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I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

uss-la-ca135.org

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Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#81

Post by dbrgn »

adamredwoods wrote: post #49
js2 wrote: post #37

Huh, an F-8, just like Lt Col William Rankin who spent over 40 minutes stuck in a thundercloud after ejecting from his F-8: https://www.damninteresting.com/rider-on-the-storm/

Nice, thanks for sharing! I also like Bill Weaver's story of ejecting from an SR-71: http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-fr... and this one of a paraglider surviving a thunderstorm uplift: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/dead-luck-ewas-flight-of...

You can watch the documentary about Ewa here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTEoD2j4xdQ

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#82

Post by deepsun »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #58

In case (heaven forbid) this ever happens to you, try to find a piece of wreckage to use to fly, like a maple seed. The Free Fall Research Page: Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips by David Carkeet http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/carkeet.html Reading these articles is very personal to me, because I crashed my parapente on takeoff on what would have been my second solo flight. I still want to take up training a…

Hm, you must be able to tell it yourself, you're the pilot, not your coach. In parachuting that's even one of the questions for test -- who's the final authority during flight:

A. Your coach. B. The most experienced pilot on site. C. You (the pilot). D. Parachuting club owner.

For paragliding there's USHPA ratings, feel free to study them: [1]. For example in 12-02.13 there's requirements for P1 (Novice Pilot) rating, and recommended operating limitations for them:

1. "Should fly only in steady winds of 12 MPH. or less."

[1] https://www.ushpa.org/legacy/documents/sop/sop-12-02.pdf

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#83

Post by unicornporn »

empressplay wrote: post #66
unicornporn wrote: post #52

While not nearly as dramatic, this story reminds me a serious accident I had in my early childhood. For a long time I thought that perhaps I did die and that I had continued life in a near identical parallel dimension while leaving friends and relatives mourning in the one I had been born in. I wonder if this thought ever occurred to the pilot. A fantastic read.

This is known as "quantum immortality" [0] [0] https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_immortality

Thank you!

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#86

Post by dbrgn »

ekianjo wrote: post #16
smnplk wrote: post #14

What about Luke Aikins, who jumped without a parachute into a net from 25000 feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qF_fzEI4wU

Not parachute related, but the story is Juliane Koepcke, sole survivor of a plane crash, is worth a read as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliane_Koepcke

Here's a documentary by Werner Herzog featuring Juliane and her story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlJVIcCPIl8 The book is worth a read too!

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#87

Post by peterburkimsher »

deepsun wrote: post #82
peterburkimsher wrote: post #58

In case (heaven forbid) this ever happens to you, try to find a piece of wreckage to use to fly, like a maple seed. The Free Fall Research Page: Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips by David Carkeet http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/carkeet.html Reading these articles is very personal to me, because I crashed my parapente on takeoff on what would have been my second solo flight. I still want to take up training a…

Hm, you must be able to tell it yourself, you're the pilot, not your coach. In parachuting that's even one of the questions for test -- who's the final authority during flight: A. Your coach. B. The most experienced pilot on site. C. You (the pilot). D. Parachuting club owner. For paragliding there's USHPA ratings, feel free to study them: [1]. For example in 12-02.13 there's requirements for P1 (Novice Pilot) rating…

I spent 2 months salary over the course of 6 months to train with an unlicensed coach who is not an official USHPA instructor. He was trying to sell me his old gear that hadn't passed safety inspections in over 5 years. Several people warned me against training with him.

Why did I continue? There's no other English-speaking coaches in the south of Taiwan. Also, his training was the only one I could afford. I really want to learn to fly.

"I need a new coach who I trust" is more related to the other issues than the relatively minor incident where I ended up in a tree. I accept my share of the responsibility for attempting that takeoff, and I'm grateful that it didn't result in serious injury. When it happened though, it was an appropriate time to call off the course and stop that con man from trying to sell me unsafe equipment.

And, back to the topic, it means I have a personal sense of how terrifying it can be when a parachute doesn't inflate.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived

#88

Post by varjag »

dmitrygr wrote: post #79

One important note is that this was NOT free fall as you'd expect. The pilot chute is still pretty large and provides a LOT of drag. Instead of 120mph, you'd be falling near ~90mph with just it behind you. That is 44% less kinetic energy!

It also orients the body for more favourable touchdown vs randomly tumbling.
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