Sgt Nicholas Alkemade RAF 1944

[abeaumont]

This is a request for help from a science teacher, who, cue for urine extraction, is OC of the Army Section of the school CCF.

I'm teaching about falling, with/without the extra wind resistance provided by a parachute, terminal velocity etc. I can remember vaguely the story of Sgt Alkemade who bailed out of the tail turret of a Lancaster minus parachute in March 1944 and survived. I can sort of recall seeing him on TV once many years ago, but I think he died quite some time ago.

Can anyone add anything that might help me? Is he still alive or when did he die? Any info/stories etc would be much appreciated by a load of 14 year olds - and me.

Adrian

[CDH]

A quick google search
http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/ffallers.html

Notable Free Fallers I.M. Chisov Lt. I.M. Chisov was a Russian airman whose Ilyushin IL-4 bomber was attacked by German fighters in January of 1942. Falling nearly 22,000 feet, he hit the edge of a snow-covered ravine and rolled to the bottom. He was badly hurt but survived.

Alan Magee Alan Magee, a gunner on a B-17 with the 303rd Bomb Group of the U.S. 8th Air Force, was on a mission to St. Nazaire, France in January of 1943, when his bomber was set aflame by enemy fire. He was thrown from the plane before he had a chance to put on his parachute. He fell 20,000 feet and crashed through the skylight of the St. Nazaire train station. His arm was badly injured, but he recovered from that and other injuries.
Nicholas Alkemade In March of 1944, Nicholas Alkemade was the tail gunner in a British Lancaster bomber on a night mission to Berlin when his plane was attacked by German fighters. When the captain ordered the crew to bail out, Alkemade looked back into the plane and discovered that his parachute was in flames. He chose to jump without a parachute rather than to stay in the burning plane. He fell 18,000 feet, landing in trees, underbrush, and drifted snow. He twisted his knee and had some cuts, but was otherwise alright.

:ok:

[teeteringhead]

ISTR an eastern European (Russian?) air hostess "falling to earth" after surviving a catastrophic failure in an airliner in the 50s or 60s... I'll see what I can dig up...
...... snow would seem to a good thing to have underneath, assuming no parachute above!

Edited to add:

Found her! Yugoslav not Russian and in 1972 - one Vesna Vulovic (http://www.parachutehistory.com/other/bonusday.html)

... looks like she was in a bit of wreckage rather than "solo"....

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Respect to the 33,000 feet freefall... had read that story before somewhere but didn't realise it was so high. Guess that terminal velocity means it doesn't make much difference above a certain height, anyone got any idea what that is?

[rolling20]

Sgt Alkemade Was A Member Of 115 Squadron As I Recall.i Think He Died In 1987.
His Grandson Featured Recently On The Ch4 Prog On A Trainee Bomber Crew.

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Rolling,

Good memory, was quite an entertaining program in the end. Didn't the grandson end up training as a gunner with the chick? They got to go clay pigeon shooting with Brendan;)! And iirc they got to plink away witha 50 cal aswell

[RAF_Techie101]

Well, termial velocity for a body is about 120 mph i think, which is 53.65 m/s. From a standing start, you'd reach that in about 5.8 seconds, and cover about 165 meters, or about 540ft. So, if you're starting from 30,000ft, You've got a little under 29,500ft at the speed of a passenger train. That's about 165 seconds in total, so you've got a tad over 2 minutes to collect your thoughts... Cue the sperm whale from the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy...

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Techie, good call on the stats, but I make it 146m, not 165... suspect I've rounded or something?

Always surprising how little distance it is!

[RAF_Techie101]

Quite possibly, maybe I have too, my physics is a little rusty...

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Techie, I used 9.81ms-2 and v^2=u^2 +2aS to come up with mine, using your figue for terminal velocity. Surely the science teacher who started this thread can solve it, but suspect he's to busy having his car burnt out by the adoring li'l uns... Oh, no wait, CCF, means he's posh right;) Abeaumont, which science and which CCF (or a general area if you don't fancy it!)

[teeteringhead]

... and IIRC the terminal velocity is higher at higher altitudes, due to less air resistance, although your formulae surely assume no air resistance.

[RAF_Techie101]

Ok, but you get the general idea... :hmm:

[Conan the Librarian]

The highest parachute jump, if I remember correctly, was from roughly 102,000 feet by the Spams in about 1960. although there was a small stabilising drogue, there was talk that the jumper (Joe Kittinger?) was supersonic for a very short time, though this seems a bit contentious to me.

