Sunday, September 10, 2017
My name is Buzz Needham, I was a Navy Pilot for some 29 Years and I believe Gary and I shared an experience few pilots go thru: Ejection from and Aircraft. If I have the correct Gary Sheets, he and I. Had a flight together in Sep 26 1967, while participating in the evaluation of the OV-10 at North American Aviation factory in Columbus Ohio. It was a Sunday morning and we, a Navy Piloit and An Airforce Pilot flying a Marine Aircraft. This was my first flight in the OV-10, Gary had more experience in the Bird. We were the chase plane for another OV-10, flown by A Marine. We ultimately became the "Chased Plane" because one of our engines would not restart after being shut down. Coming back into the Columbus Airport, actually on final approach, the other engine stopped as well. It got very quiet, so much so that Gary and I wer talking in normal tones without the electronic communications in the Airplane. At First Gary said we would be "dead Sticking" into a farmers field below us. A reasonable thought, since the OV-10 was designed for rough field landings. HOWEVER, suddenly Gary changed his mind. He was in the front seat as "Pilot in Command" and I was in the rear seat. Well, he said we are going to "eject", a few expletives came out of my Mouth before finding myself being ejected (Gary initiated the Ejection form the front seat. In tandem seat aircraft with ejection seats, the rear seat ejects first. At any rate, we both ejected safely landed safely, and ultimately had e great experience, worthy of being recounted many times in succeeding years. Unfortunately, I failed to keep in touch with Gary so we lost touch. But, recently, I realized that the 50th anniversary of that experience was upon me and Gary came to the forefront. So using the internet, I found him, I hope. My condolences to the family, albeit late. I regret not nurturing his friendship.
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