Impromptu EVAs on Landing...They're Real!

[KevinTMC]

With the coming implementation of EVAs, there\'s been debate over just how ridiculous it would be for kerbonauts to try to save themselves by jumping out of their craft just before crashing.

Apparently, it\'s not nearly so ridiculous as I\'d presumed...

'A plane towing an advertising banner has crashed just off shore at North Myrtle Beach, and witnesses say the pilot jumped to safety just before the aircraft hit the water.'

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/18/2206246/banner-plane-crashes-off-north.html

So, if version 0.16 breaks the escape-tower mod, we\'ve still got a back-up plan! (So long as EVAs can be performed on an emergency, impromptu basis, that is...and really, would Jeb have it any other way?)

[Khrissetti]

if you\'re crashing at sufficient speeds it doesn\'t matter, if you jump out at 100m/s you\'ll still be accelerating from 100m/s regardless of whether you\'re in a ship or not.

[vexx32]

Yeah, unless you can jump with enough speed to cancel out your velocity (and jumping at 100m/s is pretty much impossible), you\'re still gonna go splat. It *may* be possible to do it with the EVAPack thrusters, but it\'s gonna be a close call. Also, a parachute was probably attached to the pilot in question, and that\'s why he survived. If he didn\'t have a parachute, it wouldn\'t have mattered when he jumped; he would have died regardless.

[Vargen]

In atmosphere you might have more drag (and some maneuverability) as a skydiver than as a streamlined plane. Quite a few people have survived falling out of airplanes over the years, without working parachutes. It\'s obviously not a very safe way to land, but it is indeed possible. Iirc, the soviets once threw several hundred people out of aircraft at high altitude without chutes, over deep freshly- fallen soft snow. To their surprise, some 40 percent were more or less able to walk after impact. Jumping outside of the atmoshphere, though, might be less successful :-)

[opticalshadow]

Yeah, unless you can jump with enough speed to cancel out your velocity (and jumping at 100m/s is pretty much impossible), you\'re still gonna go splat. It *may* be possible to do it with the EVAPack thrusters, but it\'s gonna be a close call. Also, a parachute was probably attached to the pilot in question, and that\'s why he survived. If he didn\'t have a parachute, it wouldn\'t have mattered when he jumped; he would have died regardless.

well yes and no, i mean people have survived falls at terminal velocity from aircraft in the past, theres no realy explination as to why, other then massive luck, but pending on the circumstance, it might be better to hit the ground/water solo, rather then inside your aircraft, which can explode, or crumble and break. im not saying theres anyway to actually decide which is the better choice, but theoretically it might be better in a situational basis.

[Kosmo-not]

Sounds like a Battlefield 3 player.

[VincentMcConnell]

Sounds like a Battlefield 3 player.

LMAO. I don\'t see how he jumped hard enough to cancel the velocity he inherited from the aircraft.

[semininja]

The guy had a much better chance of surviving if he wasn\'t stuck in the airplane when it went under, so he took that chance. Nothing too crazy about that.

[Synthesis]

In atmosphere you might have more drag (and some maneuverability) as a skydiver than as a streamlined plane. Quite a few people have survived falling out of airplanes over the years, without working parachutes. It\'s obviously not a very safe way to land, but it is indeed possible. Iirc, the soviets once threw several hundred people out of aircraft at high altitude without chutes, over deep freshly- fallen soft snow. To their surprise, some 40 percent were more or less able to walk after impact. Jumping outside of the atmoshphere, though, might be less successful :-)

I\'ve heard this story too, and I suspect it\'s an urban legend deliberately created by the VDV (Soviet, than Russian Airborne Troops) to promote their own 'macho badass' image. It doesn\'t seem grounded in reality, since before the VDV, the USSR had various amateur parachutist clubs, which pioneered their early experiences, and did use parachutes (just very poor one).

Plus, the number always change. One guy says it was 20 guys, someone else says it was a few hundred. Next, someone will say it was an entire Soviet Air Army, heh.

[KevinTMC]

In Soviet Russia, aircraft jumps out of you!

[Ydoow]

This is the same situation the mythbusters did with a falling elevator and jumping up just before impact.

However in this case, landing in water at 20m/s (or whatever) is much preferable vs landing in water at 20m/s inside an aircraft.

It avoids the part where the front end of the vehicle slams into your head and breaks bones and locks you inside the craft and whatnot.

Sure it would still hurt like hell jumping out, but you have a better chance imo

[what-the]

It could be possible to survive a crash if you flare and jump into a tall bush and maybe the ocean (waves break surface tension). Will be trying it in ksp

[T-Bouw]

I believe it also depends on how you hit the water.

Think of a diver making him/herself pointy versus spreading yourself out like a flying squirrel (without the flying part ).