Friendly Fire: Three Planes That Shot Themselves Down

[@Brian_Homer]

This is a great video. My father was involved in the testing of the F14. Bill "Tank" Sherman had been to our house on at least one occasion. I remember listening to he and my Dad, who had been a RIO in F4s, tell crazy stories of they're flying years. Unfortunately, this is not one, that I can recall, either one of them ever told. Now, it makes me wonder if my Dad was in the tower, during this incident.

[@Mishn0]

We had an F-4C try to shoot itself down. The F-4C doesn't have an internal gun but can carry external gun pods. The jet had one mounted on the centerline fuselage station; a SUU-23 which houses an M-61 Vulcan canon. While firing, the front barrel clamp that holds the muzzle end of the six barrels broke and the barrels went out of alignment causing rounds to spray all over. One went up through the radome and another up through the nose wheel well. The jet landed safely with an aircrew that had a good story to tell from then on.

[@captainroger]

Scary. Red hot cannon rounds going every which way but loose. Can only imagine the skid marks on standard issue underwear after the first round went in and out of the interior of the plane. In and out like a sour plum!

[@bigblue6917]

That moment you wish you'd packed a change in underwear.

[@jerrymiller276]

@@bigblue6917 Puckered so tight they found the seat cushion back there after the flight.

[@kdrapertrucker]

Yeah, those stores mounted guns were prone to shoot everywhere except where you were aiming them when nothing was broken

[@GordonWaiteJr]

If only the arrogant generals dictating to the manufacturer of the F-4 had listened to their subordinates and fighter pilots and included internal guns and or cannon there would have been no need for those pods. These moron generals had come to the false conclusion that fighters were no longer going to dogfight with guns and thus guns weren’t needed and instead directed the F-4 would use missiles only for shooting down the enemy aircraft. Unfortunately the missiles were often ineffective or downright duds. Kind of like when the admirals of the submarine fleets in the beginning of WWII had sent out their boats with shitty and dud torpedoes. The military will always operate by the Peter Principle. www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=11&ved=2ahUKEwiq9N3__7DoAhUBUK0KHVYJDnQQFjAKegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPeter_principle&usg=AOvVaw2tD4S07VzC5MLtaGgjstD6

[@lelandrogers1078]

I remember seeing Tom Attridge on "I've Got A Secret." The panel was unable to guess that he had shot himself down.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

He seems to have always taken the incident with a sense of humor. Remarkable, given his injuries.

[@VoidHalo]

Though that show aired long before I was ever born, I think it's a really great show. They still have episodes up on KZbin for us youngins who missed out on the golden age of TV.

[@shruk4]

@Anzu Wyliei Did you find it?

[@RCAvhstape]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I wonder why he rode it into the ground. It must've been before zero-zero ejection seats, when those old seats couldn't save you if you were too low and too slow.

[@fewtoes]

@@RCAvhstape He rode it down, so the plane wouldn't crash into houses.

[@dougjb7848]

“That’s weird.” Two words that, when spoken during a aircraft test flight, usually indicate that an unplanned, rapid descent is imminent.

[@VosperCDN]

Probably not a good thing to hear anytime during extreme or unique testing situations, tbh.

[@mred8002]

Uttered just before “oh shit....”

[@LostShipMate]

"Low Terrain, Pull UP!" The modern equivalent.

[@zolikoff]

"Uh, it's probably not a problem... probably."

[@HobkinBoi]

@@zolikoff Gordon doesn't need to hear this, he's a highly trained professional.

[@russelldodd93]

This channel is required watching for my children.

[@bepbep7418]

Because: Science / Kyle Hill is a good one as well.

[@jiveturkey9993]

Well I hope they watch it with enthusiasm and not begrudgingly.

[@vapormissile]

Do yer chores, Bill. "once upon a time there was a pilot..."

[@martythemartian99]

My guess is you are a good parent :D

[@Mgl1206]

Add Mark Rober

[@BrisketChef]

Thank you for including photos of the F-14. I was the Petty Officer who designed the Show bird paint scheme for your Tomcat image at 7:21. VF-14 Tophatter's forever the oldest and boldest Navy Squad.

[@mattcole8173]

Great story, thanks. I love history!!!!!!!!!!!! My grandfather shot himself down twice, he was a test pilot during world war II. One of the times he was flying a p-40 test firing rockets mounted on the wings, at the time this had never been tried before and they thought that they needed to fire them from tubes. He said the rockets would rattle down the tubes and the stabilizer fins were bent exiting the tubes, so they had no idea where they were going to go. One of the rockets bounced off the ground after he fired at a practice target on the ground and took out his windshield and some control surfaces. He had a million different stories, I listened to every one of them as often as I could get him to tell them.

[@goofyiest]

a friend of mine was a test pilot and his stories of weapon separation tests are the most entertaining.

[@grondhero]

*A-10 Warthog:* You won't shoot yourself down if you slow to a stop while shooting.

[@jfiery]

Beautiful!

