Luckiest airman?

Jimbuna · 11-12-14, 09:34 AM

I'm not sure what to believe but if true he must be the luckiest airman.

Quote:

Captain Hedley was flying the two-seater Bristol Fighter over France in January 1918 with his pilot Lieutenant Jimmy Makepeace when near-disaster struck.

Makepeace put the plane into a steep dive and Hedley - so the story goes - fell out.

He claims to have fallen 700ft (213m) before landing back on the tail of the plane and crawling back into the cockpit as it came out of the dive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-29703198

Rhodes · 11-12-14, 10:09 AM

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Some many time films and cartoons portrait similar incidents and it really happened

and with an happy ending!

Sailor Steve · 11-12-14, 10:29 AM

These guys certainly qualify.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Alkemade

And this lady apparently holds the record.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87

Aktungbby · 11-12-14, 11:03 AM

From Warneford's shoot down of the first Zepplin over Ghent:
"Completely spellbound, he continued his run-in until the little Morane was swept up on a savage belch of flaming concussion. It whipped over with a violence that would have catapulted Warneford out of his cockpit had it not been for his safety belt. He gasped in astonishment, rammed the stick forward, and tried to get her into a dive. Chunks of burning framework hurtled by as he gradually floundered out of the aerial convulsion and streaked down through a great pall of choking smoke. The next few minutes were devoted to skimming clear of the debris, getting back on even keel, and frantically adjusting his air and gas mixture to overcome a series of warning pops from his Le Rhône.
A few seconds later the doomed airship fell on the convent of Saint Elizabeth in the Mont-Saint-Amand suburb of Ghent. One nun was killed outright and several women were badly burned, but the helmsman of the Zeppelin had a most remarkable escape. According to eye-witnesses, he actually jumped clear of the tumbling wreckage at about 200 feet, landed on the root of the convent, crashed through it as though it had been made of matchwood, and landed in a unoccupied bed. He suffered only minor injuries and was the only crew member or passenger of the ill-fated LZ.37 to live. " http://acepilots.com/wwi/zeppelin.html Gives new meaning to :"get thee to a nunnery!"

Platapus · 11-12-14, 03:58 PM

Must be a true story. A veteran would never tell a war story that was not true.

11-12-14, 10:09 AM	#2
Rhodes Silent Hunter Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Figueira da Foz, Portugal Posts: 4,515 Downloads: 110 Uploads: 0	Pictures or it didn't happen! Some many time films and cartoons portrait similar incidents and it really happened and with an happy ending! __________________ http://www.flickr.com/photos/16416646@N05/

11-12-14, 10:29 AM	#3
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	These guys certainly qualify. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Alkemade And this lady apparently holds the record. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovi%C4%87 __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

11-12-14, 11:03 AM	#4
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 29,979 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	From Warneford's shoot down of the first Zepplin over Ghent: "Completely spellbound, he continued his run-in until the little Morane was swept up on a savage belch of flaming concussion. It whipped over with a violence that would have catapulted Warneford out of his cockpit had it not been for his safety belt. He gasped in astonishment, rammed the stick forward, and tried to get her into a dive. Chunks of burning framework hurtled by as he gradually floundered out of the aerial convulsion and streaked down through a great pall of choking smoke. The next few minutes were devoted to skimming clear of the debris, getting back on even keel, and frantically adjusting his air and gas mixture to overcome a series of warning pops from his Le Rhône. A few seconds later the doomed airship fell on the convent of Saint Elizabeth in the Mont-Saint-Amand suburb of Ghent. One nun was killed outright and several women were badly burned, but the helmsman of the Zeppelin had a most remarkable escape. According to eye-witnesses, he actually jumped clear of the tumbling wreckage at about 200 feet, landed on the root of the convent, crashed through it as though it had been made of matchwood, and landed in a unoccupied bed. He suffered only minor injuries and was the only crew member or passenger of the ill-fated LZ.37 to live. " http://acepilots.com/wwi/zeppelin.html Gives new meaning to :"get thee to a nunnery!" __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!!

11-12-14, 03:58 PM	#5
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Must be a true story. A veteran would never tell a war story that was not true. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.