In fact, a quick Google (the curiosity got me) suggests this as a useful link. Hope it helps

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/JerardKneifatiHayek.shtml

Conan

[Archimedes]

He did appear on TV. In the early 80s, the BBC did a show called 'I've got a Secret' or something similar, and it was [God help me, I can remember this] hosted by Barry Took. The usual panel of B-list TV celebs had to guess the unusual secret of the guest. It was in the early evening 'jolly family quiz-type programme' slot the BBC had in pre-Eastenders days.

The Alkemade story had featured in one of the war comics, probably Victor, (of which the 9 year old Archimedes was an avid reader) a short time before the programme aired, so his appearance stood out in my mind; indeed, apart from Barry Took being the host, it's the only thing I can remember. Nick Alkemade gave a very deadpan account of his experience, to the general astonishment of the studio audience and the guest panel.

The BBC might have kept a copy, so perhaps....

[PPRuNeUser0211]

teetering, true! No air resistance assumed there, but can't be bothered to go into degree level...

[abeaumont]

Gentlemen, many thanks for the info - very helpful! I'm a physics specialist rather than bugs or smelly chemicals... However anything that helps motivate and excite the interest of a group of 14 year olds is extremely welcome. I'm trying to make science real and relevant for them.

The v^ = u^ + 2as formula does not work for determining how far you have to fall to reach terminal velocity as it does not take account of the increasing effect of wind resistance. As such it only applies in the first couple of seconds or so of free fall. I think you have to fall about 500 m to get within about 98% of terminal velocity, from memory.

The class and I will be reading through this thread together in our next lesson on Friday. Many thanks for your help.

Adrian

[abeaumont]

I forgot to add - not posh, our CCF is one of those rare ones - it is in a state school. Location south east Kent from where you can see foreigners on a clear day.

[Gainesy]

IIRC The Luftwaffe investigated Alkamade's story, verified it and presented him with an official doc stating it to be true. ( I think they originally thought he had buried his chute as per SOP).

[Ivan Rogov]

Isn't there also a problem with opening parachutes at higher alt. , something to do with permability of the fabric and air molecules? Of course I might be talking hoop, think I read about it on one of those excellent ejection seat sites.
Homework for the pupils;
Bloggs regularly works at 30,000ft. His aircraft does not have any parachutes, how long has he got to blame everyone else for his impending doom if he fell out:{ ? (assuming ground level is 0ft) In fact when will he pass out:sad: and when will he bounce:eek: ?

[doubledolphins]

I first read the story in a Telegraph colour magazine. I am fairly certain it was published 1 April 1968. A faily auspisious date! Point is it also included other "fatastic" stories, all with contempory photos of the principle chacters: Alkelmade; the WAAF who flew on a spitfire tail; the airman who evaded capture by stealing a bike "People stared a bit at the RAF blue as I rode past";and the tail gunner of a Halifax who spiraled safely to earth in the tail section when it broke off. I think I still have it, but at my parents house in a box so I won't be able to get hold of it straight away! As I recall the story was that Alkelmade was in danger of being shot as a spy because the Germans did not believe him until the burnt remains of his parachute were found in the wreckage of his aircraft. He attributed his survival to landing on young fir trees and soft snow.

As an aside I witnessed a "miraculous" survival at Shobdon in the early 80s. The Leader of the Irish Free Fall Team (Honest!) got into dificulty when his main, square, canopy failed to open. He deployed his reserve at what looked like 1000'. This just tangled around the main and he continued earthwards at a rather alarming rate. He fell silently no audible shout or scream. He fell behind the hangar and no one moved at first. Then a couple of parachute club members went to pick up the pieces. One of them ran back much faster than he had gone shouting "He's not dead!" Indeed he wasn't. Later on it was felt that he survived because the tangled canopies had caught a litle air just before he hit, I certainly think I saw that happen, and he hit a steep bank. So his decelleration was not as fast as if he had his flat concrete. He broke both legs and an arm and one or two other bones but did jump again.

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Ivan, time of useful consicousness is probably high enough for bloggs to remain compus mentis for the duration... not sure about blind terror though!

[jab]

WRT the Alkemade story and many others, there are books that are worth reading about unusual escapes by parachute. About the Irvine(?) parachute company and the formation of the "caterpillar club", a couple of books written and I know one is called "Jump" and the other may have been "Into the silk". Just do a google search.

Some incredible stories including one of the lowest ever openings of a parachute where the person survived. Pilot standing on the wing, outside the cockpit of his burning Hampden, at 50 feet over some harbour and decides to pull the ripcord instead of going in with the aircraft. Lucky.