[@grondhero]

@@LV_FUD80 Did that come straight from the book _Your Joke is Factually Incorrect; A Guide to Dying Alone_ ? Your facts are off, considering It has a rate of 3900 RPM and holds 18 seconds worth of ammo, but fired in 1-2 second round bursts. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger#Design

[@quwaz11]

@@grondhero The GAU-8 Avenger has a magazine capacity of up to 1,174 rounds, each with a projectile mass of 495g (API). This gives a total magazine projectile mass of .495kg*1,174 = 463.73kg. The muzzle velocity of the API ammunition is ~1,010m/s, so the total recoil impulse of the magazine is 463.73kg*1,010m/s = 468,367.3Ns. A lightly loaded A-10 Thunderbolt can weigh ~12,000kg with low fuel, and no additional ordinance. Therefore, the ΔV from a mag-dump may be as much as (468,267.3Ns)/(12,000kg) = ~39m/s, or ~87mph. Or it would, if the engines didn't provide 40.32kN of thrust each, which in the 18 seconds it took to empty the magazine produced an impulse of 2*40.32kN*18s = 1,451,520Ns, which provides a ΔV of (1,451,520Ns)/(12,000kg) = 120.96m/s or ~271mph. So at full throttle, the recoil from the gun, while impressive, still can't overcome the engines' immense thrust.

[@grondhero]

@@quwaz11 Joke Your head ----> What's even worse is that the joke was referenced in the post above, yet you _still_ couldn't pull the corn cob out of your arse.

[@Guysm1l3y]

@@grondhero Joke ---> Over-repeated may-may that isn't actually funny.

[@Igor-xl4wz]

Thanks, History Guy, for keeping the stories coming when we need them most.

[@disorganizedorg]

Yes. There's no better way to take a break from the present than exploring odd corners of the past.

[@tomknauss570]

That's why history.........needs to be remembered

[@alexanderc9462]

Reminds me of those US torpedoes that had a tendency to occasionally do a 180 and blow up the launching submarine

[@TheOwlofAthens]

WHAT!?!

[@John-bk2yg]

haha they did w h a t

[@Matty18795]

It's correct I saw it on a documentary once a certain torpedo was designed to zigzag in the water to cover more area and increase the chance of a hit. However it malfunctioned and went straight back to the sub that fired it

[@jwenting]

@@John-bk2yg they did indeed. Several WW2 submarines were lost when the control surfaces jammed during firing, causing them to loop back on the launching submarine after enough time had passed for the detonators to arm themselves. And it's still possible with active homing torpedoes (and in theory missiles) to detect, lock on, and attack their launch platform.

[@Sam-rq4yc]

Has he done a video on this yet?

[@avnrulz]

"Trigger-nometry!"

[@bigblue6917]

Like it. I knew maths was dangerous

[@v.e.7236]

Clever!

[@direbearcoat7551]

We did the math and figured out that the cause of shoot down was trigger-nometry...

[@Eagle_the_18th]

racketyjack same XD

[@45CaliberCure]

That's actually a really cool book about old gunfights. It's available on Amazon, and I highly recommend it.

[@billmandaue2168]

Here is another one for your collection. I knew Mart after he had retired from the Air Force (though he was still working for the Air Force as a contractor). A Bullet in the Tail Col. Mart Bushnell (ret) An interesting event happened to me one day when I was flight testing the (then developmental) F-15. We were experimenting with a modified Gatling type 20 mm cannon that operated at a higher hydraulic pressure to increase the rate of fire from 6000 rounds per minute to something like 8000. The gun barrels were also splayed a little to widen the bullet impact pattern. The theory was that the new pattern would have the bullet pattern density of the standard gun but a bigger impact area, increasing the probability of kill. The test point was at level flight, high altitude, and something like mach 1.2. I fired a two-second burst with no apparent problem, then moved on to other test points. When I returned to the base, parked the plane, and shut down, the crew chief did his customary post flight inspection. He came up the ladder wide-eyed and showed me a 20mm round. He had dug it out of my right vertical stabilizer. I had shot myself in the tail. Engineering analysis considered the fact that the F-15 gun line is elevated two degrees above the aircraft longitudinal axis, as opposed to the conventional mount in the fighters of the day of two degrees below the axis. The splayed barrels would effectively increase bullet path elevation even more. The thought was that perhaps I overtook the bullet as its trajectory arced back into my flight path. In the end, the most probable cause was concluded to be the likelihood that the bullet tumbled due to the high mach and it backed into me. I’m glad it didn’t back into the canopy or an engine. The damage was cosmetic. I still am not sure whether the gun was meant to be fired at that speed. classof1964usafa.org/Bushnell_Mart/story1.htm

[@timcarter1164]

Completely out of left field, yet incredibly entertaining, and a part of American flight history that people wouldn't really think of. Thank you for bringing stuff like this to light.

[@Hiznogood]

We have a saying here in Sweden that translate to: “ A crowbar has many parts” which means there’s a lot that can go wrong even with simple things!

[@raskolnikov9067]

Har vi?

[@Hiznogood]

raskolnikov Japp, har du aldrig hört: ”många delar på ett spett”?

[@surq0784]

That's a pretty bad saying, considering crowbars aren't inherently complex or need an engineering degree to operate. A crowbar doesn't have many parts either, only different functions.

[@Hiznogood]

DonQui Mate, it’s a phun, so relax! I first hear it while working on a power plant from one of the guys in the maintenance crew. Of course a crowbar isn’t complex and it really doesn’t have many parts. In fact they usually only have one, the crowbar itself. But what it really means, is that absolutely anything can screw up or break, even if it’s the simplest of things. If there is just a small chance for something that go south, it will do that!

