50m Bail

[Bullets]

Flying 50m above the ground at 500 kph, level with the ground, bailing is successful... I wanted to see what the lowest I could jump out of my aircraft was and survive. My chute inflated about 10 meters of the ground and I slowed enough to not die on impact with the ground! 

 

The more you know   

[javelina]

thanks, I'm sure my rear gunner will be comforted by this...  (whilst I tackle the ground targets using my PK37's).   

 

gotta admit, that's a gutsy move to jump out at that low of an altitude, and at that speed. 

[Finkeren]

If you're flying straight and level you could theoretically survive a bail at 50m, because you start with a vertical speed of 0. All the chute has to do is slow your horizontal speed to something survivable, which I would guess lies somewhere in the region of 50km/h with soft snow on the ground.

[Finkeren]

The fastest human cannonballs are shot out at around 120km/h and manage to reduce their speed to survivable levels at much shorter distances and without the aid of a parachute.

 

The real danger of bailing out at 50m propably has more to do with the fact, that the pilot has to let go of the controls for several seconds while escaping the aircraft, which is not really adviceable.

[No601_Prangster]

Squadron Leader Terence "Terry" Spencer bailed out of his Spitfire MkXIV at 30 ft (10m) and 400 mph over water and survived. The aircraft was blown-up by flak and he was catapulted out of the cockpit. He wasn't injured by the landing but was burned in the fireball.

[sturmkraehe]

Speed is not what matters for survivability. What matters is decceleration. 

[Finkeren]

Speed is not what matters for survivability. What matters is decceleration.

Yeah, but you really wan't that decceleration to be handled by the chute and not the ground. And starting momentum and altitude are factors in determining if the chute gets to do that.

[Finkeren]

you could survive a five meters bail just if in the last moment you aim the plane up

 

parabolic shooting

I almost always do that, if I'm at low altitude and not close to stall speed.

 

Giving the pilot upward momentum as he jumps means that his chute is often fully deployed before he even starts accelerating downwards making his fall much much slower and giving extra time to deccelerate in the horizontal.

[Rjel]

you could survive a five meters bail just if in the last moment you aim the plane up

 

parabolic shooting

Then you wouldn't be bailing at five meters would you? I doubt a pilot could react so quickly as to pull back on the stick, exit the aircraft and not be many meters higher than he was when he initiated the pull up.

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

It is my understanding, anecdotally as I can't remember where I read it, that german parachute technology was somewhat lacking in WWII. They employed almost exclusively natural fibers in their cords, risers and harnesses which have a much lower tensile strength than the nylon components used by the Americans. I don't think I'd want to make a 50/500 jump in 21st century technology unless I had too. A 50/500 jump in a bag of hemp and silk seems downright terrifying.

 

If I am incorrect re: German tech, I have no problem being corrected.

Edited June 22, 2014 by A1FltTrn=HerrMurf

[Bullets]

Yeah, pulling up before bailing is cheating Aim that nose at the ground for more fun! hehe 

[Gambit21]

Flying at 630kph vertically toward the deck, bailing at 2 meters - oddly unsuccessful.

[Bullets]

Really?! We must have really strong chutes haha   That deceleration alone would of probably killed him!....  I wonder if chute breaking or failing will be implemented? 

[Finkeren]

Really?! We must have really strong chutes haha That deceleration alone would of probably killed him!.... I wonder if chute breaking or failing will be implemented?

Gambit21 said the 2m bail was UNsuccessful.

 

BTW: The deccelerations involved in bailing out at max speed at 50m would be perfectly survivable. It takes a little over 3 sec for a free falling human to fall 50m (with a chute it obviously takes longer) decelleration from 500km/h to 0 would require just 2.5sec of decceleration at a survivable 5Gs. The strain on the chute at 5Gs might prevent it from opening properly, but would neither kill the pilot not rip the chute to shreds, I'm sure.

[Bullets]

Ah woops   Something must of got lost in translation  ..... hehe 

[fergal69]

Don't forget - it's not the fall that'll kill you, but the sudden stop at the end

[Gambit21]

I'm missing the running away from the safely landed ship and diving for cover...

[Kleinburger]

I'm missing the running away from the safely landed ship and diving for cover...

 

or the little life raft in the water.

[79_vRAF_Friendly_flyer]

Squadron Leader Terence "Terry" Spencer bailed out of his Spitfire MkXIV at 30 ft (10m) and 400 mph over water and survived. The aircraft was blown-up by flak and he was catapulted out of the cockpit. He wasn't injured by the landing but was burned in the fireball.

 

The explosion not only blasted him free of the plane (it disintegrated around him), it also tore open hos parachute pack. With his horizontal speed being several hundred km/h, thus the actual distance he travelled would have been far more than 50 meters. He was very, very lucky.  

[Wind]

or the little life raft in the water.

 

That would be a quite a sight in the frozen steppes of Stalingrad...

Edited June 25, 2014 by Wind