This Fighter Pilot Ejected into a Thunderstorm and Literally Rode the Lightning
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2021
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Marine Corps Lt. Col. William H. Rankin had flown combat flight operations in both World War II and the Korean War, but it wasn’t enemy fire that came closest to killing him during his military flying career. It was a summer thunderstorm over the east coast of the United States.
On July 26, 1959 Rankin and his wingman, 1st Lt. Herbert Nolan, were flying a pair of F-8 Crusaders from South Weymouth, Mass back to their home base at Beaufort, S.C. when they encountered a line of severe thunderstorms over North Carolina. Shortly after the fighters climbed up to 47,000 feet to go over the growing cumulonimbus clouds, Rankin heard a loud grinding noise followed by a loss of power from the jet’s only engine. About that time the jet’s fire warning light illuminated.
Rankin tried pulling the auxiliary power handle but it came off in his hand. He tried to restart the engine several times but had no luck. At that point, with the fighter in an uncontrollable dive and going nearly supersonic, he knew he only had one option left. He keyed the radio and matter-of-factly told his wingman he “had to eject” and then pulled the handle.
The senior Marine pilot wasn’t wearing a pressure suit, so as soon as he hit the surrounding atmosphere at that altitude his body was put through the ringer. The sudden decompression caused his stomach to swell, his ears, nose and mouth to bleed. The ejection tore his left glove from his hand, leaving it exposed to the brutally cold air. His skin immediately froze, which resulted in numbness and severe frostbite.
During his fall Rankin managed to strap his oxygen mask to his face, which was a crucial element if he was going to survive his ordeal. From his training he knew that it would take about three and a half minutes to fall from just under 50,000 feet to 10,000 feet where his parachute was designed to automatically deploy. He looked at his watch and saw that more than four minutes had gone by. He figured his ejection seat automatic chute mechanism had malfunctioned, so he manually deployed it.
But Rankin’s seat hadn’t malfunctioned. His descent had simply been slowed by massive updrafts created by the thunderstorm next to him, and as soon as his chute opened another powerful updraft filled it and rocketed him several thousand feet vertically a velocity of nearly 100 mph. Lightning flashed all around in what he later described as “blue blades several feet thick” and the thunder boomed so loudly he feared it would burst his eardrums. Rain pelted him from all directions. He felt like he was going to drown.
When he reached the top of the thunderstorm the updraft turned into a downdraft. It was totally dark as he was pulled into the center of the thunder cloud, and his chute collapsed as he plummeted. It reopened once he was under the storm, and as it did, he caught another updraft that catapulted him back to the top of the cloud. Once at the top he was dragged back into the center of the storm and thrown downward again.
Rankin was repeatedly buffeted through this cycle . . . a living hell he feared might never end.
Finally, the storm dissipated enough that he wasn’t dragged back up after shooting through it, and he was unceremoniously blown into a thicket of brush in the middle of a field near Ahoskie, N.C. He was wet and beat to hell and had to draw on his survival skills to make it through the dark to a dirt road where - after being passed by a number of vehicles that refused to stop - someone was finally kind enough to take him to the nearest hospital.
Colonel Rankin spent about 3 weeks in the hospital recovering from severe decompression shock, welts, bruising, and other superficial wounds. He eventually returned to flight status.
In 2009 he died of natural causes at the age of 89.
Ward's outro theme by Tom Butwin ( / tombutwin . - บันเทิง
I would have changed his callsign to THOR after that!
😂
or yo-yo
Nah... "Storm Rider" would have been more appropriate ;-)
I say "hurricane" or "lightning" would fit, perhaps "Sir" is best of all
😂😂LMAO
Who knew falling to the ground could be that difficult.
He was SO lucky. Occasionally an ultralight pilot gets sucked into a hailstorm. His top speed is slower than the updraft. It takes him to the top, coats him in ice, wraps him up in a wing fabric shroud, and he augers into the ground as a human popcicle.
Lt Col. Bill Rankin is my Uncle. I've only met him a couple of times when I was really young. He was married to my mothers sister Aunt Angie. It is so cool to see something on here about him. I wish I would have been able to talk to him when I was older.
I first heard this this story when I was taking meteorology in College. I found an easy reader version that I used to read to my children as a bed time story. Yesterday I took my daughter (age15) to the air museum in Santa Rosa California and we talked about "the man how fell up" as we stood beside the mighty crusader.
Awesome Historical application & comment, Craig! [15 yo female to an Air Museum 👌🏾]
Funny: This reminded me of _the title_ of the David Bowie science fiction film, *"THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH."*
I was a PR at Miramar from 77 to 85 if I remember right the main parachute were designed to deploy at 14,500 feet an altitude below which would not require supplemental oxygen . It would be interesting if you could do a video on another F8 crash that occurred out of Miramar. FAA had engine failure shortly after departing Miramar the pilot stayed with it guiding it to a parking lot between two buildings in Sorento valley and only ejecting at the last second and after getting on the ground and out of his harness he went and helped fight the fire. Navy pilots are the best
I wonder if he inadvertently holds a world record for the longest untethered parachute ride?
Quite possible :
@@ethanaustin7606 Would Ewa Wiśnierska count...? Paraglider, but was up in a storm for 3.5 hours...
Mr Carol I saw a documentary on Australian TV where a woman paragliding got sucked into a storm and a similar chain of events happened. The difference with your example was she had a GPS strapped on and it logged her trip up and down through the storm. She eventually dropped out almost frozen and her ground crew found her (using GPS). They thought she was dead, but she survived. The stats on the GPS were intense.