[@akizeta]

@@surq0784 I think it's meant to be ironic, and is an entreaty to think about more than the tool alone.

[@simonharper8664]

Now we are on Covid-19 lockdown here in the UK this channel, being unfailingly entertaining, is going to help me maintain my sanity no end! Thank you.

[@torpedo8384]

Sees History Guy and an F-14, instant like. History guy calls Tomcat beautiful, double like if possible. You sir are a man of taste and culture!

[@thisolesignguy2733]

My Grandpa was in the Air Force for over 40 years, beginning with the Korean War. He told me that it was quite common to have jets come back with holes in them, with buried rounds backwards embedded in them where the pilot either caught a tumbling round or ran into their own ammo. The f-4 was notorious for this during Vietnam because they would dive & strafe, catching some in the process. He said they would just pull a round out for the pilots to keep as a souvenir and patch the holes so they could go back out. A few pilots turned them into lucky necklaces.

[@gadsdenflyer7353]

Out of all my youtube subscriptions, this one is my favorite. The History Guy always has something interesting to talk about rather than today's toxic politics. I never miss a video!

[@Turkkish1]

In 2003 over Iraq a USAF F-16CJ shot itself, didn't go down. He wasn't firing the gun, just 1 round went off. The gun is not a strike-fire system, it's electronic. The cause was determined to be a bit of sand causing static buildup in the gun, then a discharge was enough to send a round through. It fired as the jet was in a left banked dive and the pilot had a quick reaction to the round going off and righted the jet. The result was the round left the barrel, had an entry hole on one panel and an exit hole on another panel. Inside the panel it only left a scratch on the transmitter for the radar system. The path of the round looked like it made an S shape, but really the plane flew into the round then back out. It was pretty amazing because stuff packed tight with only inches to spare and that round missed everything, only had to replace the two panels.

[@scottyb68]

I love when you find gold nuggets of obscure history like this. What a fascinating subject. I'd never considered planes shooting themselves down. This is why history is so interesting and there's always more to learn. Good work!

[@thomas316]

Kills: -1. 😢

[@kevinaustin5342]

If they'd only used WikiBuy, Grammerly or that bogus search-engine that mines & sells your data while it gets search results from Bing

[@vapormissile]

"Dear granny, Good news! Today I shot down my first aeroplane. On a downward note, I got in a bit of trouble with Command..."

[@ben-2368]

I feel personally called out.

[@vapormissile]

Dear Ben, I have personally teamkilled and then panicked, then slammed into something and died. I have had -2 kills. After that, it's pretty tough to T/K if you drive off a cliff. (oh wait, I could land on a teammate)

[@wrongway1100]

Caboose!

[@matthewtullis7205]

While I have always enjoyed the stories you tell, I am lately appreciating the video and stills you collect for each episode. Your editor should be proud.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I do the editing, and sometimes collecting the PD images takes almost as long as writing the script.

[@cricket5044]

Thanks for this bit of history to be remembered. You give nice doses of history that are presented well.

[@freefall0483]

Stay safe, sir. Now more than ever we need to remember and know the lessons of history that we have forgotten.

[@dmutant2635]

I always liked the F-11. Nice looking jet. It kinda epitomized what a jet fighter was supposed to look like. Good show as usual THG.

[@willyeverlearn7052]

The best Isolation Entertainment. Keep 'em Coming!

[@thomas316]

Mark Feltons channel is quite good as well.

[@jameskwaka]

Agree wholeheartedly.

[@willyeverlearn7052]

@@thomas316 Agreed. Though the History Guy is a bit less WWII-centric.

[@herbertkeithmiller]

The Viper nickname for the F-16 came from the fact that it has a electronic fly-by-wire control system and was computer-controlled. This gave it a Sci-Fi futuristic demeanor. At the time of the f-16s introduction the television show Battlestar Galactica was popular. They had space planes called Vipers so natural thing was to call this futuristic jet after the science-fiction Viper.

[@johndemeritt3460]

It's also a better sounding name than "Lawn Dart" for its tendency to stick its pointy end into the ground during bombing or strafing runs . . . .

[@copperhamster]

Pushing the envelope refers to a graph with altitude on the left, and speed on the bottom. Further right, and you're faster. Further up, and you are higher. The idea of pushing that envelope is pushing further and further into that upper-right corner. Of course the problem with that is everyone knows what part of the envelope that is... It's the part where the postage gets cancelled. (Paraphrased from Chuck Yeager (I think))

[@johndemeritt3460]

Copper Hamster, the problem also occurs at the bottom left portion of the envelope: get too low and too slow at the same time, and you're likely to find that you run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas all at the same time!

[@stevebailey325]

Yay!!!! You brought the "outros" back!!!! Missed them!! Thanks!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

We are dinking with them.

[@shawnr771]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Please keep it. It is a nice touch.

[@tomandtinadixon]

"Now remember, this ammunition is expensive, so bring it back when you've finished with it".

[@jbrhel]

Another winner History Guy. Thank you.

[@andrewinbody4301]

My brother, Cptn. USN (ret.) has used a phrase I always remembered. "Many of the Navy's regulations are written in blood."

[@swiley223]

I'm a building inspector and I tell people the same thing all the time. Every seemingly petty rule is someone's epitaph.....

