Botched airdrop sends three Humvees to their doom

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
Looks like failures on three different aircraft -- I'm guessing either systematic equipment failure or poor training is at play.
 

KJ6EAD

Joined Apr 30, 2011
1,581
They all had good canopies so it looks like something went wrong with the canopy release. It's supposed to actuate on contact with the ground but appears to have actuated as soon as the arming timer elapsed.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,978
Expensive lesson, but I imagine that there is/was a halt in these operations until it is/was hashed out. Like in many areas of life, catastrophic failures are the foundation for learning and understanding how to do things better.

It would be interesting to know what the final cause is/was determined to be.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
Here's another version (edited and more to the point) of the same event.


It also mentions that this screwup happened during a military exercise in Germany.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I'm sure he'll start by searching the crater for all the microcontrollers that fell off.
They provide a wonderful emotional release when you pound them against concrete with a hammer.:p

ps, I just accomplished removing the "blink all the outside lights when you park" function on my car.
I was followed home from the drugstore last week. Fearing a drug robber, I wanted to lose him. After a quick right and 2 lefts, I slid into the driveway and shut the car off. Then it announced to the world where I was by turning on the dome lights and blinking all the outside lights.:mad:

I will give it a test drive to see if that "don't blink" modification works, then go after the dome lights and the "puddle" lights. They are more difficult because they are controlled in the dashboard and it's impossible to get at the fuse&relay block under there without using a hacksaw or having 7 inch fingers with 4 joints in each finger.:(

While I was tracking down the POSH decoration controller, I found the code for the keyless entry keypad, and it works!:)
Now I can leave the key in the ignition all the time and use the keypad to get in because I amputated the dinger last week.:rolleyes:
Just kidding. I have no desire to use the keyless entry system. I just thought it was cool that I found the secret entry code and it works.
I'm still going to keep a spare key hidden somewhere on the car in case I lose my keys, because you can't start the engine with the keypad.

Edit. Nope. That mod stopped the auto-headlights completely and I think it porked half the tail light bulbs. I can live with turning the headlights on an off by myself, but I can't drive around with dim tail lights. Unfortunately, it's way past my bed time. I'm gonna have to open up a tail light lens tomorrow and see if it's a dual filament bulb or two bulbs.

Edit. No problem with the tail lights. Brown (2) at the Vehicle Security Module controls the extra blinks of the outside lights.
 
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#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Continuing the hijack.:D
I went to the junque yard yesterday and got lots of little bits that were missing from my (new) used car. A button for the window locks, two handles that make the front seats recline, both sun visors, the right switch for the "lumbar support" thing, a spare fan belt, a bit of mirror to carry in my tool box, and a partridge in a pear tree. Nice haul for $22.:)

I did not knock over the Portaloo.:D

Ps, Summer is upon us. The heat index was 93F and I got rather overheated.:(
Happy that I got all the functional systems working before summer.:p
 
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