Charles Lindbergh: First Jump Story

[JohnRich 4]

The following is Charles Lindbergh's account of his first emergency parachute jump, in the 1920's. He had made previous parachute jumps as a barnstormer, and eventually had saved his life four times with parachutes during emergency bailouts, prior to his flight across the Atlantic which made him famous.

- Begin quote

"After our return from Galveston while we were practicing formation attack on two seaters, I experienced one of the incidents of the military pilot's life. I made my first emergency parachute jump. When an Army plane crashes, the pilot is required to write a detailed report of the crash. My account was as follows:

"A nine-ship SE-5 formation, commanded by Lieut. Blackburn, was attacking a DH4B, flown by Lieut. Maughan at about a 5,000 foot altitude and several hundred feet above the clouds. I was flying on the left of the top unit, Lieut. McAllister on my right, and Cadet Love leading. When we nosed down on the DH, I attacked from the left and Lieut. McAllister from the right. After Cadet Love pulled up, I continued to dive on the DH for a short time before pulling up to the left. I saw no other ship nearby. I passed above the DH and a moment later felt a slight jolt followed by a crash. My head was thrown forward against the cowling and my plane seemed to turn around and hang nearly motionless for an instant. I closed the throttle and saw an SE-5 with Lieut. McAllister in the cockpit, a few feet on my left. He was apparently unhurt and getting ready to jump.

"Our ships were locked together with the fuselages approximately parallel. My right wing was damaged and had folded back slightly, covering the forward right-hand corner of the cockpit. Then the ships started to mill around and the wires began whistling. The right wing commenced vibrating and striking my head at the bottom of each oscillation. I removed the rubber band safetying the belt, unbuckled it, climbed out past the trailing edge of the damaged wing, and with my feet on the cowling on the right side of the cockpit, which was then in a nearly vertical position, I jumped backwards as far from the ship as possible. I had no difficulty in locating the pull-ring and experienced no sensation of falling. The wreckage was falling nearly straight down and for some time I fell in line with its path and only slightly to one side. Fearing the wreckage might fall on me, I did not pull the ripcord until I dropped several hundred feet and into the clouds. During this time I had turned one-half revolution and was falling flat and face downward. The parachute functioned perfectly; almost as soon as I pulled the rip cord the riser jerked on my shoulders, the leg straps tightened, my head went down, and the chute fully opened.

"I saw Lieut. McAllister floating above me and the wrecked ships pass about 100 yards to one side, continuing to spin to the right and leaving a trail of lighter fragments along their path. I watched them until, still locked together, they crashed in the mesquite about 2000 feet below and burst into flames several seconds after impact.

"Next I turned my attention to locating a landing place. I was over mesquite and drifting in the general direction of a plowed field which I reached by slipping the chute. Shortly before striking the ground, I was drifting backwards, but was able to swing around in the harness just as I landed on the side of a ditch less than 100 feet from the edge of the mesquite. Although the impact of landing was too great for me to remain standing, I was not injured in any way. The parachute was still held open by the wind and did not collapse until I pulled in one group of shroud lines.

"During my descent I lost my goggles, a vest pocket camera which fitted tightly in my hip pocket, and the rip cord of the parachute.

"During the descent all the other planes broke formation and arched around us. Every ship within sight proceeded at full speed to the spot and before long the air was full of machines. Several of the DeHavilands landed in the plowing and within half an hour two planes with extra parachutes were sent to take us back to Kelly. About an hour after the crash we had two new S.E.-5's and were back in the air again."

- End quote

The above was taken from the book "We", by Charles Lindbergh, published in 1929. The book is a fascinating look at the early days of aviation.

[sundevil777 93]

There is much to admire about him, but just to make sure we remember the other side...

