I was 18 and driving on the East side of the lake when the aircraft went down. Myself and Martin Herndon waded through the Willows and Marsh and I was one of the first to arrive until now I didn't know the Captains name but always wondered who was in the tail section of the aircraft.
Richard Elston, e-mail, 15.07.2008 22:43
I remember the crash in May 1967. One of the other crewmember's last names was Jester. I was friend's with his daughter.
Ross Beedle, e-mail, 23.05.2008 21:43
I took photos from the port side catwalk of the USS Saratoga (CVA-60)of one of the XC-142A planes on 10/May/1967. The Saratoga deployed from Mayport, Florida, in early May to the Med, and carried one of them to the Mediterranean, where it departed the ship for Rota, Spain, then on to the Paris Airshow. It was rather amazing to see this machine move only several feet forward and then lifting off the deck rather rapidly. It would be interesting to know which one of the remaining four aircraft this one was. I see know way from the photos that I have that would identify it. Should any one care to see the pictures that I have, they can be found on my flikr page at http://flickr.com/photos/9789926@N07/
Willy Webb, e-mail, 07.05.2008 23:01
I was part of the crew that horrible day and would love to get in touch with the grandson of that wonderful pilot, Stu Madison. Please write.
arthur b north, e-mail, 22.02.2008 16:18
SFC Arthur North was Line Chief on the XC 142 from 1964 until I retired on May i 1968. and I would like to her from any of the old crew who were there during that time. I am in touch with William Dunlap who lives in Gilmer, TX and I hope to hear from then Col Billy Odneal, or Lt Col Robert Chubboy. Chuck Teague was my assistant during those years. artnor@msn.com 813 238 8976 (Tampa, Fla)
Kevin Teague, e-mail, 18.01.2008 00:12
Hi, I was curious if any of you gentlemen remember my father,Chuck Teague, He was a Chief Warrant Officer, Army Aviator, and worked on the XC142 project in some capacity. We were at Edwards for 3 years from 1964 thru 1967, and were then transferred to Langley. Dad passed away in 1994 and I never really got to talk to him about the pictures I got after he passed on.
SFC Arthur North ret, e-mail, 15.11.2007 02:47
I was on this project with Lt Col Chubboy and would like to hear from any of the other Army or Air force personnel who were members of this Tri Service Test team (artnor@msn.com) yes I am STILL alive at 81years old riding a motorcycle and flying a light Sport aircraft in Tampa ,Fla
Robert A. Chubboy, LTC USAR Ret., e-mail, 31.10.2007 17:30
I was the Army prime XTP on the XC-142 and accumulated about 130 flight testt hours including the first non-stop flight from EAFB to Dallas w/Colonel Jesse P. Jacobs. I can attest to the tragic loss of Stu Madison, John Omvig and Charlie Jester in the May 17 (I stored April 17) and have maintained ever since that had Stu Madison, the professional that he was, been doing an engineering flight test where he was tuned to every little quirk particularly in the flight controls he would be alive today. But, no he was doing an operational test, a very demanding one requiring a multitude of aircraft conviguration changes starting with engagement of the tail rotor raising the wing while in a descending spiral path from the above reported 2500m to the target of 900m and encountering, not a tail rotor drive shaft failure but a loss of tail rotor pitch control. This failure I recall to have been caused by a bell crank that convertes horizontal control rod motion to vertical control motion and hence the variation of the tail rotor pitch in response to the pilots requirement for nose up or nose down commands. The failure resulted in the tail rotor going to the full nose down command some 11 seconds before continued raising of the wing slowed the aicraft to the point where the horizontal tail was no longer able to overpower the tail rotor and the aircraft pitched nose down. Before ejecting Stu did manage to reduce the wing angle somewhat but it was too late. I repeat it was a control failure not a drive shaft failure and it was the result of vibration induced failure of the bell crank mentioed above. It was this same day when our test force director, Colonel Jacobs was making his second plea before the WPAFB Program Director to suspend further tests of the machine until a vibration survey was conducted