A mysterious coloured Rolex watch saved my skin in a Russian aircraft at 8000 feet

[InitialAndPitch]

The Rolex dealer in Lucerne tucked away in the Old Town is testament to wealth and bulletproof engineering. Those who enter make decisions to decorate themselves or buy watches that perform mission critical functions. Are these costly adornments just that - or can they regularly cut it when the situation arises?

In the mid 1980’s to early 1990’s aerobatic aeroplanes took a significant leap. Prior to that, most aerobatic competition and display work was conducted in aircraft such as the legendary Pitts Special bi-plane out of Wichita Kansas.

The early/mid 90’s saw the more widespread distribution of two aircraft companies.

In Germany, Walter Extra built an aircraft eponymously named ‘Extra’. These were single wing, carbon fibre aircraft equipped with engines in the 300+ Hp range. They would set you back about $300,000 and lived up to their name ‘Extra 300’ as you needed an extra $300,00 to buy one. They were typically German - very sleek, impeccably detailed and performed like nothing we’d seen.

The Soviets built their own version for export income - the Sukhoi. They were built like incredibly agile tractors. Everything was big and tough. A huge 9 cylinder radial engine pumping out 360+ Hp - a huge control stick. And stirrups on the rudder pedals to stop your feet flying upwards under negative G. The aircraft was rated to 12G and the Sukhoi engineers were kind enough to recline the pilot’s seat to help defray the huge G forces. The instrument panel was rough - in some cases it looked like a kid with a tin of red, yellow and green paint had marked key speeds/temperatures/rpm on the instruments. Cyrillic text adorned some instruments.

Aerobatic training in these machines down to 300 feet was hard near cities and we found a small country town about 55 minutes flight time away. We ferried the aircraft between the city and country - a butt numbing experience given that you were sitting on a hard parachute. I was in the United States at the time so many procedures were still a bit foreign to me.

One weekend I was asked to ferry a Sukhoi Su-31 - a 400 Hp version with a roll rate exceeding 400 degrees a second. We’d received a fax with the latest weather and there was some risk that cloud and later storms could be a problem. I was to fly in loose formation with an Extra 300 and both of us didn’t want to miss Friday night festivities so we decided to fly. Time was critical as we had minimal navigation aids and there was a chance of lightning - a lightning strike on a carbon fibre aircraft would dissolve the aircraft. We were fourth in line for the fuel truck but skipped refuelling for a quick getaway. Both of us had more than enough fuel for the trip plus a limited diversion contingency.

Preflight checks revealed that the clock in the Sukhoi wasn’t operational and I’d left my watch at the hotel. The other pilot had a working clock onboard so he loaned me his Rolex. All I remember from the day that it had a coloured bezel and the bracelet was pretty tight worn on the outside of my green Nomex gloves. My best guess puts it as a Pepsi GMT.

I kicked over the wooden three bladed propeller, I could hear the deep roar and the power was such that it made the aircraft rock side to side. It took many minutes of idling to warm up the huge engine and its oil reservoir. After zig-zagging on the taxiway for forward visibility we departed, climbing in the cold air at over 3000 feet/min or 4 to 6 times what a Cessna 172 might achieve. We tracked under visual flight rules to 3000 feet in preparation to cross a mountain range that was unforgiving of engine failures. We nick-named it Tiger Country. The bottom of the aircraft was Perspex allowing a view of what was going on directly beneath. Never a comfort on that portion of the sortie. Course corrections required some thought as even breathing on the stick seemed to cause a response.

We could see the clouds ahead and they were close to the mountain tops. These aircraft were not equipped to fly in cloud and flying over cloud was against the rules under our mode of navigation. The middle ear plays tricks without a horizon to reference and we didn’t have an artificial horizon to compensate. Decision time: turn back and put the aircraft back in the hangar or push on. We used hand signals while in formation to signal a change to a rarely used a radio frequency we called ‘Hanoi’ to communicate privately. Push on over the clouds as the forecast said - cloud was at 5 Oktas (5/8 or just over half the sky), so we could descend there. The Extra had an early generation GPS so we weren’t as dependent on ground references.

