When the RAF pilot goes in the drink...

[philip.ed]

Originally Posted by Zappatime

I recall one of the veterans in the recent 70th anniversay programmes saying that 'dropping in the drink' you only had a few minutes survival time due to the cold waters, unless you were near a passing boat you'd very little chance as loss of feeling in your limbs was rapid.

Yes, very true. Kit improvements helped this later on, but in the BoB, the RAF were not really prepared for such enventualities.

[JAMF]

They weren't issued Mea Wests? And the sea temperature in the time period of BoB should be the warmer time, right? It's not the GIUK gap we'll be floating in.

[Skoshi Tiger]

Hopefully the prevailing winds will be blowing towards England!

Does anyone know if the crash rescue boats will be doing their job?



Cheers!

http://battleofbritain.devhub.com/bl...-pilot-rescue/

[philip.ed]

Originally Posted by JAMF

They weren't issued Mea Wests? And the sea temperature in the time period of BoB should be the warmer time, right? It's not the GIUK gap we'll be floating in.

No, they were issued mae-wests, but they weren't satisfactory for the purpose. They did the job of keeping one alfoat, but unfortunately they weren't suited to anything other than that. They had no dye-markers (until later) no torch, no provision for a mirror or anything like that. They even had no compartment for a mobile-phone.

[JAMF]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

No, they were issued mae-wests, but they weren't satisfactory for the purpose. They did the job of keeping one alfoat, but unfortunately they weren't suited to anything other than that. They had no dye-markers (until later) no torch, no provision for a mirror or anything like that. They even had no compartment for a mobile-phone.

Anyone have the numbers of British aircraft/fighters that didn't make it to base and then these separated into numbers that landed in the field, made a parachute landing on land, belly-landed on the water and made a parachute landing on water?

[Heliocon]

WOP has this during simulator missions. When you die you jump int othe plane of a wingman/squadmember and fly them. They called it strategic or tactical respanw (something like that).

[BadAim]

Originally Posted by JAMF

Anyone have the numbers of British aircraft/fighters that didn't make it to base and then these separated into numbers that landed in the field, made a parachute landing on land, belly-landed on the water and made a parachute landing on water?

All joking aside, that would be some interesting information, I should think that there would be a somewhat higher chance for Germans trying to get home with damaged planes ending up "in the drink" than Brits, who even if the made interception over the channel would be quickly chasing their quarry back over land. Of course that's only a guess.

[Artist]

Found an informative article, whose provenience I have not checked, though the source seems kind of reliable:

Adolf Galland, one of Germany's top fighter aces, emphasized the importance of survival in the water following shootdown. According to Galland, since even single-engine German fighters carried inflatable rubber dinghies, it was preferable to ditch rather than bail out over the water. The Bf 109 and the Bf 110 usually floated for up to 60 seconds after first touching the water. A cool-headed pilot had plenty of time to unstrap, scramble out, inflate his collapsible dinghy, and clear the aircraft.(Footnote 41)

British fighter pilots were not so fortunate. Cockpit space in both the Spitfire and the Hurricane was not sufficient to accommodate an inflatable dinghy. British pilots preferred to bail out rather than ditch their mangled machines, and after hitting the water they could rely only on their Mae West life jackets.

**Edit: And a somewhat different point of view (rather more recently):

British pilots relied on German sea rescue service during Battle of Britain

[philip.ed]

Ironically, the german 'mae-west' was technically a better design that the 1932 psttern which the RAF used, as it was gas-pressurized to inflate. The RAF one relied on the user blowing into the tube of his stole/bladder.
However, although the luftwaffe one was like a vest, it had no neck support, so there were cases of pilots landing in the drink who were unconsious, and because the vest (rather like a modern gillet) inflated around them, this cause the pilot to tip onto his face and he drowned. This didn't happen with the RAF one. Ironically, many RAF pilots traded vests with luftwaffe pilots they had shot down. Brian Kingcombe and Eric Lock, for example.

[JAMF]

Originally Posted by Rodolphe

With a water temperature of 15.5 to 21°C, some individuals wearing a Personal Flotation Device, could suffer from hypothermia within 2 hrs.

So in the summer and early autumn months of the battle, between 2 an 7 hours of consciousness and up to 40 hours of survival (60-70). In the Thames estuary and close to shore even longer. If the bay of Biscay were on the map, it would be in the upper zone of 70-80F.



(Maximum sea temperature is reached in the last week of August)