From PBS.org,
Fallen Hero: Charles Lindbergh in the 1940s:

Having returned to America in April 1939, Lindbergh turned his attention toward keeping his country out of a war in Europe. At the time, most Americans shared his isolationist views. Germany invaded Poland five months later, drawing Britain and France into the war. Two weeks later, Lindbergh delivered his first nationwide radio address in which he urged America to remain neutral. In the speech he criticized President Roosevelt, who believed the Nazis must be stopped in their conquest of Europe. Lindbergh saw Nazi victory as certain and thought America's attention should be placed elsewhere. "These wars in Europe are not wars in which our civilization is defending itself against some Asiatic intruder... This is not a question of banding together to defend the white race against foreign invasion." Building on his belief that "racial strength is vital," Lindbergh published an article in Reader's Digest stating, "That our civilization depends on a Western wall of race and arms which can hold back... the infiltration of inferior blood."

And...

To millions of one-time admirers, Charles Lindbergh's luster had been fatally tainted by his words and associations during the 1930's and early 1940's. Historian William O'Neill spoke for many Americans when he offered the opinion that "In promoting appeasement and military unpreparedness, Lindbergh damaged his country to a greater degree than any other private citizen in modern times. That he meant well makes no difference." It would be years before the words Lindbergh and hero were again uttered in the same breath.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[KillerKimmy 0]

Quote

" ...but just to make sure we remember the other side... "reply]

My thanks goes out to JohnRich for posting that piece. Seems too little of us rememeber Lindy for his heroic qualities. Come on sundevil, you sound like a 3rd grade history teacher! Exiting from the plane differently will MAKE you slide the right way, then you can roll all you want when you land.

[quade 3]

One of my prized possesions is a well worn and well thumbed copy of "We".

When I was actively giving flight instruction, I used to make my students watch "The Spirit of St. Louis" before they took their first cross-country flights. Hidden within the frames of that movie is inspiration and application of techniques still in use today and shows that there is a certain amount of courage required to just get off your ass and prove you can do it all by yourself.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[KillerKimmy 0]

Thanks for that too Quade. I never knew that bit of info, and because of it I'm looking for more books on/by Lindy. You've given me a proud smile that I can wear all day

[sundevil777 93]

Quote

Come on sundevil, you sound like a 3rd grade history teacher! Exiting from the plane differently will MAKE you slide the right way, then you can roll all you want when you land.

If only 3rd grade teachers would actually tell this side of Lindbergh, or Henry Ford!

Cliff

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[quade 3]

Quote

At the time, most Americans shared his isolationist views.

I think this is important and I'm glad that at least in some small way the article acknowledges that fact. It doesn't make Lindbergh's views any more "right", but it does give it some context.

For more information about Lindbergh and the America First Committee -- take a look HERE.

Pretty complete representation of the movement if you ask me.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[KillerKimmy 0]

You know I WAS going to go on my own roll like Quade just did, but figured it'd be worthless (as it's become already) to argue facts and not opinion. And I thank you for that Quade, you are absolutely right. Why, in a neighborhood by mine, the streets are named Goebbels Road and Hess Street because most of America at the time was German; it almost became our second language. So pissing and moaning about Lindy rooting for Germany and how we should remember that part, points fingers at almost EVERYONE in America at that time. So why is Lindy so singled out? And actually I'm UPSET the teachers teach it the way they do. Because nowadays all they DO is drudge up politics when they are supposed to teach us about great men and their accomplishments that improved the way Americans live today. I hardly recall much from school about Ford besides his one invention of the assembly line. The reason for this is because the teacher went on about his piece called the "International Jew", and how he was illiterate (figure that one out). She did the same for Lindy, and come to think of it spent most of her time making everyone in the class feel badly about themselves if they were of German decent. Thanks again Quade, I was beginning to think I was the only one who knew or cared about these matters.... you know.....about sliding and rolling......what ELSE is there to know Do I REALLY need 20 more points on my already spiked battle axe? Maybe if I you add in the bonus too

[sundevil777 93]

He didn't just root for Germany (not bad enough?), he thought...

That our civilization depends on a Western wall of race and arms which can hold back... the infiltration of inferior blood."

I think his views were more than just isolationist.

As I began, there was a lot to admire about him...

Probably better taken up in Talk Back.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[SkySlut 0]

***"During my descent I lost my goggles, a vest pocket camera which fitted tightly in my hip pocket, and the rip cord of the parachute. ***


More importantly...did he buy his beer for dropping his ripcord???

[quade 3]

Quote

He didn't just root for Germany (not bad enough?), he thought...