[FJJP]

From that altitude, it is unlikely that Bloggs would remain concious - he would probably pass out due to hypoxia after about 30-45 secs of freefall. That's why pilots in ejection seats have emergency oxygen bottles with the seat so that they remain concious. The seat parachute deployment sequence is also geared to pilot safety in that a small stabilising drogue chute deploys and opens the main chute at 10,000 feet [this is achieved by a barostatic capsule allowing the main chute to deploy]. The stabilising drogue allows a fast descent at a controlled velocity, ensuing the the emergency oxygen does not run out before the air is of breathable volume at about 10,000 feet.

Main chutes are not opened at high altitude because the material will rip - I don't know the physics of it, but I believe it is connected with the IAS/TAS ratio - at high level the TAS for a given IAS is very much higher, and the chute material would not withstand the shock loading.

[PPRuNeUser0211]

FJJP, Time of useful consciousness at 25k is 3mins give or take a bit, so is unlikely bloggs will pass out as it will only take approx two mins to hit the deck.... Emergency oxy is there to stop you going gaga, as opposed keeping you conscious at that kind of level, although yes at 40k etc it will keep u awake as well...

Think you're right with IAS/TAS thing though, not sure...

[Onan the Clumsy]

Ah no fair :( I was going to chime in with 120 mph being correct, but it was indicated, not true. You all took the wind out of my sails now.

I also heard of another (not sure if I believe it though) in Sweeden, or somewhere like that some bloke's riding in a Jet Ranger when he leans on the door and it pops open. He turn to look over his shoulder at the rapidly receeding helicopter. Quick as a flash, he reaches down, unzips his parka and opening it up, hands firmly clutching the bottom corners, glides it into land inside a snowy clearing :hmm:

Don't laugh. Canopies are getting ever smaller and wing suits are becoming popular. The talk is that it's only a question of time before someone lands the suit without deploying. Ever see that film of the guy 'flying' down the ski slope. He only dumps right at the end.

I've seen film of a survivable double malfunction. Every year they open up the Royal Gorge (?) bridge for a day of legal BASE jumping. Looks 'easy' too and maybe the only BASE jump I would ever consider. Guy jumps off, dumps the main, it wraps, so he throws out the reserve I guess without cutting away first. The double mal has enough drag to slow him down so that when he lands in the river below, it's survivable. The film is pretty funny really because the 'exits' are set at a fairly slow and regular pace. You see the exit and you get to see the landing too. Well the guy who almost bounces, you see the guy in front of him jump and when you see him landing, it's about a half second later that you see this fast moving white shape as the guiy with the malfunction catches him up :p

We had some bloke came close the other week cos he only had one brake line released. A tree broke his fall - and his arm, but he survived. We have the tree branch in the trophy case now :}

[Brian Abraham]

Digging out my old skydiving logbook and freefall tables says 12 seconds to reach terminal of 174 feet/sec and fall of 1,483 feet. Assumes a stable spread position as its possible to double this terminal velocity in a head down position.

[Onan the Clumsy]

didn't that bloke with the pointy helmet get up over three hundred?


here's a terminal velocity link (http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml)

[Shackman]

Strange to relate - an article in today's Shropshire Star re a B17 gunner blown out of his aircraft - http://www.shropshirestar.com/show_article.php?aID=41869
Another one - my first flight engineer was also an honourary member of the Caterpillar Club, having been blown out of his Stirling sans parachute when it exploded over France. Story related in one of the books about the club.:ooh:

[DC10RealMan]

Ironically there was the possibility of Nicolas Alkamade having survived the fall being shot as a spy because having captured him and having no parachute, the Gestapo thought that he might have been a spy. It was only the finding of his burned parachute in the remains of his aircraft that his story was believed and Sgt Alkamade reprieved

[Ray Dahvectac]

