This is one of those days where it is worth remembering a truly amazing feat/miracle in human history.
On this day in 1944, Nickolas Alkemade, an RAF Sergeant, was serving as a tail gunner on an RAF Lancaster bomber. The plane was at 18,000 feet when the Nazis hit it, setting it on fire.
Alkemade decided he’d rather die instantly by impact rather than burn up as the plane rapidly descended. The rest of the crew stayed on board and died in the fiery wreckage.
Nickolas Alkemade jumped out at 18,000 feet. He had no parachute. All the parachutes had burned up in the plane already.
For 18,000 feet Nickolas Alkemade plummeted over Hanover. His body fell into a stand of pines with snow piled extraordinarily high. But the snow had not gotten compacted.
He lived, suffering only a sprained leg. The Nazis captured him and, once they investigated and realized he was telling the truth, gave him a certificate authenticating the miraculous fall.
Nickolas Stephen Alkemade served out the rest of World War II in a German POW camp. He then went to work in the chemical industry and died on June 2, 1987.
Consider this an open thread.
By the way, a year earlier, American Alan Magee fell 22,000 feet, or roughly four miles, from a B-17 and survived after falling through a church ceiling that mitigated the blow to his body.
Moe Lane
PG DeFreese
Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
Dan Spencer
That was the greatest generation
kattail Friday, March 25th at 12:06PM EST (link)Proud he was on our side. That’s the kind of fortitude that makes a nation great.
Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. – Ronald Reagan
these stories are simply amazing
bags64 Friday, March 25th at 12:25PM EST (link)i cannot imagine what is going through their mind for the time it takes to fall that far. in fact, i wonder how long it takes to fall 4 miles through the air…
Terminal velocity is about 125 mph.
Tbone (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 12:43PM EST (link)You do the math.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
well, let's see...
bags64 Friday, March 25th at 2:04PM EST (link)rounding a little, 125 mph = roughly 2 miles per minute?
With 5280 feet per mile, 18,000 feet = 3.4 miles x 2 minutes per mile = almost 7 minutes to contemplate an outcome.
The one falling 22,000 feet had over 8 minutes to think about it.
Unless, of course they passed out before hitting the ground.
Simply Unbelievable. I wonder what their thoughts were when they realized they had survived…
naturally, i multiplied when I should have divided.
bags64 Friday, March 25th at 2:10PM EST (link)3.4 miles / 2 = under 2 minutes to fall
the one falling 22,000 feet had just over 2 minutes to think about it.
i’m done now.
Prayers....
icesweeper Friday, March 25th at 2:25PM EST (link)I w9onder how many Hail Mary’s/Our Father’s/confessions he said in those two minutes. That is an eternity to think about it. Good thing none of the Germans shot at him on the way down, they probably figured no need to.
If we could instill 10% of that generation’s work ethic and determination on our nation now, our problems would be gone in days.
Fall Time
jraiffie Saturday, March 26th at 4:42AM EST (link)Being a former engineering student, the time it takes for a body to fall is based on the simple formula : t= square root of 2d/g d=18,000 ft and g=32 ft/sec2 which comes out to be 33.54 seconds to fall 18,000 feet. Regardless, it probably seemed much longer to the one falling. An amazing story!
Seems much longer
wennejunk (Diary) Saturday, March 26th at 11:10AM EST (link)Time seems to slow down when the adrenaline kicks in.
My highest jump was about 16,000 feet, opening my canopy at about 1500 feet. The jump was with about 12 other jumpers. It felt like 5 minutes.
I kept looking at my altimeter and feeling a sense of unease, like “I should be opening up now” only to see another 7,000 (6,000, 5,000, etc) feet to go.
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ -C. S. Lewis
Pass the Dramamine -nt
kestrel (Diary) Saturday, March 26th at 2:12PM EST (link)I assume you are now holding the Stop/Slow sign
Tbone (Diary) Saturday, March 26th at 11:09PM EST (link)at road projects.
18,000 feet, divided by 33.5 seconds is 537.3 feet per second. That would be how many miles per hour?
Hint X 60, then X 60 then divided by 5280.
In your universe, Newton would have been killed by the apple.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
The "bear" truth..
gawken (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 12:44PM EST (link)The B-58 Hustler was America’s first supersonic bomber, and one of the most beautiful planes ever built. Designed to fly at Mach 2, about 1,200 MPH, it was obvious that any aircrew ejecting at that speed would require additional protection. The ejection seat incorporated a capsule-like enclosure that would be pulled over the crewman just before ejection.
The engineers were pretty confident that it would work. However, there was an understandable lack of volunteers to test the system. No rational person really wants to egress an airplane at 1,200 mph. So the USAF obtained some bears, and strapped them, partially sedated, into the seat of a B-58, and three times ejected them. All three events were successful. The bears suffered no injuries, and one assumes, were later returned to zoos and/or the wild.
We can only be thankful that PETA did not exist in the 60′s….