[@mattnicholson8781]

Your series is one of the best things on KZbin.

[@tygrkhat4087]

You said the panel of the third failed prototype "lit up like a pinball machine." In 1987, Williams Electronics released the F-14 Tomcat pinball machine. That was a fun machine to play.

[@LuxiBelle]

Cant trust anyone, not even yourself

[@blackbird8632]

Punished Luxibelle I can’t hurt me if i get myself first.

[@johnarizona3820]

keep trust in God

[@svchineeljunk-riggedschoon4038]

@@johnarizona3820 The old people dying of coronavirus trusted in God

[@TheLoxxxton]

@Paul Simonson gods ok I guess but I tend to put my trust in science.

[@justonemori]

@@johnarizona3820 Trusting in god has killed more than anything else on Earth.

[@Pfsif]

I once spit out the window of a moving car and shot myself down. Lesson learned.

[@sirmounted8499]

I did the same with a cigarette once and the cigarette flew back into the car and hit the guy sitting behind me in the face and gave him a little burn.

[@paulkolodner2445]

I have a cousin who was asked to throw a loved one's ashes out of a small airplane. They blew back in. Oops.

[@jamesferris4573]

Once while my father was driving, and chewing tobacco he spit out the window. I was sitting in the back seat behind him, and was shot down with a face full of tobacco spit. From then on I rode on the other side or rolled the window up. True story.

[@RCAvhstape]

Never piss into the wind.

[@jamesferris4573]

Helium Road Good advice.Once when we were kids my brother pissed on our electric fence. I can still hear the screams.lol

[@chrisdominguez7485]

Another great job at explaining exotic phenomena - (fighter planes and missile release). Much high quality information is offered, available for learning from the experience of others!

[@vanpenguin22]

I'll never forget cautiously reaching out and touching that black F14 with the Playboy Bunny on the right vertical, when it was on display at the Paine Field Air Fair in 1982, just to say I "manhandled expensive and sensitive Defense Dept property ". 😂

[@apathtrampledbydeer8446]

Internet high five!!! Rub some of that on me!! XD

[@saltyrebel2037]

The more I watch this channel, the more I love it!

[@dmeemd7787]

"The cause of the wreck turned out to be...trigonometry" 😂 That was a GREAT line!! Man I love this channel! 😊😊

[@richardpatrick32123]

Wonderful stories!

[@redhaze8080]

I like my history so you've told stories i already knew a few times like this one... but the quality of the pacing, writing, sources and your good self narrating. You Sir are not fluff, you are good at this shit hey.

[@DowntheRoad40]

Really enjoyed this video. My father was a fireman for the Air Force and I miss his stories of the airplanes that landed and ones of that had crashed.

[@w.p8960]

1966 Nam. One of our A4’s made strafe run and a piece of 20 mm shell ended up in an antenna on the bottom rear of the aircraft.

[@tcniel]

My wife and I have worked for years at Point Mugu and Port Hueneme and really like stories about our neighbors, thanks.

[@fuwa7860]

Dear history guy, Please consider doing an episode of the initial phase of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since I did my masters thesis on the subject I have a lot of primary and secondary sources. This moment history has had major impact on the current social and politcal order in the world. I think you would enjoy doing such an episode. The initial invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet union is history that deserves to be remembered!

[@milkhbox]

I would be keen to learn of that bit of history as well!

[@bo_392]

yea let's piss off the russians nothing bad could hap

[@evelynvictorymatheny9047]

i learn so much from your channel! love, love, love your channel!

[@mustanguy102]

Being in an F-14 squadron was the best part of my Navy service.

[@ricardoaguirre6126]

You've probably been asked this before but how accurate is Top Gun?

[@mokeimusic]

VF - 101,good times

[@WilliamHorsley1962]

@@ricardoaguirre6126 If you're asking me I'd say all Navel Aviators are A personalities. Top Gun focused on just 1 type of pilot. There are other types of Aircraft for specific missions as risky and dangerous but the move kind of got the Esprit de corps going for it tho real life on a Aircraft Carrier is mostly very boring when you're not on duty tho in the early 80's we were running drill after drill preparing for a anticipated war in the Middle East. The days of uncertainty with my favorite president Ronald ( raygun) Reagan and The A Team 😎

[@mustanguy102]

mokeimusic VF-102 the Diamondbacks.

[@johnjacobs1625]

@@ricardoaguirre6126 Well the Air Force pilots thought our F-14 pilots were nuts for landing on a "bobbing cork". But we had a good time at Yuma while our jets were doing TG. That was 1978. JJ VF -142 Ghostriders

[@matthewlemon4208]

You sir, have the most soothing reassuring voice. Thank you

[@TerryMcKean]

I just started watching this video but paused it during your introduction because I was reminded on a certain ingenious innovation in the very early days of fighter planes and that was the way they could shoot their machine-gun's bullets right between the spinning propeller blades. lol :-D ... onward with the video........

[@bepbep7418]

It's called an arrestor gear.

[@TerryMcKean]

@@bepbep7418 That's another awesome invention:... being able to snag a zooming jet and decelerate and safely land onto an aircraft-carrier.... definitely.