Flight Sergeant Nicholas Steven Alkemade jumped from his Lancaster at 18,000 feet to escape the holocaust of his blazing bomber, leaving behind his useless parachute that had been torn to shreds by shrapnel and was in flames. His headlong fall was broken by a fir tree and he finally landed in an eighteen inch snow-drift, without a single fracture. Naturally, the Luftwaffe authorities were highly suspicious of his story of falling from such a height without a parachute, but on investigation they found his shredded and unused ‘chute in the crashed remains of the aircraft. Tail gunners had to stash their parachutes inside the fuselage, and when Alkemade opened the rear hatch of his turret, he found flames raging inside the plane and his only means of escape a blazing mass of silk. Faced with the choice of falling to his death or burning to a crisp, he rotated the turret and did a back somersault into space, 18,000 feet above Germany. Falling at speeds of up to 120mph, it would have taken him about two minutes to hit the ground. He was fantastically lucky. First, he blacked out during the fall, ensuring his body would not be dangerously rigid and tense on impact. Second, he fell into a dense pine forest, whose branches broke his fall, and then into a deep snowdrift. He survived with nothing worse than a somewhat twisted ankle. Alkemade's case is particularly well-researched because the Germans who found him discovered that his parachute harness had not been used and suspected him of being a spy. A Luftwaffe probe, involving an investigation of the crashed bomber, proved the airman's story, and Alkemade was shipped off into captivity. He survived the war and eventually passed away on 22 June 1987.
From "An Airman's War" (http://www.airsceneuk.org.uk/oldstuff/airmanswar/airman.htm)

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Didn't a chick skydiver out in South Africa have a double malfunction a couple of years back and get away with it as she landed on some power lines? Seem to remember that making the news...

[abeaumont]

Gentlemen,

Many thanks for all the valuable insights you have given me in this thread. The information will be of great interest to my students tomorrow.

I'll leave you with a true story in the hope of entertaining serving members of the RAF. My father was in the RAF from 1929 to 1947, and for a time was with 29(F) Squadron, and was with them when they were deployed at El Amriys, near Alexandria in Egypt in 1935. It was a desert airstrip, and they lived in tents, wearing gas masks in the inevitable sandstorms. It was not a popular posting... Dad was an NCO and spent his time repairing damaged wooden aircraft. The NCOs set up a mess for themselves in the remains of an old building, and of course needed a sign. Dad being a craftsman, made one - a carved wooden pub sign to be precise, proclaiming the said bar to be "The Jafbo Inn". Apparently the officers also wanted to know where such an unusual name came from but never found out. Given that more than 70 years have passed and dad is safely beyond the reach of the relevant authorities I can now safely reveal that Jafbo stands for Just About Fuxxxng Browned Off.

Is there anyone out there who is currently serving with 29? If so I've got a couple of photograph albums of black & white pictures dad took during the squadrons time in Egypt that the squadron might be interested in seeing.

[mystic_meg]

I can now safely reveal that Jafbo stands for Just About Fuxxxng Browned Off.
..Hmm..perhaps these days it might stand for 'Just another fuxxxng bent oleo'... just a thought :E

[abeaumont]

...as for bent oleos....

You could well be right, and I suspect that would have been the cop out had the officers ever found out the truth! Before he died dad told me that in those days he often had to do repairs on biplanes that had suffered a bit because of a less than perfect landing - and that such landings were normally during the afternoon - and were more likely to happen if lunch had been particularly good that day. I've got a couple of pictures of aircraft with their wheels up despite being fitted with fixed undercarriage. Aircraft certainly suffered in a desert environment and he told me quite a few engines were wrecked by sand as the air filters could not cope.

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Onan

New River Gorge Bridge for Bridge Day.

We used 10-12 secs for the first 1000' and 5 sec for every 1000' thereafter to calculate freefall times. Don't think it's ten seconds to TV as it'll be reached before the first 1000' has been completed.

The German authorities who wanted to execute Nick Alkemade as a spy were finally convinced when his parachute harness was brought to them and he showed them the main lift webs were still hand tacked in place with a small knot of break cord. If he'd used a parachute they would not have been in the stowed position on his harness as they were.

[Onan the Clumsy]

Pilot standing on the wing, outside the cockpit of his burning Hampden, at 50 feet over some harbour and decides to pull the ripcord instead of going in with the aircraft. Lucky.Dunno really, sounds like the ideal combat jump the pongoes would do.

[:8]

If the a/c has sufficient forward speed, it's going to pull the parachute right off his back and open it well before he uses up much of his fifty feet. The danger is not so much in the altitude as in the lack of time to do anything were there to be a problem.

Opening at 50' from a regular jump is a different matter altogether as he would only have a quarter of a second to complte the opening sequence - I have a picture of that in a book as well :(

Finally, jumping off a fifty foot roof would also like ly be unsuccessful as there wouldn't be the airflow to complete the deployment sequence and dumping early would simply mean the speed never got high enough to provide that airflow.

[/:8]

[Rakshasa]

Recalling another low opening.... I vaguely remember a tale of a Typhoon pilot on a strafing run going strait in. He jumped way too low to deploy but got extremely lucky as an explosion from the following aircraft's ordnance blew open his chute!

Wish I could remember more of that one....