Technically, he didn't "root" for Germany at all. During his tour of Germany he was naive and believed everything they spoon fed him. They told him the weapons plants were solely defensive in nature. He didn't see them as a threat to the U.S..
Jane Fonda made the same mistake in Viet Nam.
I wonder if Sean Penn will be vilified in the future for similar reasons.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[KillerKimmy 0]

Told you arguing was useless. But I'm going to end it here with my last post. Nature is cruel. There is no evil. Just what is good for one and not for the other. People are the same. History is written by the winners of the wars. The English consider the founding fathers traitors, not the heroes we are taught about in school. I don't think naive is such a great word here. He was of German decent and didn't believe in going to war against his own ancestors. That was a terrible feud, brother killing brother. There is much more to that position than we can read or see on TV. Oh no I gave myself away! You got me, I'm a 99 year old Nazi war criminal! I must take my poisoned capsule to avoid capture. Otherwise they'll send out the Nazi hunters to make me pay all my money for "crimes agains humanity". Aw crap... just get them after me for improper exit form too. See ya

[JohnRich 4]

I was planning on adding the other three Lindbergh emergency jump stories, one at a time, to this thread.

However, since someone has hijacked the "skydiving" nature of this thread, and turned it into a political topic on racism instead, far outside the realm of this forum, I'm not going to bother...

If you are interested, buy the book and read it for yourselves. You can find it cheap on both Amazon and Ebay. And I'm sure it's at your library too, even though it's fairly old.

[propblast 0]

and an awesome book it is.
wasnt it four emergency rides


-e

Propblast

[DYEVOUT 0]

John

If you don't wanna re-type those articles, I definitely understand - but if they're already in digital format, I'd sure like to read 'em.

Regardless of the guy's politics, he had a very interesting life. There are a lot of folks on here with political views I consider insane - but I'll still listen when they talk about SKYDIVING.

----------------=8^)----------------------
"I think that was the wrong tennis court."

[JohnRich 4]

> wasnt it four emergency rides <

Yes, four times. The last two were during his air mail flights. Both times he was flying at night, got caught in fog, and would try to find a hole to come down through to land, until he ran out of fuel. Once the engine quit, he chose to bail out and use his chute, rather than risk a blind landing. Interestingly, this also ensured that there was no fuel to catch fire when the plane crashed, so it also allowed the mail to be recovered intact after the crash was found.

There is an eerie description of nightime navigation over a cloud layer, in the days when all you had was a compass. He would fly the compass direction to the next big town, and could verify where the town was by the glow of the city lights seeping through the cloud layer. Then he would set another compass heading for the next town, looking for the cloud glow, and so on. By this method, he could hop from glow to glow, and keep track of where he was, with uncanny precision.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

If you don't wanna re-type those articles, I definitely understand - but if they're already in digital format, I'd sure like to read 'em.

I'll think about it. It isn't that much trouble, as I have some character recognition software. I just put the book page on the scanner, start the software, and it scans the page and turns it into a text file for me. Nifty stuff.

[JohnRich 4]

Here is Lindbergh's account of his second emergency parachute jump:

"While testing a commercial plane built at Lambert Field, I was forced to make a second emergency jump. I had flown the ship for a few minutes the previous week and on this occasion was testing it for various maneuvers. I had completed everything except tailspins, but when I attempted a right spin the plane refused even to start, so after a second attempt with the same result I gave that up and tried one to the left. The ship fell in easily and, when I reversed the controls after a half turn, came out at once. I then put it into a second left spin and held the controls in a spinning position during two complete turns. When I reversed them they had no apparent effect and using the engine was of no assistance. After trying for fifteen hundred feet to bring the ship out of the spin, I rolled over the right side of the cockpit and, since I had jumped only about three hundred and fifty feet above the ground, I pulled the rip cord as soon as the stabilizer had passed. the chute opened quickly but while it was functioning, I had fallen faster than the spinning ship. On its next revolution the plane was headed directly towards the chute. How close it passed will never be known, for the risers leading up from my harness were twisted and swung me around as the ship passed. However, less than twenty-five feet intervened between the wing and my parachute.

