This movie shows a balloon observer jumping out of his burning balloon with a parachute on; I presume this is historically accurate. The movie does not show the aircraft pilots wearing parachutes. Did the German Air Force plane pilots in WWI ever wear parachutes? Did the allies? They certainly would have come in handy at times- as shown in this movie!
shareThe pilots of planes were not issued parachutes in the early and middle part of the war, the commanders thought the pilots would be encouraged to jump out of their planes rather than ride them down.
The movie 'Aces High' illustrates this point of view by the British.
A lot of chuteless fighter pilots jumped to their deaths after their stricken planes caught fire, just like 911 victims jumped from the burning WTC's.The notion that pilots would bail rather than continue to fight has often been sited as the reason, which is pretty strange political reasoning. It assumes that no matter how badly dammaged a plane is, a pilot can always continue using it for combat.
There's only 1 Yogi Bear. They tried a 2nd time, & they made a Booboo!HeyeyeyhEY!
A possible reason parachutes were of such limited use was the fact that the safest & most practical way to bail from a stricken plane was not generally known to be possible in WWI. The fact that a freefalling man could stay conscious indefinately to pull his ripcord-as long as the ground doesn,t inervene-was not commonly known, so they stuck to ballon-type, static line deployment while escaping from burning , spinnig airplanes, leaving little chance of safe clearance during deployment.
There's only 1 Yogi Bear. They tried a 2nd time, & they made a Booboo!HeyeyeyhEY!
In 1918, the last year of the war, German pilots were given parachutes, but Allied pilots never were. The warped reason the British and French high-ranked brass gave for not providing parachutes was that parachutes would be bad for morale or would encourage pilots to jump before necessary, or some such malarkey.
shareI'm sure that factor was there. But if my understanding of what was known about freefall in WWI is right, any parachutes would have been of the static line persuation, because there was the general belief that freefall would render you unconscious, or that you would not be able to move your arms w/out use of something to push against. I think it was the early1920s when extended freefalls were first being made, which made it easier in a bailout to clear a stricken burning plane.
There's only 1 Yogi Bear. They tried a 2nd time, & they made a Booboo!HeyeyeyhEY!
For a British participant's view of this issue, read Arthur Gould Lee's "No Parachute." He wrote it (well, assembled it really, since much of it was written during WW I) in the 60's when he was an Air Marshal (or maybe a retired Air Marshal) in the RAF. He spends some time looking back at the whole parachute question in WW I, in one of the appendices, and is not kind to Allied high command vis-a-vis the parachute issue.
The book itself is one of the best WWI pilot memoirs in existence. Lee was not an ace, but an ordinary pilot. The book is composed largely of his own diary entries and letters to his wife during the war, with historical expositon and analysis from the later-life POV added as needed. It's a goldmine of info as to the life of the average pilot. At times it is VERY revealing, as when Lee's wife asks why the pilots carry pistols; Lee writes her back that they do so for protection in case they have to land behind enemy lines, yet confides to his diary that the REAL reason is that most pilots would rather shoot themselves than burn to death if their plane is flamed. Another of my favorite revelations is that, flying above the clouds, it occurs to Lee that the airmen are part of a very small group of human beings who have ever flown airplanes (as of 1917), yet in this tiny, select group half are trying to kill the other half. Great stuff. Peppered throughout are lots of great songs, adapted mostly to tunes popular at the time (and which I, regrettably, don't know the tunes of, except one set to "Rock A Bye Baby.")
Anyway, a great book. Check it out.
"Get Ry Cooder to sing my eulogy" -- The Tragically Hip
Roal Luffberry of the Laffeyette Scadrille jumped to his death when his Niuport burst into flames after being shot down by a primative German bomber.
Kind of like some of the WTC victims during 911
There's only 1 Yogi Bear. They tried a 2nd time, & they made a Booboo!HeyeyeyhEY!
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From what I read (years ago) a lot of,British,French,and German pilots refused them because they infringed upon their code of chivalry. how true that is? I would'nt know
shareIn 1918, some German fighter pilots were given parachutes. They were the static type, not the backpack type, meaning the pilot jumped, and a cord with one end attached to the parachute and the other end attached to the plane would pull the chute open. I read somewhere that 5% of the time, the German chutes malfunctioned and the parachutist died. But about refusal to use chutes, I was under the impression that pilots would have liked to have them (Raoul Lufbery jumped without a chute rather than stay in his burning plane), but some brass, especially Allied brass, thought they were for sissies and bad for morale.
sharejloper
Just for another perspective.
Besides some other reasons given.
There would be almost no room in a WW1 airplane to fit a parachute in.
Those things were tiny.
I mean, even if you are small you could barely squeeze into the cockpit.
Good point. Also, reading about Raoul Lufbery's death; it appears that even if he had a parachute it would not have saved him. Parachutes of even the WWII era would not open fully before a 250 foot drop had occurred. And that is by using the static line; which is the fastest opening method (as the chute is pulled out immediately after the jumper has left the plane). Lufbery was undoubtably too low to use a WWI chute. Also, the fire was not small at that point (where he could have presumably side or full slipped to a landing); his plane had practically exploded into a fireball from the bullet going through his fuel tank. So, there really was no hope for him. A modern day ejection seat might have saved him, but nothing that was available in that day and age.
shareIt was my impression that during WWI The observers in both Balloons and observation planes, used chutes. The Itel they had was more important than the plane or balloon. Alot were gunned as they floated.
I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney, than driving with Ted Kennedy
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In the book "Ace of Aces, the Eddie Rickenbacker Story", Eddie was so upset at the higher brass for denying parachutes to aviators during the war, he pressed for legal actions against them post-war. He didn't go into detail about the outcome.
shareGod save us grunts from the higher brass. They're usually just a lot of brownnosed nincompoops.
shareMilitary thinking at that time included no parachutes for pilots, and sending your soldiers on long charges across open fields against fortified trenches. Not the smartest thinking. Also, the casualty rate in the air corps was even higher than in the trenches.
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