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Gregvan · 14 January 2004, 02:46 PM

Hi,

Yes, Barrett is correct. Except for balloon observers, only German airmen had parachutes in the final 6-7 months of the war; the first were issued to fighter pilots in April/May 1918, and later two-seater crews were issued them as well.

At first, pilots were skeptical of parachutes, and some declined to wear them - not without reason. They were indeed bulky, and the pilot had to wear a large leather "Heinecke" harness as well.It wasn't until several successful jumps had been made that most German pilots began to wear them for all front flights; there might be a limited number of them available in a given unit, as well. There were a number of failures, either due to the harness failing (breaking) under stress, or of the parachute cords getting snagged on some part of the airplane as the pilot jumped, or the canopy simply failing to open.

There were a number of official and unofficial modifications made to the Heinecke harnesses to strengthen them (with thicker leg straps, etc) and in September 1918 a total of 130 successful parachute descents were made, many of them by fighter pilots using the Heinecke harness.

Allied authorities never intoduced the use of parachutes by their aircraft crews during the war. One reason often given is, they believed that having access to parachutes would encourage the crews to jump from a damaged aircraft that could possibly be landed, thus "wasting" the government's money. I do not know how true this is !

Greg VanWyngarden

14 January 2004, 02:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
Gregvan Forum Ace of Aces Contributor Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: St. Charles, Iowa Posts: 3,626	Hi, Yes, Barrett is correct. Except for balloon observers, only German airmen had parachutes in the final 6-7 months of the war; the first were issued to fighter pilots in April/May 1918, and later two-seater crews were issued them as well. At first, pilots were skeptical of parachutes, and some declined to wear them - not without reason. They were indeed bulky, and the pilot had to wear a large leather "Heinecke" harness as well.It wasn't until several successful jumps had been made that most German pilots began to wear them for all front flights; there might be a limited number of them available in a given unit, as well. There were a number of failures, either due to the harness failing (breaking) under stress, or of the parachute cords getting snagged on some part of the airplane as the pilot jumped, or the canopy simply failing to open. There were a number of official and unofficial modifications made to the Heinecke harnesses to strengthen them (with thicker leg straps, etc) and in September 1918 a total of 130 successful parachute descents were made, many of them by fighter pilots using the Heinecke harness. Allied authorities never intoduced the use of parachutes by their aircraft crews during the war. One reason often given is, they believed that having access to parachutes would encourage the crews to jump from a damaged aircraft that could possibly be landed, thus "wasting" the government's money. I do not know how true this is ! Greg VanWyngarden __________________ Greg VanWyngarden