[@bepbep7418]

@@TerryMcKean the arrestor gear was what kept WWI - WWII pilots from literally shooting their propellers off. It allows the gun to fire in between the blades and not into them.

[@edmundscycles1]

@@bepbep7418 that's a synchroniser or disruptor gear . Arester geat is the tail hook for carrier or emergency landings .

[@hshs5756]

All history buffs have seen gun camera footage from WWII where a fighter shoots down a plane in front of them and then has to deal with flying through the debris-filled fireball. Makes you wonder how many fighters that failed to return were downed by the debris from their own kill. That's one advantage of modern long-range missiles: the kill can be made miles away where debris isn't an issue instead of WWII where the enemy aircraft might be only 100 yards away.

[@tlhome7565]

Great series. I actually read an article in the "National Interest" website about Purvis and Sherman. Still cannot believe it. Fun videos you put up please keep them coming!

[@Duncan_Idaho_Potato]

This makes me think of the scene in The Hunt for Red October when the Russian sub is destroyed by their own torpedo: "You arrogant ass! You've killed _us_ !"

[@happysawfish]

Tupolev !

[@paulwoodman5131]

This has actually happened. USS Tang & USS Tullibee were sunk by their own torpedo. 9 survived and were taken as Japanese prisoners of war on the Tang. One survived on the Tullibee, he also was held as a POW.

[@mbr5742]

Torpedos engaging the sub did happen more than once. The germans had problems with their early G7 running a circle and their T5 liking the sub sounds better than the target ones. Some of the LUT and FAT also sometimes started their pattern to early

[@jamesferris4573]

Thank you for another very informative video. I always learn something new when I watch your videos. I grew up in a small shack in the early 60's, and remember the planes flying over breaking the sound barrier. The windows in our old house would shake so hard we thought they would break. The laying hens would be traumatized, and wouldn't lay for awhile after that. This happened almost daily so our egg supply dried up, but I loved hearing it as a child. Thank you to all of those brave individuals who so selflessly gave your knowledge, talent, as well as your lives so we could enjoy the freedoms we have. Everyone stay safe, but remember to look after your neighbor. We will work through this together, and this too shall pass.

[@jamesferris4573]

Tropic Lightning I believe they outlawed breaking the sound barrier, but I am not sure when that was. My father was a WWll vet. as well, and my uncle used to live near an air base where they housed B-52' s during the cold war. We used to park at the end of the run way, and watch them take off, and land. There was one loaded with nuclear bombs ready to take off at a minutes notice at the end of the run way. The aircrew slept in shifts. My uncle was a crew chief on a P-51 Mustang for the 8Th Air Force in WWll. He said the plane was the pilots in the air, and his on the ground.

[@jamesferris4573]

Tropic Lightning I live in Oklahoma, and grew up in a small farming community where no one had running water, and everyone knew poverty. My father hadn't finished high school, like many WWll vets., and raised peanuts, and some black Angus cattle. My older brother, sister, and I were in the fields as soon as we were old enough to hold a hoe. My parents fortunes changed when I was a teenager, and they were able to build a new home. However we hardly ever got in the city or around planes except when we would stay with our uncle who lived near Altus. That is where the B-52 base was, and besides air shows those were the only planes I was able to see. I bet it was neat growing up near an airbase. I googled that about the sound barrier once when my wife, and I were wondering the same thing, but I don't remember when they outlawed it.

[@jamesferris4573]

Tropic Lightning My wife, and I built a new home on some acreage my parents gave us that is near where I grew up. This must be a flight path, because they still fly C-38 transport cargo plane through the new F-35's. There are also some large Large Hueys, and smaller helicopters. Those fast planes Will make you jump when they zoom overhead unexpected. I am getting sleepy, and I am going to hit the sack. Keep well, and stay safe.

[@jamesferris4573]

Tropic Lightning I wanted to ask you a question. Did you'll have cattle mutations where you live in the early 70's. It was going on around here, and everyone said it was aliens from outer space. I don't believe that for a second, but my father had an old red roan cow that was a pet that didn't come up to feed one evening. I was there visiting so we walked down in the field below their house. There, below the house, in plain sight, law the red cow on a terrace. Her head was laying down hill, and there was undisturbed sand all around her. We didn't get close enough to disturb the sand, but we could tell she had her tounge removed, her utters cut off, and parts of her sexual organs removed. There was also a satanic cult that used these parts in sacrifice. My father called out the Vo-ag teacher from the nearby school, and the county sheriff. It was a mistake calling the Vo-ag teacher, and I tried to talk him out of it. I had that man in school, and he was as worthless as tits on a boar. They both stood about 15ft. from the cow, and said she died from natural causes, and coyotes had been eating her carcass. The sheriff, who was friends with the worthless teacher took his lead from him. Then they both laughed at my father, and walked away shaking their heads. I know a cow will not law down hill to die, she will pick a comfortable spot. I found many, many carcasses of cattle after coyotes have been there, and they do eat the tounge, the utters, and the soft under belly first. After they left, and we weren't worried about tracking up the sand that was completely undisturbed, my father, and I went over to her to inspect her closer. Her tounge had been cut out by a very sharp instrument, and there was no tearing. The hair around her utters was cut where they had sliced them off. The same was true for where they had removed parts from her rear. This was most likely a surgical instrument, and not teeth. There were no tracks, blood, and the ground wasn't torn up at all. I am not an expert, just a country boy that has seen a lot of carcasses eaten by coyotes, and that wasn't one. I know it wasn't men in flying saucers, but I am at a loss for answers. My father was humiliated by two idiots who wouldn't make a pimple on his ass, and never talked about it again. Did you ever have any experience like that or was that just around locally. I know of about six cases back in the early 70's around here.