And so I applied full power to the monster and climbed almost vertically before we entered cloud. It was stunning up there. Engine back to cruise power we flew like kids with toys - darting around tall cloud formations, flying inverted and throwing in the odd loop and barrel roll in the dazzling late afternoon light.

We changed frequency to check in with the guys on the ground at our destination and the news was not good. Conditions were changing fast and cloud at our destination was closing in removing our descent options. A check via radio with a regularly updated weather bulletin revealed that turning back was not an option. Here we were at 8000 feet in bright sunshine above the clouds with no way down. Back on channel Hanoi, we discussed our very limited options. I rolled on left bank and maintained position in a loose orbit. We knew where we were via the Extra’s GPS. We could see that ground elevation below us was 1900 feet above sea level (AMSL) but had no idea on cloud elevation. That’s to say, if we made it through the cloud would we plough into the ground or have clear air? The clouds in the distance were darkening and a check of the weather revealed possible lightning - aircraft into powder.

We needed to enter the cloud for a defined period of time while staying ‘stable’ and in control. I radioed en-route Air Services and using the GPS coordinates we had, casually requested a cloud elevation for the area. The Air Services guy told me that cloud elevation was around 1800 feet above ground after a couple of quick calculations.

My mind raced through scenarios as we circled - always monitoring fuel and performance. Solution after solution was discussed on Hanoi and then discarded. For example, solution 3 was to jettison the canopy, undo the seatbelt and roll upside down and fall - deploying the parachute whose ripcord was attached to the aircraft frame. This of course is hellishly risky for the pilot, destroys the aircraft and sparks a major search and rescue. So no to that one.

Then a small idea turned into a bigger and better one. Most people who travel on aircraft would consider a stall to be disastrous and an aircraft spinning as even more dire. But combined, they were likely our last credible solution. I knew from my early aerobatic training and flying the Sukhoi that a spin, once it was induced was stable. Upright or inverted. One rotation per second, losing 100 feet per rotation. But spinning in cloud gave me no horizon to use as a measure of my rotations. My 8000 ft altitude subtract 1800 feet ground clearance and 1800 ft ground elevation above sea level meant that if I could spin 4400 feet down through cloud, I’d theoretically pop out 1800 feet above ground. A spin recovery would consume 1,000 to 1,200 feet leaving me 600 feet above the weeds. A bit close for comfort. I’d have to begin the recovery earlier, while still in cloud.

The only way to control all this was time. I’d need to use the mysterious coloured Rolex to time 42 seconds for 42 rotations at which time I’d begin the recovery. The altimeter as a back up because of the disrupted airflow over the pitot tube. Back on radio Hanoi I put the idea to the Extra pilot and we decided to go. I went first, waiting for the second hand on the Rolex to get to 9 so by the time I was spinning the hand would be at the 12.

Facing towards our destination just above the clouds, I pulled the throttle back to idle and the machine started to decelerate. Five point harness ratcheted leg numbingly tighter - I could feel the drag and smell the diesel fuel in the smoke machine tank. I gently eased the stick back to maintain straight and level as the nose came up. The pre-stall shudder came through the stick first and then the airframe as the smooth flow of air over the wings broke up. The nose pitched 60 degrees down instantly but predictably and I followed just after that with a boot-full of rudder to induce a spin to the left out of habit. The altimeter unwound quickly. The aircraft corkscrewed downhill. I held the stick tightly in the full rearwards position, left foot on the rudder to maintain the stable spin. As I sank into cloud the second hand was sweeping past 12 and as I rotated and dropped I kept an eye on the time. 15 seconds, 25, 35 and at 42 seconds, I let go of the stick completely, grabbed hold of the top of the instrument panel and applied full force to the right rudder.

The spin recovery dropped the nose to the vertical and took about 1.5 rotations to stop and seconds later I emerged into clear air. Still facing straight at the ground I slowly reintroduced power and pulled back the stick for a 4.5G recovery. On radio Hanoi, I joked that there was never an adult diaper around when you needed one and suggested to the second pilot that he begin the recovery a little earlier as by the time I was straight and level I was about 400 feet above ground. I headed south for 3 minutes to clear the area and avoid a German aircraft from ploughing through my canopy as it emerged from the cloud. He repeated the process and minutes later we were back in formation both apparently looking pale.

