Aircraft technical Basics: Introduction to Airplanes - Navy Training Courses Edition of 1944: Chapter 15 Emergency Equipment

CHAPTER 15 EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT

PARACHUTES

Everybody who goes up in a Navy airplane is provided with a PARACHUTE. This vital device has saved literally thousands of lives and is just about the Number One Item on your list of emergency equipment. A parachute ready for use consists of FIVE major parts. First is the CANOPY - a huge white cup-shaped bag of silk. Long cords, called SHROUD LINES or suspension lines, connect the canopy to the HARNESS. The harness is a series of straps that support you when you are in the air.

Attached to this harness is a canvas PACK, into which the entire parachute is carefully folded. The pack is opened by means of the rip cord which, when pulled, releases the flaps of the pack. The fifth part of the parachute is a small PILOT CHUTE that opens as soon as the rip cord is pulled and helps to draw the main chute from the pack.

Each of the five main parts of the parachute must do its share if the parachute is to work properly, as each is a link in the chain on which your life depends. In manufacturing a parachute the strength of each part is determined carefully, and all units are tested under much greater strains than are usually expected when the parachute is operated. How strong must a parachute's parts be? Really RUGGED! The strain on a parachute at the moment it opens is terrific. It is equivalent to jamming the brakes on a car speeding over 100 miles per hour!

SEAT PACK and BACK PACK parachutes have the rip cord located on the left thigh, so you can reach across your body with your right hand to pull the cord. On FRONT PACK parachutes, the rip cord is at the right side. Most parachutes used by the Navy are packed in a seat pack. You sit on them as cushions, and thus are freed from any weight or bulk. But gunners and photographers in airplane crews use front suspension packs in many cases. In small airplanes the pilot frequently wears only a harness, with the parachute pack close at hand, ready to be clipped to in an emergency.

Parachutes are used for other purposes besides emergency jumps. Life rafts and shipwreck kits (of medical supplies and food) can be dropped by parachute to survivors of sea battles or accidents, where rescue landings are not possible. The aerial mailman uses parachutes to deliver letters and packages - at sea and at way stations that have no landing facilities.

LIFE JACKETS

Another indispensable item is the PNEUMATIC LIFE JACKET. Constructed of rubberized fabric, it is shaped much like a vest. It contains two separate AIR CHAMBERS, each of which is capable of supporting a man in the water. Inflation of the jacket is accomplished by means of a small cylinder of CARBON DIOXIDE GAS. All you do is open a valve to make the jacket inflate. TUBES are also attached to each chamber so the jacket can be blown up by mouth, in a pinch. All aircraft pilots and air crews are required to wear life jackets - called "Mae Wests" - in flights over water.

LIFE RAFTS

Very similar in operation to life jackets, but on a larger scale, are the PNEUMATIC LIFE RAFTS carried in airplanes. One is illustrated in figure 48. Made of rubber-covered fabric, they are also inflated by carbon dioxide from a flask attached to the raft. FOUR SIZES of life rafts are built - for one, two, four, or seven men.

A number of types of life rafts have been developed, each of which is designed to provide adequate lifesaving protection under various circumstances. All Naval airplanes operating over water are equipped with enough life rafts to take care of EVERYBODY on the plane.

Landplanes attached to aircraft carriers are not capable of landing on the water and remaining afloat. Under combat conditions, forced landings are an ever-present possibility, and rafts must be available for immediate use after the air-plane has touched the surface of the water. AUTOMATIC RAFTS have been developed for such emergencies, requiring no action by the jumper. When the airplane strikes the water, the action of the salt water closes an electric SWITCH which releases a raft COMPARTMENT DOOR and inflates the raft, forcing it out of the compartment.

The most common kind of raft in use is the DROPPABLE TYPE. It is designed so that - when dropped from an airplane - it will be fully inflated by the time it reaches the water. Inflation of this type of raft is accomplished by means of a pull on a T-shaped HANDLE attached to the outside of its CARRYING CASE and connected to a carbon dioxide cylinder.

When parachuting over water, you frequently may not have much chance to do anything but jump. For such situations a PARACHUTE LIFE RAFT has been developed. This is secured to you at all times, and is available after you have jumped and landed in the water. It's similar to the one-man raft, but slightly smaller.

Figure 48.-Pneumatic life raft.

Certain items of OTHER emergency equipment are provided with each raft to sustain the occupants while they're afloat. They include food, water, a first-aid kit, signaling devices, sail, fishing kit, collapsible oars, and a compass. New additions are made to this gear from time to time as experience dictates.

The color of all exposed raft surfaces is ORANGE-YELLOW. Tests have proved that this color is the easiest to see against a water background, looking either from a ship at sea or an airplane in the air.

SAFETY BELTS

Air crews have come to look upon the SAFETY BELT as a piece of equipment fully as basic as shoes or a jacket. It is a wide, thick, fabric WEBBING which secures you across the thighs and is capable of withstanding a pull of 1,600 pounds. The safety belt is fastened to the base of the seat in which you are sitting, and keeps you from being thrown forward or out of the airplane in all but the most severe crashes.

There is a quick-action RELEASE BUCKLE on the safety belt. It trips from left to right with little effort, and releases instantly. Thus, if you must jump for safety, no precious moments are lost in disentangling yourself.