[@jamesferris4573]

Tropic Lightning I didn't mean to bring up any memories that are hard to relive. I know I thought my father was what a man was suspossed to be, and he taught me to be a man, and I always tried not to disappoint him. That was a bad memory, but I was curious about the cattle mutilation. I remember hearing about other cases locally back then.

[@Iskelderon]

Missiles of that era were pretty weird animals, like heat seekers that tried to pick a fight with the sun!

[@isamu1718]

They are not weird they are "heat-seekers" dude of course that'll happen. Thats why they have appropiate ranges to be launched so they focus on the plane rather than the sun.

[@RealWolfmanDan]

History guy your content is so consistently Excellent and informative that I believe it deserves to be added to the national archives. I am calling on all followers of the history guy to help make this happen lets start a petition

[@GaryNumeroUno]

H.G. I just thought this would be good time to share that, if I recall correctly, after WW2, further bouncing bomb development resulted in test aircraft being hit and subsequently destroyed by their own bouncing bomb. The testing was trying to see how low aircraft could get to the water before releasing the bomb. As the boffins found out, there was a height that was too low and the bomb would bounce back up into the aircraft. Not sure whether that counts for this topic but interesting none the less. Thanks for a great video. Cheers from Oz.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

They had frag bombs with parachutes to slow them down in WW II, especially for low altitude attacks.

[@JimDandy49]

My two favorite planes, the F-14 Tomcat, and the F-15 Eagle. Happy to see both are represented in this video at 9:02 . :)

[@ozzmanzz]

In these unusual times I can always rely on you to distract me from reality with your fantastic stories, thank you. This is why I’ll continue to be a patreon.

[@rodneyz4856]

Hi History Guy! Really like your videos and wanted to say thank you for all of your hard work. I am an avid recreational sailboat sailor and am fascinated by the history of sailing, and I was wondering if you would consider doing a history of sailing and/or the sail boat, sail designs, etc. I think it would make a fascinating topic! Thanks

[@havokvladimirovichstalinov]

"The plane was prone to engine issues" Yeah, flying into your own shells will to that...

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

So far as I know, this was the only time that happened to the F-11.

[@bepbep7418]

Bullet/projectile. A "shell" is the cartridge itself (which wouldn't do that kind of damage.)

[@WilliamHorsley1962]

An F4 flew into its rounds as it was firing a burst. Pilot was able to eject.

[@OnlySubhumansWorkAtYouTube]

@@bepbep7418 Thanks Captain Obivious

[@bepbep7418]

@@OnlySubhumansWorkAtKZbin your welcome.

[@raymondjones7489]

Excellent content History Guy!!!...I'm an aircraft enthusiast...I found this episode particularly interesting and it has addressed one of my longtime curiosities!! Thank you very much!😊😊😊

[@Babicoste]

"When another expensive hand-built prototype shot itself down...in june of 1973" Why am I laughing when I heard that?!?

[@vapormissile]

Same reason I am: great writing and deadpan delivery.

[@richardlincoln8438]

Thank You for one of the most interesting and informative channels. Best Wishes.

[@MarcTBG]

No one is going to mention the irony of a guy named Bill “Tank” Sherman co-piloting the worlds most modern fighter jet at the time? No? Fine, I will.

[@robertsimpson7861]

I remember a Navy Aviator who had the last name of Garrison, his nickname/callsign was Army.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

I'm not in the least bit surprised that someone whose last name was Sherman having a Call Sign of "Tank". Aviators do not pick their own call sign. I remember I was watching this documentary on modern Naval Aviation and there was this one aviator whose call sign was Rim Job ... .

[@johnjacobs1625]

That would be the back seater or radar officer. He is not a co-pilot........ he can't fly the aircraft. JJ VF-142 75-79 USN

[@MarcTBG]

john jacobs Radar operator/weapons operator is a bit more wordy. I prefer my phrasing albeit inaccurate/inappropriate.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

@@MarcTBG Congratulations - you are an ignorant twit. "I prefer calling it what I want to call it to what it really is because it's easier for me to say it wrong than it is to say it right". You're an idiot. And - the Short Version was RIO for Radar Intercept Officer - which you would know if you'd ever watched Top Gun. As in "Goose was Maverick's RIO." .

[@loganpe427]

Hi Mr HDTBR GUY👋🏻! I haven't been here for awhile, how y'all been? I love everything you cover of course but especially military aviation. I hold an aircraft A&P license and am always blown away by the seemingly unknown aviation story's you find. Like this one, I don't know the F11, fantastic!

[@jerrymiller276]

Some Russian fighters were bound to have done this, too. We'll just never find out about it.

[@pweter351]

Thinking the same, their subs missiles would just blow up and sink them regularly.

