Parachutes

[Wayfarer 5]

Just running through my key commands list and wondered if, in OFF, any German pilots ever get parachutes in 1918.

Edited September 10, 2010 by Wayfarer

[Guest British_eh]

Hi there.

 

If you're German, hit O O O and then you're in the air. If you want to add a bit more realism, then roll a die, if it's a 2 or less, you had a problem with it opening :)

 

One pilot jumped twice in a week, and lived to tell the tale.

 

Cheers,

 

British_eh

[Olham 164]

...wondered if, in OFF, any German pilots ever get parachutes in 1918.

 

Something for our P4 wishlist!

If Ernst Udet hadn't had a parachute, he wouldn't have survived the war.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Actually, by 1918 some of the German scout pilots were also using parachutes, (not just the 2-seaters). The practice was to sit on top of the parachute rather than wear it, which meant they had to put on the chute before they could jump. Loewenhardt had a chute with him the day he died, but jumped too late for it to fully deploy.

 

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[Wayfarer 5]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I had read a little about early 'chutes but wasn't sure if OFF had them yet.

[Olham 164]

Here is a bit from Dan San-Abbott over at the "Aerodrome" website. Dan-San's job was to develop parachutes.

 

Quote Dan San-Abbott:

The Luftstreitkräfte delivered with fighter aircraft as goverment furnished

equipment a Heinecke Fallschirm (Parachute). The Luftstreitkrfte began to issue

the Heinecke Fallschirm in early 1918 (February ?) The Heinecke Fallschirm was

designed by Uffz. Heinecke a member of Feldluftschiffer Abteilung 23 in an effort

to improve upon the Paulus Fallschirm used by the Kite balloon units.

 

The Heinecke was small in comparison the present day parachutes, it was 21' in

diameter, conical in form.Was made of silk. It was static-line operated.

Uffz heinecke arranged with Schroeder & Co.G./m.b.H to manufacture the Heinecke

Parachute. Dummy and live drop tests were made from aircraft to prove it's strength.

It can best be described as "just adequate". The design was marginal at best.

 

Vzfw Weimar of Jasta 56 was the first to use the Heinecke Fallschirm on 1 april 1918

when he jumped from his burning Alb.D.Va. Many other German pilots would use the

Heinecke Fallschirm in the remaining months of WW1, most notably Ltn.Ernst Udet.

 

Blue Skies,

Dan-San

 

P.S. I earned my living designing parachutes.

 

From what I've read about the British, the RFC did not consider to give the pilots parachutes,

because they thought it would make the pilots jump too early, instead of fighting.

For the Germans, the parachutes came perhaps only, because towards the end of the war,

pilots were more valuable than aircraft. The cynism of war...

 

Edited September 11, 2010 by Olham

[Hasse Wind 46]

Yes, also German fighter pilots did use parachutes in the final months of the war. The best model was manufactured by the company of Otto Heinecke, and they were thus called Heinecke parachutes. As Lou mentioned, the pilot sat on the parachute in the cockpit. The Austrian air force also used the Heineckes, as seen in this pic:

 

[NS13Jarhead 6]

From what I've read about the British, the RFC did not consider to give the pilots parachutes,

because they thought it would make the pilots jump too early, instead of fighting.

For the Germans, the parachutes came perhaps only, because towards the end of the war,

pilots were more valuable than aircraft. The cynism of war...

I was watching a show the other day about the Battle of the Somme and heard something similar about the British attitude towards the ground pounders. The rear echelon headquarters deliberately did not attempt to improve the quality of life for their men in the trenches - apparently the brass was afraid that if life was too comfortable, the troops would be hesitant to leave their trenches and go over the top. Whereas the Germans were building nearly complete cities underground with ammenities unheard of on the other side of the lines.

[Hasse Wind 46]

One of the reasons why ordinary soldiers were treated badly in so many armies of WW1 was the general social environment of the early 20th century, especially in countries with monarchies and less than democratic (often downright autocratic) systems. Officers, the high-ranking ones in particular, came from higher social classes, and quite often they saw the rank and file as ignorant peasants who didn't need any good treatment or even the smallest of luxuries on the front. This attitude was very common in the Imperial Russian army, for example, but it happened in all armies, including the British army, which certainly was very conscious of rank and class.

 

Pilots were mostly officers forming a small elite, and that explains why they were treated better than many other soldiers of WW1. But I guess that wasn't enough for the British high command and their attitude on parachutes. All armies and navies of WW1 had more than their fair share of idiots as generals and admirals (and politicians), but in some cases, the high-ranking idiots seem to have far outnumbered the intelligent types.