Evening star., 1952-02-14
Flyer Describes How II Feels
To Jump Out Of Flaming Plane

fSeuen members of Pratt q
Whitney Aircruft's fight-test-
ing section, conducting a study
OF q poluertul netu engine, Dere
forced to abandon ship. Here
is the co-pilot'S tDry. perceptiOe
account OF the adventure 1Drit-
ten for the Bee-Hipe. the COM
pany's n1dgGstne.)
By Gil Haven
North American Newspaper Alliones
HARTFORD, Conn, Feb. A.
Even though you have parachuted
before. to bail out of a flaming
plane at a high altitude orings
thrills never \ to be forgotten.
Jumping to save your skin is adj
venture in the raw.
All the men in the big engine
test plane were intent on their
assigned tasks. Once the desired
engine operating conditions had
been established. the concerted
efforts Of seven specialists-tw
test pilots, two engineers, two tenn
perature observers and the crew
chief-were required to maintain
q steady, stabilized position and
to record rapidly the performance
data. The elaborate instrument
tation of temperatures, pressures.
and flows gave a continuous indi-
cation Of the engines reaction to
the demands being made of 1t.
Roaring past Hartford. the crew
completed its high altitude checks
and the crew prepared to set up
the next run. BY now the plane
was slightly lower than 20, 900 feet,
and much high-altitude tension
was subsiding.
Investigation Completed.
The first point at the new al
titude was established quickly. A
considerable period was needed,
however. to stabilize completely.
About 10 minutes later. the last
record was taken. and the investi-
cation at this power setting was
completed. Pausing only long
enough to compare notes relative
to the next run, the crew read
justed the engine controls, and
settled back to watch the chang
ing pressures and temperatures.
The first sign of trouble was re-
ported by the crew chief, who
observed flames Pickering around
the teSt-engine cowling. Since
the engine unfalteringly main
tanned the desired power settings.
it was assumed that the exhaust
collector had cracked.
Immediate emergency action
was started by the pilots. but in
the few seconds between the first
fire warning and the response Of
the pilots. the fire had damaged
the fuel shutoh and the propeller
feathering system to the point
where neither was operable.
No further remedial action was
possible. The order to abandon
ship" had to be given.
Sits Down for q Breather.
The crew. with comendable
discipline. hooked up their quick
attachable parachutes at the sig-
nal, and the crew chief opened the
paratroop door. The pilot was at
tempting to engage the autopilot,
so the co-pilot. who was wearing
a back-pack parachute. went aft
into the cabin and got the pilots
chute for him.
Since nothing could be done
forward by the co-pilot, he again
went back into the cargo compart-
ment. The crew was assembled in
the approved fashion-they were
all near the door-so he signaled
them out. and sat down for a1
breather.
His exertions under the altitude
condition had left him mildly
anoxemic (befuddled from lack of
sufficient oxygen. so he plugged
his mask into a side oxygen reg
ulator and waited for both his
head and the jam at the door to
clear. He did not wait long. how
ever; a glance at the slowly fold
ing wing convinced him that the
penalty for procrastination easily
might be death.
Whole Crew Clears Plane.
AS he stepped past the crew,
the co-pilot noticed that every
man was holding his hand on his
ripcord handle. The roar Of the
slipstream past the open door
swallowed his shouted warning
so completely that. in desperation,
the co-pilot took each mans hand
gently away from his %" ring
and then roughly showed 1t down
the side. This done. the co-pilot
moved to the door and dived into
the sunlit space beyond.
The pilot came rushing into the
cabin just as the co-pilot disap-
peared through the hatch. Get
ting behind the last man in line.
the pilot. with exceptional savoir
faire, gave a nightly shove and
within a few seconds the entire
crew had cleared the plane.
Clicks on Stop Watch.
Dangling dazedly from the
many shroud lines. the co-pilot
must have appeared to be a man
sized marionette. Still low on oxy-
gen, and rather stunned by the
sudden shock of the chute, he was
just conscious enough to click on
his stop-watch, and to make a
perfunctory check Of the nylon
mushrooming above.
Turning his attention to his
fellow fliers, the co-pilot started
counting parachutes. Again and
again he counted them, but in
every instance he could only spot
six.
He could only imagine that the
pilot had gone down with the
ship, since he had not shown up
In the cargo compartment at the
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