[@Magicannon_]

That F-16 stock footage looked so familiar to me. I've remembered that I used to have an old VHS about the Thunderbirds and the F-16. This was back in the 90's. Don't have it now since VHS has been dead for over a decade, but it did give me some nostalgic feelings. Great topic and video! It makes me wonder if anything of note ever happened with spent shell casings after they were ejected from an aircraft, especially during WW2 where this would be more common with all the dogfights over populated land.

[@BTFOOMNY]

Well, I was right. That was hysterical. The missile problem is fairly easy to understand. However, when someone asks a pilot how fast he can go, and he says, "faster than a speeding bullet", this proves it. Fascinating.

[@turtlenemo]

Thanks History Guy!

[@steveclark4291]

Thank you for interesting piece of history that I know is not taught in schools !

[@Dr.M.VincentCurley]

Thanks for the vCast, well presented!

[@jwenting]

"they're sleek, they're sexy, they're beautiful". Enter the Blackburn Skua and the Vought Cutlass.

[@westsidelco10]

Well, they can't all be winners. But people liked the looks of the cutlass enough to make it into a hood ornament for Chevrolet Bel Airs for a couple of years

[@jimtaylor294]

The Blackburn Buccaneer is usually thought to be beautiful, despite being known in her time as 'The Flying Banana'

[@michaelwier1222]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[@geneharrel773]

The gutless Cutlass...what a beauty!

[@dahawk8574]

Boeing X-32. Able to achieve vertical takeoff, because it was so ugly that the earth repelled it.

[@matsgustavsson665]

This episode made me remember another story and I found it online It also deserves to be remembered :)

[@matsgustavsson665]

www.wearethemighty.com/history/airman-shot-down-his-plane

[@michaelevans205]

As always, great stuff! I can't however, forget the honour of us Brits. The RAF also belongs to this distinguished club. November 1979 and a Harrier GR3 of 1 squadron shot itself down during a gunnery practice sortie on the Holbeach range in Lincolnshire when it was hit by it's own ricochets. The New Zealander flying the jet ejected safely. There must be other instances out there?

[@tomat6362]

Hmmm--I'll bet some ex-Soviet and Russian pilots have a few stories they can't tell!

[@swiley223]

@@tomat6362 I don't know you crash at 10 million dollar Soviet aircraft and you're probably going to get more than a review panel

[@stanrogers5613]

There was also a Canadian CF104 Starfighter that caught its own ricochets on a gunnery range - the annual flight safety briefings we used to sit through usually had one "who'd'a thunk it" incident among the standard "somebody doing _your_ job ****ed up" fare. (Oh, and yes, Canada was perfectly okay with the idea of using a Mach 2+ interceptor for close air support. It's just how we rock. Mostly because they don't give us too many different rocks.)

[@type_s_tyler7547]

I just noticed you have an ARC-170 model on your shelf. You just earned like 5 more respect in my book lol

[@gtbkts]

Commenting for support

[@scottydouglass1892]

I was an Air Force crew chief for a long time, and while "lawn darts" were not my thing. We had SAC, TAC, and Mac. I went from tankers, and bombers, to Hualing rubber doggy doo. We all had to read all of the aircraft incidents reports, that way we all learned something from shooting down yourself, to sucking up a basket full of birds. Helicopters are the kind of thing that bites the hand that feeds it also. All that stuff is fun, and fun stuff can get you killed. Love the stories.

[@fastbike175]

Thank you, this video was especially entertaining.

[@vtwinbuilder3129]

Please keep doing Tomcat stories. It was the best fighter ever built and its amazing!!!

[@taylorc2542]

Photogenic, but overrated.

[@Petedrumsusa]

In first heard this story as a kid camping out at Patrick Air Force base. And boy did it create many conversations and discussion about the planes be faster than the munitions.

[@michaelbeelby1995]

Does shooting yourself down still count towards qualifying as an 'ace' or does it count as a negative 1?

[@pentagramprime1585]

Either way, can you imagine the patch on the flight suit? I'm thinking Lenard from "Full metal Jacket" with pants around his ankles and thumb in his mouth.

[@michaelbeelby1995]

@@pentagramprime1585 LMAO...... Or maybe a picture of the two inflatable pilots in the cockpit from the movie Airplane! with "Don't call me Shirley" around the outer edge.

[@TerryMcKean]

Well, that was awesome, History Guy... thanks for sharing.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

Trust nobody, not even yourself.

[@paulteschjr1514]

I love jet fighters and was very happy to see the History Guy do this video! Even happier when i saw he put in an F15 Eagle at 9:03! Thats my fav jet!

[@andrewscott8892]

The f-14 is my favorite plane, I mean with it carrying 6 aim-54 Phoenix(rarely done) it was always ready to make some toasty bears but I'm surprised it got built in the end

[@dmutant2635]

You can't leave out the other half of the AIM-54 - The AWG-9 radar in the pointy end and the guy-in-back that ran it, the RIO.

[@v.e.7236]

Anything to do w/ flight gets my thumbs up. Gotta love the casual air these pilots talk about life and death scenarios. Been a certified pilot since age 17 and cherish every second of flight time. I also hang glide and parasail, so anything that flies is something to admire and revere. I consider myself blessed to have experienced as much as I have in the short time (60 yrs.) I've been on this flying rock. I have yet to get a flight in a jet fighter, but definitely on my Bucket List; would love to go supersonic, just once.

