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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)

#51

Post by pcurve »

gibspaulding wrote: post #42
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 progress of aviation technology fascinates me. We went from the wright flyer to the B-52 in just 50 years and then in the next 70 years went from the B-52 to... pretty much still the B-52 (at least in terms of payload/range/airspeed). You could probably come up with something similar to Moore's law for for those stats over those first 50 years. Makes me wonder if/when computing will reach a similar plateau. It's…

I think the progress is mainly limited by cost of fuel and sonic boom. But progress has been made in so many other areas. Planes are safer quieter lighter and more reliable. Some parts of computers also stopped progressing. For example keyboards haven’t changed much and neither have laser printers. ;)

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

#52

Post by NikolaNovak »

jacksonkmarley wrote: post #45
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…

> The whole description is wordy I for one really enjoyed reading this story, it was quite exciting and I never noticed anything 'wordy' about it. I thought it was very well written.

I meant it as a relatively neutral descriptor.

In modern day and age, this would frequently be shared as a 20word phrase on tranquil image background on Facebook.

Compared to that, this is "wordy" - which some of us will enjoy (I did too:), others will not.

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

#53

Post by stall84 »

Incredible find.. As a pilot, lifelong aviation freak.. being in (nowhere near as 'unlucky') somewhat similar situations (running out of fuel in midair .. being trapped in monterey marine layer suddenly before instrument trained) there is definitely this inexplicable ability or pursuit of the ability to just keep trying.. Notice the author always went to the 'next thing'.. when his primary chute didn't open .. he spent the free-fall time not on looking out at the ground coming up at him, but looking up toward the tangle, trying to shake it free.. Always trying something else after the previous attempt failed.

Great story

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

#54

Post by a4isms »

genghisjahn wrote: post #27
jrumbut wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is the quote from? Sounds familiar.

https://youtu.be/gv7mO41bbPg?t=74

Good call-out!

That was the scene I had in mind when I mentioned sitting in a barbershop arguing about the greatest boxer who ever lived, and while I didn't want to repeat that speech word-for-word, I was most definitely thinking of the Joe Frazier Rocky Marciano line you picked out.

Finally, for all three people in the world who care, I picked George Chuvalo as my reply specifically because he is famous for fighting Ali twice and staying on his feet both times.

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

#55

Post by [deleted] »

gibspaulding wrote: post #42
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 progress of aviation technology fascinates me. We went from the wright flyer to the B-52 in just 50 years and then in the next 70 years went from the B-52 to... pretty much still the B-52 (at least in terms of payload/range/airspeed). You could probably come up with something similar to Moore's law for for those stats over those first 50 years. Makes me wonder if/when computing will reach a similar plateau. It's…

[deleted]

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

#56

Post by londons_explore »

Airbags in cars self-test themselves every time you start the engine. They test all the sensors and electrics (including the explosive igniter).

I would hope ejector seats do the same. If so, the fault must be with the mechanical part. But OP does not describe the cabin filling with dense white smoke as you'd expect from a rocket propelled ejector seat.

That tells me someone made a major design mistake with the seat... and yet the US military decided not to go dig up the seat to find what went wrong with it.

Thats baaaaad...

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

#57

Post by lazide »

im3w1l wrote: post #11
whoisjuan wrote: post #5

Still not as impressive as Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 m (33,330 ft; 6.31 mi) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87

An unopened chute has got to be better than none right? Edit: at slowing your fall I mean.

See my comment above - it depends on what body position it puts you in, and what body position you’d otherwise be in.

In sports skydiving, it’s generally considered fatal either way to not have a fully functioning parachute above your head long before you come back in contact with the ground.

A partially deployed parachute is also considered to be one of the most potentially lethal types of malfunctions, as it has a high risk of entangling the reserve parachute. Bailout parachutes often don’t have a backup.

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

#58

Post by bmitc »

"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, clothing or boots, and/or likely hitting the water at a crest or something where the surface tension was broken up a bit?

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

#60

Post by sharadov »

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).
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