The "bear" truth..
gawken (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 12:44PM EST (link)The B-58 Hustler was America’s first supersonic bomber, and one of the most beautiful planes ever built. Designed to fly at Mach 2, about 1,200 MPH, it was obvious that any aircrew ejecting at that speed would require additional protection. The ejection seat incorporated a capsule-like enclosure that would be pulled over the crewman just before ejection.
The engineers were pretty confident that it would work. However, there was an understandable lack of volunteers to test the system. No rational person really wants to egress an airplane at 1,200 mph. So the USAF obtained some bears, and strapped them, partially sedated, into the seat of a B-58, and three times ejected them. All three events were successful. The bears suffered no injuries, and one assumes, were later returned to zoos and/or the wild.
We can only be thankful that PETA did not exist in the 60′s….
How about $14 Trillon dollars and no parachute?
Tbone (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 12:49PM EST (link)We can only hope a miracle landing.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
Sen. Sessions predicts inelastic collision.
Repair_Man_Jack (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 12:52PM EST (link)Japanese Beatle meet Mr. Windshield.
Mr. Obama is pretending that an economic “recovery” is underway when he knows damn well that the banking system is just blowing smoke up the shredded *** of what’s left of that economy – James Howard Kunstler
5555 nt
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 12:52PM EST (link)Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from,
behind, the Back Nine.Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.
Not likely, given that we bailed out
blooch Friday, March 25th at 1:52PM EST (link)with Acme parachutes.
“Lieutenant Dike wasn’t a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.”
I've been meaning to ask about this
quintix Friday, March 25th at 12:57PM EST (link)[url=http://moviebob.blogspot.com/2008/10/he-is-decent-man.html]
i.e. George W. Bush gets to be the Republican nominee and later President after spreading a lie about McCain having an illegitimate black child in 2000[/url]
[img url="http://images2.memegenerator.net/ImageMacro/4867823/wat.jpg?imageSize=Large&generatorName=jackie-chan"]
Where did this come from and when was it accepted as fact?
Hey, it's Dian Fossey
streiff (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 1:19PM EST (link)and she’s doing Conservatives in the Mist.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
I kind of find it ironic her second link is a meme generator.
Danielle Davis (ocleverone) (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 1:30PM EST (link)To me, “consensus” seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects … There are still people in my party who believe in “consensus” politics. I regard them as Quislings, as traitors … I mean it. — Margaret Thatcher
Or Gary Sick (nt)
blooch Friday, March 25th at 1:55PM EST (link)“Lieutenant Dike wasn’t a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.”
Oct. Surprise, Gary Sick?
Repair_Man_Jack (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 1:59PM EST (link)He was claiming that GHW Bush rode in as a passenger in a 1-seat jet to get the Iran deal done. That Gary Sick.
Mr. Obama is pretending that an economic “recovery” is underway when he knows damn well that the banking system is just blowing smoke up the shredded *** of what’s left of that economy – James Howard Kunstler
Oct. Surprise, Gary Sick?
Repair_Man_Jack (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 1:59PM EST (link)He was claiming that GHW Bush rode in as a passenger in a 1-seat jet to get the Iran deal done. That Gary Sick.
Mr. Obama is pretending that an economic “recovery” is underway when he knows damn well that the banking system is just blowing smoke up the shredded *** of what’s left of that economy – James Howard Kunstler
Yes, that Gary Sick,
blooch Friday, March 25th at 2:08PM EST (link)inventor of the original October Surprise.
“Lieutenant Dike wasn’t a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.”
The Same Place...
donnybrooke Friday, March 25th at 1:24PM EST (link)the stuff about Obama being born in Kenya came from.
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/000311.html
Apparently, there was a whisper campaign back in 2000 concerning McCain’s adopted daughter, who was born in Bangladesh, started by Karl Rove and the Bush campaign.
I have never seen or heard any evidence of this campaign, except in the press and blogs, who seem to take it as fact. Unlike the “Swift Boat” scandal against John Kerry, there’s nothing I can find that corroborates who or where it started.
“Journalists were never intended to be the cheerleaders of a society, the conductors of applause, the sycophants. Tragically, that is their assigned role in authoritarian societies, but not here — not yet.”
– Chet Huntley -
Other such survivors include
america1st (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 6:11PM EST (link)A Soviet airman in WW2 who fell into snow at the edge of a ravine which gave way under him & slowed his impact so he was (IIRC) in pretty good shape when he finally came to a stop.
A Navy SEAL who did a qualification drop (HALO ?) over open sea only to have both main and reserve chutes fail. I’ve forgotten how badly he was injured (very badly), but after he recovered, he did it again to qualify.
Logic in the mind of a liberal is like a snowflake in the desert: lost, alone and soon destroyed by a hostile environment.
I Can't Decide What's More Amazing...
alaskaescapeartist (Diary) Friday, March 25th at 10:45PM EST (link)The whole falling from a doomed plane at that altitude with no chute, or getting a Nazi Certification.
He makes DB Cooper look like a complete whimp.