"I watched the plane crash in a grainfield and turned my attention to landing. A strong wind was drifting me towards a row of high tension poles and it was necessary to partially collapse the chute in order to hasten the descent and land before striking the wires. I landed rather solidly in a potato patch and was dragged several feet and over a road before several men arrived and collapsed the chute. In addition to the strong wind and rough air, collapsing or "cutting" the chute so close to the ground had caused a very rapid descent, and my shoulder had been dislocated in landing."

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

landed rather solidly

Rather mildly put. If this was related by a modern skydiver, cursing probably would have been involved.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[DYEVOUT 0]

Quote

since I had jumped only about three hundred and fifty feet above the ground, I pulled the rip cord as soon as the stabilizer had passed.

Wow,

No snivel there !!

----------------=8^)----------------------
"I think that was the wrong tennis court."

[JohnRich 4]

Emergency jump story number 3:

"I left the Peoria Field at 6:10 p.m. There was a light ground haze, but the sky was practically clear with but scattered cumulus clouds. Darkness was encountered about 25 miles northeast of Peoria, and I took up a compass course, checking on the lights of the towns below until a low fog rolled in under me a few miles north-east of the Illinois River.

"The fog extended from the ground up to about 600 feet, and as I was unable to fly under it, I turned back and attempted to drop a flare and land. The flare did not function and I again headed for Chicago hoping to find a break in the fog over the field.

"I continued on a compass course of 50 degrees until 7:15 p.m. when I saw a dull glow on top of the fog, indicating a town below. At no time, however, was I able to locate the exact position of the field, although I understand that the searchlights were directed upward and two barrels of gasoline burned in an endeavor to attract my attention. Several times I descended to the top of the fog, which was 800 feet high, according to my altimeter. After circling around for 35 minutes I headed west to be sure of clearing Lake Michigan, and in an attempt to pick up one of the lights on the Transcontinental.

"After flying west for fifteen minutes and seeing no break I turned southwest hoping to strike the edge of the fog south of the Illinois River. My engine stopped at 8:20 p.m., and I cut in the reserve. I was at that time only 1,500 feet high, and as the engine did not pick up as soon as I expected I shoved the flashlight in my belt and was about to release the parachute flare and jump when the engine finally took hold again. A second trial showed the main tank to be dry, and accordingly a maximum of twenty minutes' flying time left.

"There were no openings in the fog and I decided to leave the ship as soon as the reserve tank was exhausted. I tried to get the mail pit open with the idea of throwing out the mail sacks, and then jumping, but was unable to open the front buckle. I knew that the risk of fire with no gasoline in the tanks was very slight and began to climb for altitude when I saw a light on the ground for several seconds. This was the first light I had seen for nearly two hours, and almost enough gasoline for fifteen minutes'; flying remained in the reserve, I glided down to 1,200 feet and pulled out the flare release cable as nearly as I could judge over the spot where the light had appeared. This time the flare functioned but only to illuminate the top of a solid bank of fog, into which it soon disappeared without showing any trace of the ground.

"Seven minutes' gasoline remained in the gravity tank. Seeing the glow of a town through the fog I turned towards open country and nosed the plane up. At 5,000 feet the engine sputtered and died. I stepped up on the cowling and out over the right side of the cockpit, pulling the ripcord after about a 100-foot fall. The parachute, an Irving seat service type, functioned perfectly; I was falling head downward when the risers jerked me into an upright position and the chute opened. This time I saved the ripcord. I pulled the flashlight from my belt and was playing it down towards the top of the fog when I heard the plane's engine pick up. When I jumped it had practically stopped dead and I had neglected to cut the switches. Apparently when the ship nosed down an
additional supply of gasoline drained to the carburetor. Soon she came into sight, about a quarter mile away and headed in the general direction of my parachute. I put the flashlight in a pocket of my flying suit preparatory to slipping the parachute out of the way if necessary. The plane was making a left spiral of about a mile diameter, and passed approximately 300 yards away from my chute, leaving me on the outside of the circle. I was undecided as to whether the plane or I was descending the more rapidly and glided my chute away from the spiral path of the ship as rapidly as I could. The ship passed completely out of sight, but reappeared in a few seconds, its rate of descent being about the same as that of the arachute. I counted the five spirals, each one a little further away than the last, before reaching the top of the fog bank.