by LTV. The chief test Pilot, AF LTC Gay Jones and I had been noticing an unidentifiable vibration as far back as January. Based on our comments to Colonel Jacobs, he suspended military flights in March. The failure as I recall was the above described bell crank and upon inspection the four remaining aircraft were found to have thesame bell crank with vibration induced cracks. When the vibration survey was finally conducted, the bell crank designed for a 42g vibrator load was actually seeing 172g. As I am participating with Rob Ransone to clear the air on several issues. including the above failure, that cropped up during our test force's 45th anniversary reunion last week. I would be very appreciative of any reader's comments. Though my bark peels easy, it's tough and I can still take criticism - be nice though! Chub
Rob Ransone, e-mail, 10.10.2007 15:16
I was the USAF's Chief Flight Test Engineer for the Tri-Service Tests at Edwards, primarily for the Category II performance and stability and control flight tests. Our biggest concern for the performance tests was how to test the vertical takeoff/hover and STOL configurations and how to translate the test data to sea level standard temperature. I conducted the first hover tests at California's Point Mugu NAS because at that time of year, at dawn, the test conditions were sea level and 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Our in-ground effect heavy weight hover tests enabled me to predict the in-ground effect hover performance at Bishop (5000 feet altitude) to within inches! Basically, I used helicopter performance data analysis for hover (Cp/Ct -- power coefficient/thrust coeffient, at density altitude). I ignored the tail rotor because its thrust varied up and down with pilot longitudinal control stick movements, its Cp/Ct was assumed not too different from the main props, and its total thrust was small compared to the main props. For STOL (short takeoff) I used a specific energy analysis of E/(Cp/Ct) versus takeoff distance, which put all of the various STOL wing angle takeoff data on one line. I also prepared a hover performance circular sliderule in which the pilots could enter the cockpit torque-meter reading of the four engines, the pressure altitude and the ambient temperature to determine their safe vertical takeoff and landing weights. The USAF subsequently patented this for me, which resulted in US Patent Number 3528605 from the United States Patent Office in September 15, 1970. A great bunch of professional pilots, engineers, instrumentation and maintenance people, and LTV contractor support. What fun!
Phillip Massie, e-mail, 05.08.2007 20:23
Hello, I'm almost certain that one of these planes landed on my ship the U.S.S. Ogden LPD-5 in the 1960's [ 1967 - 1969 ] while we were underway, possibily off the coast of San Diego or Long Beach, Ca. We had a comparatively small, especially narrow helo-deck compared to Carrier's or LPH's. I remember being somewhat alarmed by the speed and size of the aircraft as it set down and "skidded" forward with it's nose ending up not too far from the mess hall bulkhead where I was standing. I thought the pilot was very skillful in pulling it off, although in retrospect it now seems that it was rather risky. I think I may still have a photo of it. Does anyone recall the exercise?
SFC Paul D. Fulk, Army Retired, e-mail, 27.07.2007 19:58
I have always remembered the XC-142. I was at Edwards AFB and work ont the XC-142 for almost the 2 1/2 years. I was one of the crew memebers that flew on one of the aircraft for the Demo that we did. one day if I could find a model of it. I would like to have one. I still think it is a great design for a air craft that could be used today.
Stu Madison, e-mail, 21.07.2007 00:06
Stu Madison was my grandfather. Never met the man, but I appreciate the kind words on his behalf.
LYNN GARRISON, e-mail, 23.06.2007 02:58
None of the articles on the XC-142A mention the crew lost in the fatal accident. LTV's Chief Test Pilots, Stu Madison, was captain on the flight. He was looked to by LTV President Thayer as a future president of the corporation. I cannot remember the other two, but I do remember Stu from the time I visited LTV, Grande Prairie, with my F4U-7 133693 during 1967. He flew it to make sure it was safe for Thayer to take a quick flight.
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