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T-33 Flight
(Wing Commanders need instrument checks too!)

By

Major General Fred J.  Ascani

This incident, time wise, occurred in the period 1951-52.  The 50th FBW was located at Toul-Rosieres, 

France.  As the Commander of the 50th, I was required like every else to renew my instrument rating as a pilot.

As I recall the incident, the day was sunny, warm with little or no wind.  The instrument rating flight would take place in a T-33.  I knew, and was well acquainted with the flight instructor, a captain in the Wing.  We did the walk-around inspection together, and picked up no deficiencies.

With the captain in the front seat, and myself buckled in the rear we taxied to the current runway and took off.  Everything about the flight was normal as we climbed to 10,100 feet.

At level-off, the captain asked me to get under the hood for some normal maneuvers.  Any pilot would be familiar with them, i.e., a forty-five degree bank in either direction; a climb of five hundred feet; followed by a descent of the same to level off at 10,100 feet once again.

At this point the captain asked me to close my eyes preparatory to his executing an unusual attitude with the T-33.  I did so (how many others cheated?), and was told to recover the aircraft.  It was a relatively mild “unusual maneuver”, and in short order I returned the bird to level flight.

The captain obviously was not content to let it go at that, so he really went through several gyrations (I had me eyes closed), and then turned the T-33 over to me.  Well, maybe it has happened to every pilot at one time or another, but when I first saw the attitude instrument, I immediately assumed we were in a steep climbing turn.  In other words, I mistakenly switched the horizon with the miniature aircraft.  The procedure to recover was obvious.  I pushed the stick forward fearing a stall and leveled the wings.  Subconsciously, I heard the passage of air past the cockpit increase rapidly.

At that point, the captain said, “I have it, colonel!” I immediately released control of the aircraft and experienced what I would estimate to be about a 9 to 10g pull-out.  Of course, I came out from under the hood to see what was happening.  We were straight and level at about four thousand feet.  The captain advised over the interphone, “Well, that wraps it up sir.  We may as well go in and land the bird.”

That was fine with me – feeling secure in the knowledge that I had passed the instrument test.

We landed; taxied to a parking spot on the ramp; cut the engine after the crew chief chocked the wheels.  He climbed up on the wing and asked the captain, “What happened, sir.  The wings have pretty deep wrinkles through the landing gear area on both sides.”  I will never forget the captain’s answer.  He said, “Well, during the instrument check ride I gave Colonel Ascani an unusual maneuver, and then he gave me one!”