"parachutes" Topic

I was watching the sadly flawed but still quite enjoyable Great War movie, "Aces High" the other day.

A theme they picked up (but unfortunately quickly dropped) was the high commands' set against parachutes for flyers.

Evidently, it was believed that these devices would make a pilot likely to jump out at the first hint of danger & cost valuable planes.

What, if any evidence, is this true? For any period, any war?

It wasn't true, but that is supposedly what the high command believed. I have read it elsewhere, but can't confirm with a primary source. Particularly valuable pilots wore parachutes, like Richthofen, for instance.

link

Good info here.

Mark

I don't think Richthofen ever wore one, could be wrong. They were heavy, uncomfortable & cumbersome. But in their defense, Ernst Udet was saved once, for sure, or maybe twice by chute. I can't remember. Of course that is on the German side of things. I have read the British felt that way about chutes elsewhere too, but like Sundance can't confirm with a primary source at the moment! Probably a ribbon of truth too it either way.
Peter
board2deathterrain.com

There are some reports in various wars of pilots bailing out of their aircraft, before they should, but that is pretty rare.

I expect made even more so when reports get back to the squadrons that enemy pilots are shooting at bailed out aircrew even after they've left their aircraft behind.

My understanding is that parachutes of the time were generally large and bulky, but by the end of the war the Germans at least had made effective ones small enough that fighter pilots could wear them. It should be kept in mind that towards the end the Germans were running out of skilled pilots faster than planes, so that may have encouraged them to have a different view on parachutes.

Balloon observers wore parachutes, either very early in the war, or from the beginning -- I'm not sure. Some of the late Austrian two seaters had parachute compartments built into the bottom of the fuselage, so the crew didn't so much wear a parachute as they were attached to one. (Either the UFAG C.I or Phonix C.I, or both, I don't remember).

Just found this webpage, it lists the names of people known to have used parachutes during WW1 (the first table is of Balloonists). At the bottom is a nice picture of an Italian balloon officer with his parachute.
link

The biggest problem was that all parachutes of the time were of the `static line` type which requires the wearer to drop a set distance vertically in order for the thing to open properly.
This was fine if you wanted to bail out of something like a balloon which would be relatively stationary and you could hang the pack over the side of the basket but to jump out of a plane required it to be flying more or less in level flight for the `chute to work and the bulk of the pack tended to get in the way.
By the end of the war they did manage to develop something that would work at least some of the time
public.media.smithsonianmag.com/legacy_blog/parachute-patent-3.jpg
but it wasn`t until ripcord type `chutes were developed in the 1920`s that the parachute became a reliable escape method. By then static line type `chutes were relegated to use by airborne troops and for training.

The implied number of midair collisions in that list link indicates that the greatest incidence was with your own side.

In our game a one in six chance of the parachute failing to save you now seems a little generous!

Arthur Gould Lee was an RFC fighter pilot during the Great War and retired as an Air Vice Marshal after World War II. He entitled an edited collection of letters to his wife "No Parachute." At the end of the book -- available on Amazon -- he goes into a comprehensive discussion of the parachute issue.

I remember that. Iirc, his view was that accusations of incipient cowardice, i.e. abandoning the aircraft because you have a 'chute, were insulting and completely wrong. Having a 'chute makes a fighter pilot more daring because he has a possible means of escape, especially fire. Without that potential means of escape he is less likely to take risks in combat….

I recall reading that some of the Japanese pilots did just that (obviously before the kamikaze era when they were sealed into their cockpits).

I think there was a time or two in the Battle of Britain, and other regions where I read of that happening.

Probably some during the Arab-Israeli Wars as well.