Bail out practice ...

[Mickc1440]

Wow Peter that's superb

 

[Peter Gillson]

Hi /guys

glad you like it. not being a plane builder it stretched me but was a lot of fun and very satisfying, and nice to try something different.

next will be back to a small dio in 1/265 scale.

Peter

 

[Waspie]

Hi /guys

glad you like it. not being a plane builder it stretched me but was a lot of fun and very satisfying, and nice to try something different.

next will be back to a small dio in 1/265 scale.

Peter

It was nice to see an aspect of aviation replicated that many people don't even think about but to an aviator is a fact of life.

 

[stona]

Interesting vignet, and a great take on a subject not really talked about, like it is hard enough to get in, but how do you get out???

Sadly, the answer is, 'With a great deal of difficulty'.

Bomber Command's Operational Research Section examined the statistics for various bomber types.

For the Lancaster it looked at 126 aircraft shot down on six raids. 775 men were killed and just 118 survived, giving a survival rate of 13.2%.

For the Halifax it looked at 74 aircraft shot down on the same six raids. 411 men were killed and just 115 survived, giving a survival rate of 21.9%.

Though the Halifax appears more survivable, it was also more likely to be shot down, leaving something of a Hobson's choice.

We can compare that with the survivability of US bombers. There are many factors that influence their figures, the US bombers being more robust, operating in daylight, having larger crews, etc. but crucially they had more and larger exits, including through the bomb bay (which was inaccessible on British types).

The Americans analysed 88 B-17s shot down over a series of four raids. From these aircraft 262 men were killed and 620 survived, giving a survival rate of 70.3%.
Not included in that figure is a further 16 aircraft shot down on those raids, all of which made successful forced landing with all their crews surviving. Had they been included the survival rate would have risen to almost 75%

The difficulty of abandoning our bombers was acknowledged at the time. Improved training, including of the sort so beautifully illustrated in Peter's vignette, was one action taken. There were arguments to enlarge and improve emergency exits, but these went largely unheeded. It is a fact that the number one cause of loss of aircraft production in British factories was modifications introduced on the line. This was certainly a consideration. An anticipated loss of production is also the reason that the Halifax soldiered on, even after it was shown to be much inferior to the Lancaster. It was almost literally forced on Harris over his persistent protests. Despite the figures above, he was convinced that more of his men would survive if they all flew Lancasters.

 

[Peter Gillson]

Sadly, the answer is, 'With a great deal of difficulty'.

Bomber Command's Operational Research Section examined the statistics for various bomber types.

For the Lancaster it looked at 126 aircraft shot down on six raids. 775 men were killed and just 118 survived, giving a survival rate of 13.2%.

For the Halifax it looked at 74 aircraft shot down on the same six raids. 411 men were killed and just 115 survived, giving a survival rate of 21.9%.

Though the Halifax appears more survivable, it was also more likely to be shot down, leaving something of a Hobson's choice.

We can compare that with the survivability of US bombers. There are many factors that influence their figures, the US bombers being more robust, operating in daylight, having larger crews, etc. but crucially they had more and larger exits, including through the bomb bay (which was inaccessible on British types).

The Americans analysed 88 B-17s shot down over a series of four raids. From these aircraft 262 men were killed and 620 survived, giving a survival rate of 70.3%.
Not included in that figure is a further 16 aircraft shot down on those raids, all of which made successful forced landing with all their crews surviving. Had they been included the survival rate would have risen to almost 75%

The difficulty of abandoning our bombers was acknowledged at the time. Improved training, including of the sort so beautifully illustrated in Peter's vignette, was one action taken. There were arguments to enlarge and improve emergency exits, but these went largely unheeded. It is a fact that the number one cause of loss of aircraft production in British factories was modifications introduced on the line. This was certainly a consideration. An anticipated loss of production is also the reason that the Halifax soldiered on, even after it was shown to be much inferior to the Lancaster. It was almost literally forced on Harris over his persistent protests. Despite the figures above, he was convinced that more of his men would survive if they all flew Lancasters.

This seem a common issue with British equipment ; I recall reading somewhere that the hatches on British tanks were a lot smaller than on the German tanks which resulted in the German tank commanders being more 'adventurous' . Perhaps somebody knows ic this is accurate?

 

[Waspie]

My mind keeps going back to an incident that happened to a friend of mine.
As I mentioned, the RN carries out these 'bail - out procedures every six months so we are well versed in escaping from our ride.
However, there are times when no amount of training caters for the unexpected.
RN Sea King in the Gulf. 40 foot AFCS hover. (AFCS = Automatic Flight Control System), lock helo into the 40 foot hover. However, one of the engines suffered a malfunction resulting in the aircraft slowly descending into the warm waters of the gulf. First my mate, (sonar operator), knew was noticing water around his feet. He taps the Observer next to him to indicate - time to leave. Mate jettisons the sliding cabin door window and duly vacates. He noticed the Observer jettisoning his window, (port side), and starts to clamber through. Sea King is now turning turtle.
My buddy now on the surface looks around - three heads, Mmmm should be four. Two pilots and himself. Strange he said, I saw him getting out the window. Without a thought, he unclips his life raft, removes his LSW and dives underwater. Finds the Ops, unconscious half way out of his window! His life raft attached to his bum had jammed, stopping him from vacating. Mate, removes his knife, cuts the obs raft from him and pulls him out of the window. (All this on one lungful). Get him on the surface and luckily the obs survived.
So even training cannot cater for all eventualities. The other three - did the routine drills without a hitch.
Happened in the mid 1980's.