safely. It would have been great to have a recording to share with my grandfather who helped build Pt. Mugu's hilltop radar installation years earlier. The squids are alright.
Can’t say for sure, since I’ve never heard him anywhere else, but I’d *swear* I can hear the ‘pucker’ in that pilot’s voice.
That was some professional teamwork.
I hope that the ATC and the Navy pilots got a commendation.
would be cool to see the pilot meeting the ATC and Navy pilots . I can't imagine he didn't thank them .
Great job ATC & those NAVY boys!
its amazing the resources you can have at your disposal if you just ask for help. don't be afraid to ask for help.
These navy pilots sound cool, competent, helpful. Great job by the ATC and the level headed stranded pilot.
This is the way it should be. guy said.. oops, called for help, got great help and a couple of friends to spot for him. Too many times people get into this situation and panic, or try to fight through it. Thats when it goes wrong every time. Glad ATC was spot on and helpful.. i know its stressful but sometimes it can seem like youre a burden the way they act. This was textbook how it should have gone. Well done.
How awesome! That’s helping out your fellow man! Great job baby and great job and thinking atc!
Awesome ! Great job on all involved ! 👍👍
Great work, gentlemen! Stay safe up there.
Thanks for the story. It feels good for the nugget squids (in their own training birds ) to help out some one in need. I pretty sure its a feather in their caps for it. And the P.A.O.'s just love stuff like this. It is what we do, watching your Six...
Love the image of the navy guy doing the flyby at the end.
That Was A Good One, Man! Nothing Boring About VFR Into IMC!
Wow, he made a lot of errors to get to this point but a great outcome. I can't judge too much, 2nd solo XC I ended up in IMC, 18 years old and completely scared but I asked for help like this gent did. He made a string of errors to get into IMC and run a tank dry BUT simply asking for help and giving and honest appraisal of his situation to ATC saved his life.
How awesome to see the system working as intended! Someone needs help and gets it.
Excellent work all the way around!
bad ass! love it, and thanks to the Navy guys + controller!
Great work! Best regards Lars from Sweden
Scary stuff, glad he made it.
I’m about to take my instrument checkride, and very much appreciate the knowledge from the courses
Navy guys handled this beautifully!!
Hope those navy pilots get a commendation medal, they earned it
ATC obviously a cool head, Naval aviators ready, willing, and able to assist. Without both parties, probably wouldn’t have been a positive outcome. Bravo zulu.
Wow amazing!!! Great ATC and thank God for the Navy!! Awesome outcome could have been so much worse..
Amazing job by the controller and the Navy guys. Always ask for help when u need.
What a great example of airmanship
Way to stay alive 3FK and kudos to the navy for helping out.
Brotherhood, Humanity.
Awesome job everyone.
Awesome assist ATC and Navy!
The Kingsville Naval Air Station is very close to Corpus Christi as is the Orange Grove Airfield, an auxiliary naval strip used by pilots from Kingsville NAS to practice touch and go fly bys.
I lived in Corpus most of my life, my stepfather taught me flying and importantly IFR since weather in Corpus could change in an instant. thank God for the Navy as they are very important and have saved many people. Although I was Army the one thing i never did was bad mouth the other branches especially Navy and Marines as both have come to my aid throughout my life. My brother's in arms never let me down. So if you are young and thinking of becoming a pilot please, PLEASE get your IFR rating and never forget it, for it could save your life when no one else can.
Love our Navy heroes....future commercial pilots in training.
Awesome save!!
GO NAVY 🇺🇸
Years ago I had a friend who was flying a single engine plane from Canton, IL to
Grand Rapids, MN and when they got into northern WI and into MN, they ditched their flight plan and just flew over the highway because he was used to flying over flat and open terrain and this terrain turned into all forest.
When he got back to Canton, he said he would never fly there again!
Impressive work by the navy pilot. Respect
Reminds me of one of my first and greatest online sim memories (BMS 4.32U6) I was just getting into the sim (and online flying in general) and had learned some of the "fun bits", but my IFR skills were seriously lacking.
During an intense 2-ship flight, my lead lost all instruments and reported a fuel leak. After everything we went through, we were determined to bring both birds home safely.
Nervous like hell, I took the lead and set course for our briefed divert field. Due to the sim being a bit unstable, we couldn't tab out to look at the airport chart, so no VOR, TCN, TWR comms or even a RWY heading. Everything depended on me, a single waypoint and my vague memory of that particular airfield. And the weather was getting worse every minute.
Eventually we made a descending left turn and broke through the cloud layer, just a few degrees off RWY heading and on a ~10° glide slope. My buddy freaked out in joy while I was still nervous.
Since he had no instruments at all, I guided him all the way to the RWY and it was one of the smoothest formation landings ever. He ran out fuel during taxi to our parking spot.
Sure, it was just a sim, but we were so immersed at that point ... I think both of us can at least somewhat understand the tension a real pilot would face. At the very least it made us appreciate the professionalism of everybody involved with air traffic.
"Static", if you ever read this, thanks for all the amazing BMS memories.
EDIT: just reading this short summary puts a HUGE smile on my face. Thanks to everyone at VG for hosting the server and everybody I met there. Won't name you all, but you know who you are ;)
this is what we do. I am retired Navy now but I still do the same. at work or home, we do this to help each other out. No one is alone, we all have a buddy. I may not know you at the time of help but in the end, we will be buddies. lets crack a beer (on the beach when it is all over) and say "hi" together and share a story. we all have needed a buddy some time and you buddy has stepped up to help you. so why not help the next buddy...
Wonderful story with a happy ending!