"BAILING OUT"

"BAILING OUT"
I was just surfing the net and came across this picture of the P51 "Big Beautiful Doll" collision in 2011.. The pilot Rob Davies did an incredible job of bailing out. I say incredible because he survived a low level, high speed bail out. I would like to meet that guy and get his story!

I often wonder how many pilots would have a clue "how to bail out?" "What handle to pull?" "How to avoid the tail?" What does their parachute look like?" "How to steer it?" "How to land it?" The list goes on and on and on and on......


Personally with my experience, statistically I guess I stand a better chance than most of getting out and deploying my parachute however that doesn't stop me realising that a bail out is a hazardous option, less hazardous than striking the ground at 300 mph though none the less risky and fraught with danger!

I see pilots donning parachutes regularly and ask them what type of parachute is in the container? Answer... Dunno? When was it packed last? How do you know they were qualified? Where has this oily rag of a parachute been stored? Has the parachute material been tensile tested?

The list goes on.... If anyone was ever interested in "How to Bail Out" and survive the lesser of two evils I would gladly give a presentation.... I am a former member of the Red Devils Free Fall team and a current Tandem master, AFF instructor. I hold the advanced/examiner rating and I am duel qualified in the American USPA system... Apart from my sport parachuting I am military HALO and HAHO trained with numerous jumps on round parachutes and over 7000+ on sport parachuting equipment.... I have still yet to bail out of a stricken aircraft.... Hopefully that will never happen.. Touch wood!!