N AVAL AVIATION NEWS |
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FJ-2 FURY CRASH AVERTED VMF Pilot Proves Steady Nerve Published in the October 1956 Issue of Naval Aviation News |
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First Lt. Stoney Mayock, USMC, showed his clear thinking as Atsugi in July. A member of VMF-235, the Death Angels squadron, he piloted his crippled Fury to a safe landing. On a local instrument hop, 30 miles from the field, the movement of the FJ-2's stick became restricted, and the aircraft tended to roll to the right. "My first impulse was to eject," said Mayock, "but I realized that by using my rudder pedals and cross-controlling I could maintain directional control of the aircraft." After notifying Atsugi of the situation, Lt. Mayock, aided by his wingman, began to test how the airplane would behave at slow speeds. When he had checked his plane's characteristics and burned up his excess fuel, he decided to try a landing. |
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The plane came in on a nose-high attitude with no damage to the craft and no injury to the pilot. The Marine's decision to stick by his Fury saved taxpayer-dollars and kept another plane in the skies. |