1-25 – Page 4

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Learjet Model: 25 Nickname: Learjet
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Business Jet
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Multi-engine Land
> Engine Description: Twin jet

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 9/2/2021
> Number of Hours Flown: 17
> Number of Times Flown: 10
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: various Learjet models

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 25
> Date First Flown: 5/2/1986
> Location First Flown: NAS Patuxent River, MD (KNHK)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Calspan Corporation

Recollections: My involvement with this aircraft, though I haven’t flown it many times, is quite varied. My first flight and about half of my flights in the “Learjet 25” were flown in a very unique Learjet…the CALSPAN variable stability (VSS) Learjet…an airplane where the left set of controls are standard but the right seat (where I flew) had a fly-by-wire system that could be linked to a stick, a yoke or a sidestick and be made to simulate any aircraft (or, for that matter, change any stability parameter to make it fly like any POTENTIAL airplane). This unique, world-asset is used for the training of test pilots and the development of flight control laws in modern aircraft such as the SAAB Grippen and other advanced aircraft. I flew it in it’s training role, at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.

CALSPAN VSS Learjet
Stock photo (c) jetphotos

The other half of my relatively small number of flights were flown on projects while I was assigned to the FAA’s Wichita Aircraft Certification Office (ACO). But, my last flight (as of the writing of this entry) was again in the CALSPAN VSS, this time as part of a Pilot Induced Oscillation (PIO) training course with the FAA. This important and unique asset has spanned my career as a test pilot and continues its service to this day.

Aircraft Information
Aircraft Make: Grumman
Aircraft Model: OV-1
Aircraft Nickname: Mohawk
Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane ME Turboprop
Category: Airplane
Class: Multi Engine Land
Engine Description: Twin Engine

First Flown Information
Sequence First Flown: 23
Date First Flown: 03/31/1986
Location First Flown: NAS Patuxent River, MD
Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Chris Wheal, USNTPS Instructor

Aircraft Experience
As of: 05/09/2020
Number of Hours Flown: 175
Number of Times Flown: 11
Other Aircraft Models Associated: OV-1B and OV-1D

Recollections:

–I’m one of the few (maybe only) Fixed Wing Syllabus students at TPS who flew the Mohawk as one of their “Group airplanes”. I flew the OV-1 instead of the A-4 because my Fam 1 in the A-4 I just did NOT fit in the machine. This was early in the year for me and I was sure I was going to get kicked out of the school. Instead, they dual-qualified me in the OV-1 AND the T-38. Along with (like everybody else) the T-2. I flew ALL THREE airplanes ALL YEAR. Lemonade out of lemons.
–My first flight in the Mohawk was with Chris Wheal. Chris was one of the finest pilots I ever flew with. Not everybody got along with him…he could be demanding. And impatient. But, if he liked you, you were golden. And he liked me. Every flight with him was a huge learning experience. My first four flights with Chris were in the T-38, NU-1B (2 flights), and the OV-1. Guess I didn’t scare him too badly.
–My relationship with the Mohawk was a “love/hate” relationship. I loved how unique it was (ejection seat Army airplane, left seat flew left-hand on stick with right hand on throttle; fully aerobatic twin engine prop machine, unique flight control system with springs and other unusual features.
–And I hated it because it killed two of my classmates, Captain Scott Paul, USMC and LT John “Mike” Yandell, USN. They died when the OV-1 they were flying got a small piece of “stuff” in the oil system, plugging the auto-feather oil supply line (which was used to “sense” or “determine” if an engine was running…in this case the engine was running just fine but the partially-blocked oil line told the auto-feather system the engine was bad and the system feathered a perfectly good engine), right as they were taking off from NAS Norfolk. They were unable to control the full asymmetry and we lost them. July 15, 1986. Many who heard about the mishap thought it was me in the airplane, because I (with my classmate Dave Porter) were the only ones on the schedule that morning in a Mohawk…Scott and Mike had “added on” and so when people checked the schedule to see “who was in the OV-1?” the answer was “Stoney/Porter”. Dave and I got a radio call from the Duty Officer (who had better SA on what had happened) to “Return to Base immediately”. I was sure we’d done something wrong and were in trouble. When we pulled back into the line, we learned the terrible news. That loss motivated in many of us a passion for safety, to honor Mike and Scott with our actions, that lasts to this day. While that passion is good…it was not worth the cost.

Learjet Model 25

Grumman OV-1 Mohawk