[inquest]

I had a Chief in the Navy who was a Master Test Parachutist and had jumped out of C-5's a couple of times. He said it was like getting hit by a brick wall and then being in a washing machine. I can't even think about what would happen if an inexperienced jumper went out of the side of a plane that large at 500 mph.

If you wouldn't mind indulging my ignorance a bit, how does the size of a plane affect the physical experience of jumping out of it? I obviously can see how flight speed would affect it, but I don't understand the effect of plane size. If anything, I would have assumed that a larger plane drags air with it more effectively, and would make for a more gradual increase in air speed as you jump out.

[oldleft]

"If you wouldn't mind indulging my ignorance a bit, how does the size of a plane affect the physical experience of jumping out of it? I obviously can see how flight speed would affect it, but I don't understand the effect of plane size. If anything, I would have assumed that a larger plane drags air with it more effectively, and would make for a more gradual increase in air speed as you jump out."


A BIG turbofan plane like the A380 has to travel at a relatively high rate of speed to stay in the air, about 200kt I'm guessing. The aerodynamics of a plane that big, going that fast, tend to be all or nothing. When you jump you fall from the aerodynamic "bubble" into the free-air around it and WHAM! Massive acceleration (or deceleration, depending on your point of view.) Once you get behind the plane far enough you get caught in the turbulence and jet wash until you can get into more free air.

This is all assuming that you're in free fall. If you're doing a static line jump, multiply everything by a factor of ten.

All this happens in just a few seconds, but that's been more than enough to injure or even kill a few people.