Re: ... Explosive Decompression....

[Keith Willshaw]

"Sean Malloy" > wrote in message
...
> John Mullen > wrote:
> >provides an interesting data point here. A BAC 1-11 lost its windscreen
> >in flight and the copilot landed it with the captain hanging out the
> >window when he was sucked halfway out. A steward hung onto the captain's
> >legs, saving his life.
>
> It involved lower airspeeds, but if you do some digging, you can find
> pictures of a B-17 that encountered flak over Germany in WWII and flew
> back to England after taking a hit that blew off the entire front of
> the plane forward of the navigator's dome... you would assume that
> we've learned something about producing airframes that could survive
> minor damage since then...
>

Of course the B-17 wasnt pressurised and the load on a windshield when
you have even a 5 psi diff pressure adds up to an impressive load.

Keith

[Kevin Brooks]

"Keith Willshaw" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Sean Malloy" > wrote in message
> ...
> > John Mullen > wrote:
> > >provides an interesting data point here. A BAC 1-11 lost its windscreen
> > >in flight and the copilot landed it with the captain hanging out the
> > >window when he was sucked halfway out. A steward hung onto the
captain's
> > >legs, saving his life.
> >
> > It involved lower airspeeds, but if you do some digging, you can find
> > pictures of a B-17 that encountered flak over Germany in WWII and flew
> > back to England after taking a hit that blew off the entire front of
> > the plane forward of the navigator's dome... you would assume that
> > we've learned something about producing airframes that could survive
> > minor damage since then...
> >
>
> Of course the B-17 wasnt pressurised and the load on a windshield when
> you have even a 5 psi diff pressure adds up to an impressive load.

Yep. A better example would have been the B-29 gunner who was sucked out
when his blister blew--there is a photo of him, taken from another aircraft,
dangling outside in the slipstream, held in place by his seat harness or
partially deployed parachute (can't recall which). IIRC he survived the
ordeal.

Brooks

>
> Keith
>
>

[Cub Driver]

My impression of the B-17 is that no plane was ever built that could
survive more significant damage.

Whenever I fly a jetliner--Boeing for choice--I assume that there's a
little bit of B-17 in there.

>a B-17 that encountered flak over Germany in WWII and flew
>back to England after taking a hit that blew off the entire front of
>the plane forward of the navigator's dome... you would assume that
>we've learned something about producing airframes that could survive
>minor damage since then...

all the best -- Dan Ford
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