Warbird Information Exchange

Seattle news is reporting a L-39 down in the north cascade mountains, aircraft departed Boeing field for Idaho with 2 aboard, image broadcast used was a L-39 with Thunderbirds paint job but I am not clear if this was a photo of the actual aircraft in question or an example photo......
lets hope there is a positive outcome
gary wagner

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the missing L-39 is the one with the Thunderbirds paint job.

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Dan Johnson

If the report is correct, that would be this one

This aircraft is forsale on ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 99645&rd=1 i guess a "test pilot"/buyer crashed it huh?

The jet that is missing is indeed N39TJ (SN 812041) registered to Rocky Stewart out of Hollister, Calif.

Two men in a Czechoslovakian fighter-trainer jet disappeared minutes after taking off from Boeing Field yesterday, prompting rescue teams to scour the area between Seattle and their destination in Lewiston, Idaho.

A search for the single-engine L-39 registered to Rocky Stewart of Hollister, Calif., was launched by the aviation emergency services division of the state Department of Transportation.

That effort, based at Bowers Field in Ellensburg, was suspended at nightfall, spokeswoman Nisha Hanchinamani said.

Stewart's wife, Patti, said in a telephone interview she didn't know who was on the plane with her husband or any other details.

The two men left Boeing Field shortly before noon, and by 11:58 a.m. had radioed a Seattle air traffic controller to say they were experiencing control problems. The plane later disappeared from radar, said Tom Peterson, WSDOT Aviation Emergency Services Coordinator.

Any news?

Are the L-39s equipped with live ejection seats??

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

Yes, the airplanes do come with them, but most owners have chosen to make them inoperative. My understanding is that the explosive components have to be sent to a company in the Czech Republic for inspection about every 18 months to keep the seats "certified" by the FAA. This is naturally pretty cost-prohibitive for most owners.

Search for missing fighter jet called off yesterday

A five-day search for a missing jet was called off yesterday.

The 40-foot-long Czechoslovakian jet disappeared off the Seattle Center Air
Traffic Control radar screen late Tuesday. Pilot Rocky Stewart and passenger
Scott Smith were on board, said Department of Transportation spokeswoman
Nisha Hanchinamani.

"They lost radar contact near Kachess Lake and Keechelus Lake. They searched
that area several times," said Hanchinamani. "If someone sees something or
there are new leads they'll go back again."

Search and rescue crews focused much of their search in the vicinity of Cle
Elum, Kittitas County. But the jet could have come down anywhere within a
nearly 2,400-square-mile area, said Hanchinamani.

The single-engine, two-seat L-39 took off from Boeing Field en route to
Lewiston, Idaho, when the pilot radioed air-traffic control to report
difficulty controlling the plane shortly before noon.

The mens' families traveled from California to Ellensburg, where a search
and rescue camp was set up. They were notified about the search being
called off.

The jet, built in 1981, is one of several bought by Americans and was
certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

I'd be pretty darn interested in whether those guys had the means to easily escape that plane in flight. If they was aware of trouble then they would have had time to contemplate ejection. I figure that would make a big difference when making judgement calls regarding whether to extend the time frame of a search.

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

According to the eBay listing and several news articles, this particular aircraft had cold seats. Both aboard were said to be wearing chutes, so bailing out would still have been a possibility.

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Dan Johnson

Let's hope they're ok . Maybe they found a hidden strip and landed and at this time are having a spot of tea' with D.B. Cooper !

Just a few points about the L-39, and it's approx 10 years of service in the US fleet...

Most owners in the US don't have live ejection seats. To make the seats hot takes about $30,000, and the various pyros and rockets have time and life limits, usually about 8 years. Saying that, the cost is not what keeps most owners from making the seats hot. Most don't do it because we like being able to take passengers, and having hot seats basically rules that option out.

When I give a ride to someone in my L-39 we have about a 15-30 minute safety briefing (based on the aviation experience of the back seater). If I had hot seats that brief would involve more time and effort than I'm willing to invest to give someone a ride. Even then I would not accept the liability of flying with someone who had not been through ejection training in the military. Now, here's the important part...There has never been an accident of an L-39 in the US for any reason other than pilot error. Period. The airplane has a 100% safety record, when not flown into the ground.

It will be interesting to learn more about this accident, as the L-39 has basic pushrod controls with no hydraulic assistance or "fly by wire". A control problem could be the result of a failure of the electric flap compensator trim tab (I've had this happen once). On retracting the flaps from takeoff if the electric flutner tab fails the plane is trimmed in a very "nose up" attitude. The plane is still controllable in this scenario. The L-39 is also prone to aft CG, if weighed incorrectly or loaded outside the limits. This is believed to be one of the contributing factors in the Denver crash a few years ago.

The ejection seat has a 100% safety record, when used inside the envelope. It is a 0/80 (zero altitude, 80 knot forward speed) seat. Ejections outside the envelope bring the record down to around 50%. The accidents at Duxford and Alabama are reminders that even the best ejection seat cannot save you if you eject yourself into the ground.

I've flown my L-39 to Reno and Driggs, ID, and I will tell you that there are places out West (like the entire state of Wyoming) where your only option, if something went wrong, would be to bail out. Without hot seats this involves releasing the canopy (a one lever process) and undoing your seat belt. I've never bailed out, and from what I've heard I don't think it would be easy in any warbird, but the L-39 is probably no worse than a Mustang. Ideally you would get vertical, or on your back, and drop away from the plane. This assumes you have some control.

I've started wearing a survival vest, and many L-39 guys are starting to do the same. Just basic stuff...knife, water, signal mirror. Some guys have radios and GPS locators. Probably a good idea.

I don't know this airplane, or the pilot or passenger, but my thoughts are with them and I am hopeful for a happy ending to this story.

Steve Patterson
L-39C N333MF

It is thought that ICE may have contributed to the control problem