Parachutes

leo · 23 January 2002, 01:56 AM

In 1918 the Germans began to equip their pilots with parachutes. Were they mandatory? How "safe" were they?
Did the pilots pack their own 'chutes? Other than balloon observers, did the Allies ever issue parachutes to flyers?

stephen · 23 January 2002, 05:15 AM

Although the Guardian Angel parachute was an excellent design and well proven as a success by 1913, the Allies never issues parachutes to their pilots throughout the war.

German parachutes were made available after approx. March of 1918 on a limited basis. In most cases they were not mandatory, but that depended on the jasta commander as well as the individual pilot. One of the biggest problems with the German chute system was that it was mounted on the fuselage behind the pilot. The weight of the pilot dragged the chute out of its pack and it opened by gravity and air drag against the parachute itself.

As you can imagine, burning fuel tanks inside the fuselage could mean burning parachutes as well. Also, depending on the attitude of the falling plane at the moment of the jump, the chute could snag on parts of the plane... especially the tail section.

Dan San is THE man on parachutes, so somebody slap him around and get him over here.

Dan_San_Abbott · 23 January 2002, 06:57 PM

Leo and Stephen:
* *First, Stephen, I would not classify the Guardian Angel as an excellent design, it was adequate for kite balloon use and was just adequate for low speed aircraft. *The last company I worked for was Guardian Parachute. (11years) Previously Security Parachute Company (30 years).
* *The Germans had two parachute designs, the Paulus, designed by Käthe Paulus and the Heinecke, designed by Uffz. Heinecke, a member of Feldluftschiffer Abteilung 23. The Paulus was used on the Kite balloons and the Heinecke on aircraft. Both were small by today standards, but people were smaller and lighter then. The Heinecke was a 21' diameter conical with a radial seam length of 13'4". 20 gores, made up of 4 section. with 20 lines, and a harness that was barely adequate, alo of them failed. Oblt Erich Löwenhardt was killed when his harness failed.
* * I don't think the Uffz. Heinecke applied any science or mathmatics to the design, but was a result of trial and error and fix it method of engineering. *They managed to get it to stay together at around 100 mph. Uffz Heinecke arranged with the Schroeder & Co.,G.m.b.H., Berlin for the license manufacturing of his parachute.
* * I did an engineering analysis and found it to be marginal at best at 100 mph. There was no safety factor in the design.
* * It was a static line type deployment. If free fall were involved the pilot could accerate to a dangerous velocity (120 mph) in a few seconds where structural failure would be 100%.
* * I have a list somewhere of some 60 plus pilots saved their lives using the Heinecke Fallschirm, Ltn

Ernst Udet was also one of them.
* * THe Heinecke Fallschirm was standard equipment, furnished by the Luftstreitkräfte to the aircraft manufacturer and were delivered with the aircraft as standard equipment, like the machine guns. from January-February 1918. Fighters were first and other type later, by war end all aircraft were delivered with the Heinecke Fallschirm. * When the excretion struct the rotor, the German pilot had a chance, where the Brit, French and American bought the farm!
* * * * * * * * * * Blue skies,
* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan-San

leo · 24 January 2002, 05:02 AM

Thank you Stephen and Dan-San:
A WWI parachute does not sound as though it would be something ii would want to try.

rammjaeger · 24 January 2002, 06:18 AM

You are absolutely correct, Leo!
I remember 1/3 of the German pilots in my old parachute jump list (ca 70 incidents in WWI) did not survive. Nevertheless Germany produced 7000 parachutes in WWI.

In late 1913 a man with name Thomick - a Luftschiffer like Heinecke - was the first to jump from a Zeppelin (Zeppelin "Sachsen"/"Saxony"). In early 1914 he repeated the jumps from a "Parseval". I wonder if his chute was ever tested for the use in aircraft. Or did the man have some relations to Heinecke?

Dan_San_Abbott · 24 January 2002, 11:21 AM

Rammjaeger:
When the LuftschifferTruppen began carrying parachutes abord the Armee airships, they were Paulus Fallschirm. The Kreigsmarine never carried parachutes on their Airships as far as I know.
Blauer Himmel,
Dan-San

Dan_San_Abbott · 24 January 2002, 11:26 AM

Leo:
I tested parachutes of my own design, however, I would be very reluctant to try a Heinecke, until I had re-engineered it. They were not safe! Most of the pilots that used them were either on fire or had a structural failure of the aircraft, then they remembered they had a parachute, it was never the first thought!
Blue skies,
Dan-San

24 January 2002, 04:15 PM

Just a bit of something approaching trivia, but it may be of some illustrative use:
This is from the TSR game 'Fight for the Skies' (fifth edition, 1975, by Mike Carr [isn't he a Forumite?]); the rule is under 'German Parachutes':
"If a pilot jumps successfully, his chance of surviving are as follows: if previously unhurt 80%, if lightly wounded 60%, if critically wounded 30%."

stephen · 24 January 2002, 04:28 PM

No, Mike is not a forumite, but I'm a regular player of Dawn Patrol (aka Fight in the Skies). Great little game. Visit our squadron's web site if'n ya wanna learn more:

www.indysquadron.com

leo · 25 January 2002, 02:20 AM

Does anyone know if German Bomber crews, Gotha, SSW, Staaken, AEG, etc., were issued "chutes?

How about the Zepps?