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

Almost all Navy airplanes have FIRE-EXTINGUISHING EQUIPMENT built into them. AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHERS, for putting out fires in the powerplant sections of an airplane, are operated by pulling a handle located in the COCKPIT. Such action releases a spray of extinguishing gas or liquid into the engine compartment. One or more HANDOPERATED FIRE EXTINGUISHERS are also provided in airplanes for putting out fires occurring outside the engine compartment. They're usually operated by pumping a handle at the top. But be sure you know the directions for using the equipment in your airplane BEFORE you have to use it. Don't wait until there's a fire to read the directions.

OXYGEN EQUIPMENT

The requirements of World War II have put new emphasis on many phases of aviation. Perhaps no phase has received more attention than high altitude flying, and the problems attending it.

Many of these problems involve the functioning of the airplane itself in the rarefied upper air. But the human element has also demanded a lion's share of attention.

Airplane engines can be - and have been - redesigned for high altitude flying by the addition of supercharger systems. Superchargers force additional quantities of air into airplane engines so sufficient oxygen will be available for fuel combustion. Unfortunately, you can't very well rig up pilots and air crews with a supercharger to provide them with the oxygen they need under similar circumstances. Instead, they use OXYGEN EQUIPMENT.

In general, this equipment consists of an OXYGEN MASK (of which there are a number of types, some covering the whole face, others just the nose and mouth), an oxygen supply tube, and a tank or bottle of oxygen under pressure, plus the necessary valves, meters and like equipment that allows the flyer to control the oxygen flow. Many airplanes have the basic oxygen equipment BUILT IN. Port-able equipment is used widely, however.

There are a number of variations in portable oxygen gear. Small, compact outfits that fit into your pocket are supplied for use during high-altitude parachute jumps, for instance. These are called BAIL-OUT OXYGEN BOTTLES.

Another type of oxygen supply device is the REBREATHER, used most frequently for sustained flights in rarefied air. The rebreather permits you to breathe the same air over and over again, replenishing the oxygen as your lungs consume it.

DE-ICERS

At certain altitudes and under special weather conditions, airplanes have an unfortunate habit of getting themselves coated with ice. This is a very serious matter, and ice formations have carried numerous airplane crews to death. Ice is particularly dangerous when it forms on the leading edges of airplane wings. To combat it, very effective devices called DE-ICERS were developed.

De-icers of many kinds have been tried on air-plane wings, but the most effective type has been the PNEUMATIC DE-ICER, like that in figure 49.

Figure 49.-De-icers on an airplane wing.

It consists of a hollow tube of soft, flexible rubber, attached horizontally to the wings along the leading edge. Its operation is simple and is controlled by the pilot. Air is alternately pumped into and exhausted from the de-icer tube (or "shoe"), causing any ice deposits on its surface to crack off and blow away.

SIGNALING EQUIPMENT

There are plenty of ways you can get in touch with ships, bases, and other men in other air-planes. At the present moment, though, you are concerned principally with EMERGENCY SIGNALS. Many occasions arise, of course, in which regular COMMUNICATION channels are called upon to carry emergency distress messages, but here you're talking about signals used ONLY when the PINCH comes - the EXTRA SOS devices provided in Naval airplanes for visually getting across the point that you're in trouble.

Most of these distress signals are in the form of fireworks - more politely called PYROTECHNICS. The most important of them are PARACHUTE FLARES, SMOKE BOMBS and GRENADES, DRIFT SIGNALS, and PYROTECHNIC CARTRIDGES. Pyrotechnics are used primarily when there is either lack of time or of other communication facilities. You have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL in using them, not only because fireworks are tricky and dangerous, but because they are quite likely to give as much information to the enemy as to your friends.

PARACHUTE FLARES consist of an illuminating candle attached to a parachute. They're used to light up a target, or an area for a forced landing. Offhand you might question whether such uses constitute signaling. But think it over. Actually such a flare is bringing information to YOU, and thereby helping you over a real obstacle.

To attract attention of would-be rescuers after you've made a forced landing, you might use a SMOKE GRENADE - if it's daylight and a rescue party or friendly airplane is in sight. Smoke grenades are secured to a three-foot stick so they can be held in position where they won't endanger the aircraft.

DRIFT SIGNALS give off both flame and smoke, and therefore can be used either at night or during the day. They are designed primarily to aid a pilot flying over water in determining the drift of his airplane, but are extremely useful for marking the location of contact with any object to which the pilot wishes to call the attention of others. In an emergency, when no flares or landing lights are available, a drift signal may be used to locate the surface for a night landing.

The PYROTECHNIC PISTOL is the standard means of identifying your airplane to others in an emergency. The "stars" from its cartridges can be seen at any time of the day or night, but care should be taken not to use it except when radio or signal lights are out of commission - or are banned. The pistol is mounted so as to fire out through an opening in the fuselage in most air-planes. Red, yellow, and green "stars" are produced by the various pyrotechnic cartridges used with the pistol. Each means something different - SO FIND OUT THE MEANINGS.

One or more cans of sea marking compound (a yellow-green dye) are packed with most life rafts. This compound, when poured on the surface of water, spreads out to make the area around a raft clearly visible to ships and airplanes that may be passing. FRIENDLY CRAFT, YOU HOPE !