Narrow Escapes (was: terminal velocity)
shelley.l.rosenbaum
This article reminds me of the safety briefing we had before we flew
on the KC-135. When they explained the use of the parachutes (which
are no longer carried on board), they said to pull one of the knobs
after bailing out. The chute wouldn't open immediately; instead, you
would free-fall until below 14,000', at which time it would open auto-
matically. If we wanted to, we could pull another handle to open the
chute immediately. However, this was not recommended, since you would
probably lose functioning of your hands due to the long time you'd be
spending in the colder part of the atmosphere.
--
shellEy L. Rosenbaum - AT&T Bell Laboratories, Air Traffic Control Systems
{att, arpa, allegra}!ho95c!slr or s...@ho95c.att.arpa (201) 949 3615
"Gee, Mom, isn't that bridge built yet?"
VICC Project (Rose)
followup.
In article <1989Jul2.0...@sq.sq.com>, Mark Brader writes:
>
> The most remarkable fall, I think, is that of Royal Air Force Sergeant
> Nick Alkemade in March 1944. His plane was hit and was going down in flames,
> and his parachute was in the fire. Thinking to at least choose the mode
> of his death, he jumped out at 18,000 feet altitude. And escaped without
> so much as a broken bone! He was saved by a grove of fir trees and their
> successive layers of increasingly large branches, followed by a landing
> in a snowbank underneath.
This was the fall I was refering to. Ok I wasn't sure if he had broken
anything or not. I think he was also somewhat saved because the fast fall
caused him to black out do to difficulty in breathing, thus his body would
have been relaxed.
>
> Oh yes. After the war, he went to work in a chemical factory and
> survived three serious industrial accidents only weeks apart in 1946.
> After the third one, he became a furniture salesman instead.
Sounds like the germans were justified in believing that Sgt Alkemade had
too much luck to want to keep arround as a prisoner!
> I'll just mention two more. In 1917 German Air Force Lieutenant Bohrle
> was the observer in a two-man airplane, and was thrown out by the shock
> when the engine suddenly stopped. And then, as the plane began to fall,
> he fell right back into his own seat! And the engine was soon restarted.
The real stories that would seem to justify the lucky escapes seen in fantasy
and science fiction books and games!
Another note about falls. While watching the credits for Star Trek V, we saw
something about a man who made a long free fall off a cliff for Kirk's fall.
I think it mentioned something about a freefall record.
Frank Filz
Mark Brader
Rec.arts.sf-lovers has been having a thread of postings about people
surviving falls from aircraft, and rec.aviation has had a thread about
hypoxic experiences. Both of these tie nicely into a book which I
picked up in paperback a few months ago:
"Dangling from the Golden Gate Bridge, and Other Narrow Escapes"
by John Anthony Adams, 1988, Ballantine, ISBN 0-345-34915-6,
US price $3.95.
which is a collection of descriptions of survivals of seemingly
unsurvivable accidents. Its tone is neither scholarly nor sensationalistic
but somewhere in between, and I found it interesting reading.
The greatest number of accidents described in the book are falls of one
kind or another, or situations where a fall seems to be imminent.
The most remarkable fall, I think, is that of Royal Air Force Sergeant
Nick Alkemade in March 1944. His plane was hit and was going down in flames,
and his parachute was in the fire. Thinking to at least choose the mode
of his death, he jumped out at 18,000 feet altitude. And escaped without
so much as a broken bone! He was saved by a grove of fir trees and their
successive layers of increasingly large branches, followed by a landing
in a snowbank underneath.
Oh yes. After the war, he went to work in a chemical factory and
survived three serious industrial accidents only weeks apart in 1946.
After the third one, he became a furniture salesman instead.
An even longer drop, the record of this type, was that of I.M.Chisov of the
Soviet Air Force in January 1942: 22,000 feet. He fell against a snow-
covered slope and slid to the bottom. Unlike Alkemade, he fractured his
pelvis and had other severe injuries. This would relate to his less
favorable landing place; terminal velocity is reached long before even
18,000 feet of falling. (That's 120-185 mph depending on posture.)
A still longer accidental fall is that of Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant
on JAT (Yugoslavian Air Transport), in January 1972. When her plane blew
up at 33,000 feet, she fell within the tail section and lived... but only
just. Her injuries required 6 months' hospitalization. The book does
not say, but I believe that that 33,000 feet is a record.
The longest free fall of any kind was not an accident but is mentioned
anyway: Joseph Kittinger of the US Air Force, in an experiment, jumped from
a balloon at 102,800 feet and opened his parachute only at 17,500 feet.
He traveled at over 700 mph in the thin upper air.
I'll just mention two more. In 1917 German Air Force Lieutenant Bohrle
was the observer in a two-man airplane, and was thrown out by the shock
when the engine suddenly stopped. And then, as the plane began to fall,
he fell right back into his own seat! And the engine was soon restarted.
In 1933, a bus went off the road and down a steep hill near Tokyo, Japan.
It overturned several times. Then part way down, its descent was slowed
momentarily as it rolled over a large rock. The passengers included
(or consisted of, the book isn't clear) a team of seven acrobats, and
all of them used that moment of opportunity to escape the vehicle by
the windows!
--
Mark Brader The "I didn't think of that" type of failure occurs because
Toronto I didn't think of that, and the reason I didn't think of it
utzoo!sq!msb is because it never occurred to me. If we'd been able to
m...@sq.com think of 'em, we would have. -- John W. Campbell
This article is in the public domain.