Photos by Lt. Mike Donnelly, VP-8
The Wheel Spun Freely
By Lt. Mathew Olson
n an ideal “standard” day, when you fly out of your home field on a training mission or do a little dedicated field work, you take several factors into consideration on a normal takeoff. These factors include minimum control speed, refusal speed, rotation speed, lift-off speed, climb-out speed, three-engine rate of climb, decision speed, flap-retraction speeds, and center-of-gravity limits. Usually, these factors easily are covered and managed by our standard takeoff brief. However, when you’re thousands of miles away from home field, at an expeditionary airfield in a combat zone, things become more interesting. You have to consider the threat environment that surrounds the 32
airfield. What is the best combat departure tactic for the assessed threat? How long does climb-scheduled airspeed keep the aircraft in the threat envelope? How will an engine failure affect the rate of climb? What are the options for an immediate return to the field, assuming a catastrophic failure? Even after all this contemplation, I discovered that emergencies don’t always happen by the book. As aircraft commander and pilot-at-the-controls for a mission over Iraq, I briefed the combat departure to my crew. Our takeoff gross weight dictated a rotate speed of 119 knots, with no refusal speed. The co-pilot called out 80 knots for the standard power and airspeed check. When my copilot called rotate at 119 knots, I felt a Approach