[@nukers1234]

Best excuse to get sick leave from work, "I shoot my self out of the sky" :P

[@kdrapertrucker]

Breaking your leg and back is a little extreme way to get extra vacation time though.

[@jamesferris4573]

I was electrocuted by 7200 volts, while working as an electrical lineman. I then fell 20ft., and broke several vertebrae, as well as breaking off a facet hinge, rupturing 3 disc in my lumbar spine, 1 disc in my thoracic spine, and 2 disc in my cervical spine. I also blew 3 holes out of each thigh where I was grounded, and the voltage exited my body. I can't recommend the broken back as a way to get out of work.

[@rzr2ffe325]

Wouldn't that be convalescent leave?

[@pantherplatform]

This is one of the coolest channels ever.

[@Gamecourie]

Dutch Viper? Thats news to me. I thought it was usually refered to as grey tricycle hehe.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I got that from a Google translation of a Dutch news report.

[@jwenting]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Dutch people usually just call it the F-16, no name.

[@westsidelco10]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I know a few US F-16 pilots and they call it the Viper because it is a lot shorter and easier to say than Fighting Falcon.

[@Tuning3434]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Have to agree with @CaptainDuckman: generally we just call them F-16s, and the F-35 the JSF

[@peregrinussolutionsllc6010]

Love your channel, especially the military history! You remind me a combination of my two favorite history professors in college :-D

[@automatiiik]

High tech isn’t always high spec.

[@bigblue6917]

The more complext it is the more there is to go wrong.

[@Tuning3434]

@@bigblue6917 The more complex a system is, the more chance there is you don't have the knowledge or the engineering field itself doesn't have the experience of what could potentially happen.

[@daveen2229]

No matter how high tech, it's made by the lowest bidder.

[@A_Man_In_His_Van]

Still the best on you tube.

[@bartfoster1311]

I would have thought the first plane to shoot itself down would be an early biplane that shot its own prop off! Interesting stories though! Have you done an episode on the Israeli F-15 that landed with one wing? Boeing thought it was a prank and must have been a taxiing accident, until they did some wind tunnel testing..

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I am sure there are multiple examples, although this episode focuses on modern jets fighters.

[@southronjr1570]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel The incident he is referring is called the 1983 Negev incident. On May 1, 1983 an Isreali F- 15D had a mid air collision with an A-4 during training. The A-4 almost immeadiately disentigrated but the pilot of the F-15 was able to engage the afterburners and regain control. The crew did not immeadiately realize the extent of the damage due to fuel being sprayed out of the wing root blinding their view of the damage. Due to the lifting body characteristics of the F-15 at high speed it generated enough lift without the wing to allow controlled filight. They landed at twice the normal landing speed to be able to maintain control and quite literally skidded to a stop just 20 feet from the runway end. The planes tail hook was ripped off in the landing but both crew members walked away from the plane safely. The engineers refused to believe that it landed with one wing nearly entirely sheared off until they went and talked to the crew and examined the planed. I think it would make one helluva History Guy episode if you made one about it.

[@brucefrytz8611]

As an Air Force jet I didn't think they would have a tail hook?

[@bartfoster1311]

@@brucefrytz8611 I don't think they put tail hooks on Air Force planes, only Navy and Marine Corp.

[@fighter_pilot_1698]

Bart Foster some of them do have tail hooks in the event that they have an issue with either brakes or have to make a fast landing, as far as I can remember. One example would be that Australian F-111 video that’s floating around where they land gear up with the hook on a runway. Also remember reading Air Force F-4’s retained theirs. Would have to look up the F-15 though, but wouldn’t be surprised.

[@cdl0]

Many years ago, I recall a pilot telling me how he seen the bullets he had fired and subsequently overtaken while flying a Gloster Meteor, probably around 1950. Luckily, he managed to avoid shooting himself down, but knew it had been a close call!

[@thebonesaw..4634]

It should be noted that U.S. pilots of the F-16, as well as pilots and ground crews around the world, also refer to the F-16 as the "Viper"... they all cringe at the "Fighting Falcon" name.

[@VisibilityFoggy]

Lol... after all these years Lockheed-Martin is finally just marketing it literally as the Viper in its latest variant.

[@thebonesaw..4634]

@@VisibilityFoggy-- As they probably should because, man are F-16 pilots passionate about NOT calling it the Falcon, and even more passionate about NOT calling it the Fighting Falcon. If renaming it from the Falcon to the Viper had been attached to the Brexit vote, Britain wouldn't be in the mess it's in today, I can tell you that.

[@johndemeritt3460]

I still prefer "lawn dart" and "electric jet" as they are much more descriptive from a maintenance perspective.

[@joshtiel2980]

The F14 is my favourite fighter jet of all time and I had never heard that story until know. Thankyou!

[@AudieHolland]

For some non-comforting video footage: "Aircraft Store Separation Incidents"

[@christi_L]

Awesome video!!! I am a huge aircraft history nerd and I hadn't heard of these particular incidents! I loved this, thank you!

[@MotoroidARFC]

There's at least one video on KZbin that is a compilation of recorded release tests. It's interesting to see how new stores behave after release.

[@docvideo93]

4:19 Cause of the wreck: trigonometry. Oh trigger-nometry? I'll show myself out.

[@oscar62625]

And why not

[@thisismagacountry1318]

I'LL KILL A PUNNER!!!