Pilot Leaps From ’Plane

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 88, 5 July 1927, Page 15

Pilot Leaps From ’Plane

Drops 5,000 Feet From Blazing Machine Flight-Lieutenant David D’Arcy A. Greig, D.F.C., had an amazing escape from death during a test flight in a single-seater fighting airplane from the Kenley Airdrome, England. While his airplane was upside down and out of control, 5,000 feet above the ground, he leaped out. As the machine crashed to earth in a nose-dive at 150 miles an hour, Greig drifted down in hjs parachute and landed in a field at an isolated spot two miles from where he jumped out. * Greig, who is an instructor at the R.A.F. Central Flying School at Wittering, Northamptonshire, and a most efficient and daring airman, came to Kenley specially to test the possibilities of the machine in the actual manoeuvre which nearly cost him his life. Horror and Relief Owing to the instructional nature of the test his flight was watched by almost everybody at the airdrome, and the thrill of horror that passed over the watchers when the machine was seen to crash turned to joyous relief when the airman was seen descending by parachute, a mere black speck against the sky over a mile away. Greig was uninjured, and was so little put out by the adventure that an hour or two later he flew back by himself to Wittering. The special test Greig was brought to Kenley to demonstrate was the spin, a spiral nose-dive reckoned by airmen to be the most dangerous aerial manoeuvre. Part of the test was to consist of seeing whether after a prolonged spin it would be possible for the airman to recover control. As things turned out he was unable to right his machine, and the result of his daring experiment was to leave him with no resort but his parachute. Perils of the “Spin” It is understood that airmen attached to the 3*2nd and 23rd Fighting Squadrons at Kenley have been experiencing difficulties in spinning practice, and have lost as much as 1,000 feet in a single spin. Owing to the fact that an airman who can spin his machine efficiently has a much greater chance of recovering control in the event of an accident the Air Ministry places considerable importance on this branch of training. Spinning has been described by airmen as “flirting with death.” An officer at Kenley told a “Daily Chronicle” representative: “Greig’s mishap was seen from the airdrome. He was engaged in spinning, and according to men who counted them had made 26 or 28 consecutive spins when his machin'e got out of control, and crashed to the earth at a terrific speed. In Half a Gale “At first we thought he had gone with it, but in a moment or two, to our intense relief, we saw his parachute open and his body swinging in the wind. “There was half a gale blowing, and he was carried away from the scene of the smash at a good rat 6. His parachute flight lasted six or eight minutes, and he came down from a height of probably 4,000 or 5,000 feet. “His plane crashed straight to the ground and burst into flames in a field in Court Farm on the top of Purley Ridge opposite the airdrome. Greig came down between Chelsham and Warlingham. Officers who say the .affair immediately telephoned to the police, ambulance officials and doctors in case the airman required help, but Greig was not hurt, and in a short time was telephoning the airdrome to say he was safe and sound. After tea he flew back to Northamptonshire. “As soon as the accident occurred white rockets were fired recalling all other airplanes. “Greig’s plane was upside-down when he climbed out of it and jumped. This was a lucky chance, for had it been right side up he might not have been able to get clear, as the air pressure on a machine doing 150 miles an hour is terrific, and would probably have forced him back into the cabin. “As it was his escape was a matter of seconds A little later and it might have been # o late. “Relating his adventure afterwards Greig said he began to get giddy, and started climbing out"as soon as he realised that he had lost control. He lost 1,000 feet while getting out. “He thought he drifted at least six miles with his parachute, but it is natural to lose sense of distance under rhe circumstances.” A STRANGE COINCIDENCE A remarkable coincidence of the affair is that the last airplane that crashed in the Kenley district fell in the field in which Greig’s machine was wrecked. On that occasion an American officer lost his life. Another eye-witr s. Mr. Morrs, of the Rose and Cr # Hotel, Whyteleafe, close to the irdrome. said: “I was watching the plane because I heard there was to be a special test. It came down spinning from a tremendous height, and then I realised it was in difficulties.

"I saw the airman jump out and fall like a stone for about 200 ft. before the parachute opened. It was a thrilling moment, for I thought the thing was never going to open. “The plane crashed and burst into flames which rose 50ft. in the air and all around. During the blaze I heard explosions which I took to be ammunition bursting, and people who raced up the hill to the scene also state that there was a lot of machine-gun am-

munition exploding. “I could see the airman drifting away in the wind over the ridge of the hill and out of sight, and then I rang up the airdrome to tell them that he was probably safe, and where he was likely to land. Firemen from Purley had to climb a 300 ft. hill on foot to reach the wreckage of the burned-out plane, and for some time searched the debris looking for the body they expected to find. It was over half an hour before they learned of the airman’s escape.