"When I settled into the fog I knew that the ground was within 1,000 feet and reached for the flashlight, but found it to be missing. I could see neither earth nor stars and had no idea what kind of territory was below. I crossed my legs to keep from straddling a branch or wire, guarded my face with my hands and waited. Presently I saw the outline of the ground and a moment later was down in a cornfield. The corn was over my head and the chute was lying on top of the corn stalks. I hurriedly packed it and started down a cornrow. The ground visibility was about 100 yards. In a few minutes I came to a stubble field and some wagon tracks, which I followed to a farmyard a quarter mile away. After reaching the farmyard I noticed auto headlights playing over the roadside. Thinking that someone might have located the wreck of the plane I walked over to the car. The occupants asked whether I had heard an airplane crash and it required some time to explain to them that I had been piloting the plane, and yet was searching for it myself. I had to display the pa4rachute as evidence before they were thoroughly convinced. The farmer was sure, as were most others in a 3-mile radius, that the ship had just missed his house and crashed nearby. In fact, he could locate within a few rods the spot where he heard it hit the ground, and we spent an unsuccessful quarter hour hunting for the wreck in that vicinity before going to the farmhouse to arrange for a search party and telephone St. Louis and Chicago.

"I had just put in the phone calls when we were notified that the plane had been found in a cornfield over two miles away. It took several minutes to reach the site of the crash, due to the necessity of slow driving through the fog, and a small crowd had already assembled when we arrived. The plane was wound up in a ball-shaped mass. It had narrowly missed one farmhouse and had hooked its left wing in a grain shock a quarter mile beyond. The mail pit was laid open and one sack of mail was on the ground. The mail, however, was uninjured.

"The sheriff from Ottawa arrived, and we took the mail to the Post Office to be entrained at 3:30 a.m. for Chicago.

When the wreck was inspected a few days later it was discovered that a mechanic had removed the 110-gallon gasoline tank to repair a leak, and had replaced it with an 85-gallon tank without notifying anyone of the change. Consequently instead of being able to return to our field at Peoria and clear visibility, I ran out of fuel while still over the fog bank."

[spidermonky 0]

"This time I saved the ripcord."
"The mail, however, was uninjured."

Two sentences proving he was THE MAN.

[SkySlut 0]

Quote

This time I saved the ripcord.

I guess he was tired of buying beer!!!

[DocJames 0]

*** hhhhhhhhhh

From PBS.org,
Fallen Hero: Charles Lindbergh in the 1940s:

Having returned to America in April 1939, Lindbergh turned his attention toward keeping his country out of a war in Europe. At the time, most Americans shared his isolationist views. Germany invaded Poland five months later, drawing Britain and France into the war. Two weeks later, Lindbergh delivered his first nationwide radio address in which he urged America to remain neutral. In the speech he criticized President Roosevelt, who believed the Nazis must be stopped in their conquest of Europe. Lindbergh saw Nazi victory as certain and thought America's attention should be placed elsewhere. "These wars in Europe are not wars in which our civilization is defending itself against some Asiatic intruder... This is not a question of banding together to defend the white race against foreign invasion." Building on his belief that "racial strength is vital," Lindbergh published an article in Reader's Digest stating, "That our civilization depends on a Western wall of race and arms which can hold back... the infiltration of inferior blood."

And...

To millions of one-time admirers, Charles Lindbergh's luster had been fatally tainted by his words and associations during the 1930's and early 1940's. Historian William O'Neill spoke for many Americans when he offered the opinion that "In promoting appeasement and military unpreparedness, Lindbergh damaged his country to a greater degree than any other private citizen in modern times. That he meant well makes no difference." It would be years before the words Lindbergh and hero were again uttered in the same breath.

[kkeenan 13]

Quote

a mechanic had removed the 110-gallon gasoline tank to repair a leak, and had replaced it with an 85-gallon tank without notifying anyone of the change.

That will really mess up your fuel calculations...

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?