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Re: common flight control goof

No, it was the YF-22 that crashed.

"Second (F119-powered) YF-22 taken by road to Palmdale mid-1991; fitted with strain gauges; began further 100 hour test programme 30 October 1991; gathered data on aerodynamic loads, flight control aerodynamic effects, vibration/acoustic fatigue and maximum coefficient of lift; flown by 6511th Test Squadron (F-22 Combined Test Force) of 6510th Test Wing at Edwards AFB; non-fatal crash landing at Edwards 25 April 1992, following pilot-induced oscillations; total 100 hours 24 minutes in 70 flights since October 1990; non-flyable, but repaired for use as antenna testbed at Rome Air Development Center, Griffiss AFB, New York."

Apparently, there was an error in the control laws when the landing gear and flaps were down. In certain cirsumstances, the pitch contol from the elevators combined with the vectored thrust to make the plane virtually uncontrollable. This wasn't the only plane to have that problem. Swedens cute little Grippen fighter had the same problem and lost the prototype.

As for the Shuttle, that was the 5th and last glide test flight of the Enterprise back in 1978. It was the first attempt to land it on a runway instead of the lake bed. I don't know if it was a flight control problem or if the pilot simply overcontrolled. The end result was that he bounced the landing - no mean trick when you're talking about an 80 ton vehicle that glides like a crowbar. Private pilots everywhere loved him for that. We can relate to bounced landings all too well.

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