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I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

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Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#71

Post by cdelsolar »

throw827474737 wrote: post #26
michael_fine wrote: post #22

In a story of insane luck (and unluck!), the craziest part is definitely this " He said that if I had had a spleen, it almost certainly would have ruptured when I hit the water, and I would have bled to death. Of the 25 pilots in our squadron, I am the only one without a spleen. It gives me something to think about. Maybe it does you as well."

Wow.. so much bad luck (the original failure, ejection failure, parachute failure) countered by that much luck (not hitting the plane during "manual" eject, not bleeding to death because havin his spleen removed 4 years earlier) ..amazing unbelievable story with some good end :)

i didn't understand something. he said impact with the plane tail will usually kill someone during a manual eject, but why? the plane and the person are going at the same speed at first?

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#72

Post by suzzer99 »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #2

The whole description is wordy but astonishing. It is strange that the part that strikes me the most though is this one: "The Coast Guard amphibian gained altitude and flew off. (I learned later that he headed for a squadron of minesweepers that was returning to the United States from a tour of the Western Pacific. He was unable to tune to their radio frequency for communications. But this ingenious pilot lowered a w…

It's like Lassie barking at the family that Timmy has fallen down a well.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#73

Post by suzzer99 »

cdelsolar wrote: post #71
throw827474737 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow.. so much bad luck (the original failure, ejection failure, parachute failure) countered by that much luck (not hitting the plane during "manual" eject, not bleeding to death because havin his spleen removed 4 years earlier) ..amazing unbelievable story with some good end :)

i didn't understand something. he said impact with the plane tail will usually kill someone during a manual eject, but why? the plane and the person are going at the same speed at first?

Until the air catches the person and slows them down much faster than the aerodynamic and much heavier (attached to the plane) tail fin.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#74

Post by nashashmi »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #67
slingnow wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your definition of "wordy" is "anything longer than a 20 word phrase", I mean, I don't know what to say really. Your response to OP was definitely wordy then. And so is this response. You've basically redefined the word so that it no longer has any meaning.

I think your response was sarcastic but I actually fully agree - yes language changes, cultural & social norms change. Today in 2022, based on average of media creation & consumption, this article is wordy (or "long form", if we feel "wordy" is loaded with negative connotation:). It would not have been wordy in different times & places. I like long form. I like essays and articles and geeking out and getting in depth…

"I like twitter"

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#76

Post by suzzer99 »

djmips wrote: post #41
rootusrootus wrote: post #18

This happened in 1963. Planes had only been flying for 60 years at that point; it really is pretty amazing how quickly we progressed on technology during those early years. We still fly 737s, which are descended from a design that first flew in 1967. As well as the C130, which was part of this story. And don't get me started on B-52s, which are even older. We have made great strides since then, of course, but it does…

The same is true of computers which seem to have been created in practically final form so concisely summarized by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Draft_of_a_Report_on_the... On a whim I have investigated old computer architectures and was surprised to find myself completely at home despite when they call the 'instructions' 'orders'. :)

Which is why software patents are so silly. When it's all 1s and 0s under the covers, everything else just flows logically.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#77

Post by cm42 »

bmitc wrote: post #58

"Jesus Christ!" is my only reaction. This guy survived a sequence of catastrophes, any one of which could have killed him: fire in a plane, failed ejection and being ripped out of the plane, parachute not deploying and hitting water, and being in open ocean for a few hours. I do wonder how in the world he survived hitting the water. Is it just that he hit the jackpot in terms of his entry angle, body position, clothi…

Meanwhile, on the internet: meh, Wikipedia has a table with bigger numbers.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#78

Post by rootusrootus »

the-printer wrote: post #37
crdrost wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These aren't subs, they are ships. I would imagine the plane circled overhead at a low altitude several times, tried to get their attention, kept going away and seeing if they would follow, kept going back when they didn't. And people on the ship were probably looking up being like, “what's his deal?” A “shot across the bows” is a colloquial expression for a warning demanding imminent action. The idea was that long a…

The dynamics of how humans can communicate with each other, especially in spontaneous occasions like this, are so interesting. From what you’re explaining, the expression wasn’t something necessarily standardized “code yellow” sort of thing. Could two novices been able to convey or comprehend the meaning between themselves? With stories like this, who needs film!

> Could two novices been able to convey or comprehend the meaning between themselves?

Maybe not for a towed line, though the shot across the bow is probably intuitive. That's essentially the same thing bees will do to warn you away from their hive.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#79

Post by bbojan »

cdelsolar wrote: post #71
throw827474737 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow.. so much bad luck (the original failure, ejection failure, parachute failure) countered by that much luck (not hitting the plane during "manual" eject, not bleeding to death because havin his spleen removed 4 years earlier) ..amazing unbelievable story with some good end :)

i didn't understand something. he said impact with the plane tail will usually kill someone during a manual eject, but why? the plane and the person are going at the same speed at first?

The airplane is dense and very aerodynamic. We would say it has a high ballistic coefficient [1].

The pilot is light would leave the cockpit flat or even bent over, which is a very non-aerodynamic shape. His ballistic coefficient would be low. He would decelerate quickly, and the tail would catch up with him and slam him from behind.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_coefficient

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#80

Post by cm42 »

sharadov wrote: post #60
bmitc wrote: post #58

"Jesus Christ!" is my only reaction. This guy survived a sequence of catastrophes, any one of which could have killed him: fire in a plane, failed ejection and being ripped out of the plane, parachute not deploying and hitting water, and being in open ocean for a few hours. I do wonder how in the world he survived hitting the water. Is it just that he hit the jackpot in terms of his entry angle, body position, clothi…

What is insane is that after falling in the water he was still conscious and had the presence of mind to cut the parachute chords. How do you retain all your bearings after multiple things going wrong and just not give up? Testament to his fight to live ( am sure he's unique in that respect).

Constant training, even/especially in bad weather, and constantly preparing for specific tasks like this.

"Amateurs practice till they get it right; professionals practice till they can't get it wrong."

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