Twenty six minutes later we touched down as the now black clouds pursued us. We chose the grass landing strip which tends to be more forgiving to tailwheel aircraft during landing just like the Spitfires and Mustangs of old. Forty minutes later the lightning came but the aircraft were by then safely put to bed. The coloured Rolex was delivered reluctantly back to its owner having earned its keep.

What we did in pushing on as I look back, was about as stupid a decision as we could have made that day. But ultimately good training gets buried sometimes until you need it.

I now own one of those colourful watches, mine a Pepsi GMT - that second hand smoothly sweeping the dial saved my skin and a very nice aircraft too. In reality it could have been any aviators tool watch or any brand but it was a mysterious Rolex doing what Hans Wilsdorf designed it to do - which is to ride at the pointy end of adventure - not just to decorate your watch box.

....... the pictures below are not the exact aircraft I flew that day but same model.

[Rocket launcher]

Now that's a story.....wow

[GreatHarry]

Great story. Thanks for posting.

[BisonHead]

Very cool story indeed. Well done.

[Thuilln]

Cool story, but… why didn’t you descend strait in the clouds with the wings leveled? Wasn’t there an artificial horizon or turn and bank in the plane? Maybe I missed something.

[InitialAndPitch]

Originally Posted by Thuilln

Cool story, but… why didn’t you descend strait in the clouds with the wings leveled? Wasn’t there an artificial horizon or turn and bank in the plane? Maybe I missed something.

You might have missed this paragraph:

“We could see the clouds ahead and they were close to the mountain tops. These aircraft were not equipped to fly in cloud and flying over cloud was against the rules under our mode of navigation. The middle ear plays tricks without a horizon to reference and we didn’t have an artificial horizon to compensate.”

Also click on the cockpit image and you’ll notice that there’s no artificial horizon.

[Thuilln]

Originally Posted by InitialAndPitch

You might have missed this paragraph:

“We could see the clouds ahead and they were close to the mountain tops. These aircraft were not equipped to fly in cloud and flying over cloud was against the rules under our mode of navigation. The middle ear plays tricks without a horizon to reference and we didn’t have an artificial horizon to compensate.”

Also click on the cockpit image and you’ll notice that there’s no artificial horizon.

That’s what I missed. Roger that. Crazy stuff!

[Fredcohiba]

Cool. Thanks for that.

[HogwldFLTR]

Interesting read; thanks!!!

[KBM]

Great post, amazing story. Cheers.

[ras47]

Awesome story, worthy of publication! And an equally awesome watch.

[tie219]

Wow awesome story, thanks for sharing

[SamP]

Greatly enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing.
Regards

[ltmgeller]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

[Jeronimo]

Now that was a good read indeed!

Thank you for sharing, glad that it turned out well and that you’re still among us and with a beautiful watch to remember the adventure.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[glamorama]

What a story!!! Bet adrenaline was pumping hard

[cswjames]

Great story, thanks for posting

[Avs Fan]

Now that's why I love this brand and this place!

[RJK]

Definite pucker factor on that flight. Glad you made it to tell the tale.

[NWCarver]

Great story, amazing read and thank you for sharing ��

[Quailhunter]

You are very skilled and exceptionally lucky.

[G.D.BeanCounter]

Great story! Well written.

[crazycarlitos]

Wow 400ft... that’s def too close for comfort! Lol

Thanks for sharing!

[mikkemus23]

Wow, glad you lived to tell the story! And great thinking there!!

[brandrea]

That’s quite a story. I’d have barfed and passed out

[DPE]

Fantastic and a great reason to own a Rolex

[kohe321]

What a great story. Thanks for sharing!

[Rocketman39]

"That Puckered my Prune" for sure !

[makak]

Brilliant read. Thanks for sharing

[wfitch]

So what can you do in 42 seconds?
Fantastic story! Thank you!