What a story! The fact that he was stuck in a cycle makes it really terrifying. Reminds me of Ewa Wiśnierska. Paraglider champion that got sucked up into cumulus nimbus cloud for an hour, up to 32000 feet, with zero equipment for that altitude, so she went unconscious. Her college/competitor from the Chinese national team was struck by lightning and got electrocuted. She got pulled up and into the eye of the storm, parachute completely froze. No human has ever went that high unprotected and lived to tell the tale. She had frostbite in the face but survived. Keep em coming Ward! I love these man.
He rode that storm for 40 minutes. Incredible really.
As a young teenager I remember reading this story in the newspaper. I also remember he said that he survived because he was in excellent physical condition from being in the Marines, and his body fought off the pounding he was subjected to in the thunderstorm.
Encountered 2 lightning strikes as well so far, aside from it in my early days as a First Officer we worked our way through a tremendous squall of cells which were blocking our path over the Alps. Nodded when you told his explanations of nearly drowning. Passing through an active cell will render your plane a submarine dodging a mine field partially going off. I've never seen so much water on a windshield, the gusts so intense you could not read the altimeter setting in the Kollsman window, autopilot disengaging, you're just waiting for the engines to flame out by all that water going through them. His path through it must have felt like being mangled and torn apart at the same time, doesn't get more incredible to walk away from stuff like this. Thanks for sharing, that was jaw-dropping.
TYL,!AMEN!!❤
"You need a ride?"
"Yes, thanks."
"What are you doing out in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina?"
"My F-8's engine quit and I had to eject at 47,000 feet and then was pulled through a thunderstorm over and over for almost half and hour before being spit out and I ended up here."
"Bummer."
Q what are doing in North Carolina?
A North Carolina? I ejected over Georgia!
Even today there is nothing around Ahoskie NC but large farms, forest, and back country roads. I couldn’t imagine the reaction of the people back then driving by with a dressed-out military pilot standing by the road. 😆
Please do a story on Scott Crossfield death?
@@jfox1078 - LOL That reminds me of the scene in "Back to the Future" when Mary McFly travels back in time and the farmers think he's an alien because he's in a radiation suit.
Farmer spits , yup , that’s how I got here too .
Having survived a thunderstorm in a Cherokee 180, this about the most scary story I've ever heard. He'll, mine was a piece of cake. Incredible.
What were you doing getting close to a TS in a 180? I fly a 180 looking for education not criticism.
You did it as well? I had my run in with TS in 2013 near the Rand Airport.
@@jamesallen8838 it was 50 years ago, in Western Kansas, before gps, before radar, and as far as "education" you could train a chimpanzee to fly todays planes. You'll do just fine
During my first big solo cross-country I encountered a line of Tstoms that paralleled my line of flight along most of the 200 miles. I knew about the dangers of flight into Tstoms. The Tstom line was 20 miles away which I thought would be far enough. Boy, was I wrong!! I got beat to crap most of the flight as the Tomahawk got tossed around like a feather.
The worst parts were the plane just dropping out from under me, like driving on a highway and hitting 5' dropoff and crashing back on the road. Then getting lifted up to be dropped again in a few minutes. Head kept hitting the ceiling of the cabin and ended up tightening the seatbelt so hard I was afraid of cutting blood circulation. Most unpleasant flight ever in any a/c.
After that I always kept seatbelt buckled on commercial airliners as CAT gives zero warning when its going to drop you like a lead brick. 20 miles is plenty close to a 150 mile line of solid T-storms.
One thing about a light squirrely plane like the Tomahawk, it makes you stay on your toes and fly the plane every single second.
@@LuvBorderCollies Didn't the Tomahawk have a T tail and a reputation for unrecoverable flat spins?
The picture shows an RF-8 from VFP-62, of which I was a member from 65 to 67.
Spending my first four years in the Harrier community, I heard plenty of mishap stories, and saw a few wrecked aircraft. My squadron lost 4 in as many years, all directly or peripherally related to engine failure. I always think about the line from one of the Stephen Coonts novels, "Things happen to Marines."
My next and last enlistment was with Hornets. Surprisingly the Hornets broke down a lot more than the Harriers, and we constantly had pilots coming back on one engine. But they all came back. Those would have been mishaps in a single engine aircraft.
My birthday, today actually. July 26th. I wasn't born yet, 77' What a story to hear about. Thanks for sharing!! Love your channel!
Terrifying. Former AME. Your ejection stories always get my attention. Stay safe Commander.
Descended the Green Nautical Mile, under canopy, multiple times.
This reminds me of the competitive para-glider, Ewa Wisnierska, who in 2007 was dragged above 32,000ft during a thunderstorm and also survived her ordeal. She had no oxygen so she passed out and also experienced -40C (-40F) temperatures, hail, rain, lightning, darkness and I assume lots of misery. This lasted for about an hour. The fact that she was unconscious and very cold were contributing factors to her survival due to the body's processes slowing down. This is not how I would want to spend my free time!
Thanks for the video, Ward. Your channel is becoming one of my favourites pretty fast.
My Granddad served with Lt. Col. Rankin, I remember reading his copy of Rankin’s memoir as a kid.
He wrote that initially, he couldn’t understand why the first cars that he came across sped away from him in terror, until he saw that the violent decompression and hailstone lacerations made him look like a monster.
Amazing story.
There is only one word to describe this: Miraculous!
I use the word marine synonymously with the word miracle so yeah I guess miraculous sums it up
My uncle had two good Crusader stories: One was picking up some brand new F-8's
from Dallas and flying them as fast as possible back to Cecil. The other was punching out over the
Gulf of Mexico while going supersonic. He described his face as looking like raw hamburger when they pulled him out of the water. (VF-84 btw)
He was just that storm's chew toy for a while. He's lucky he survived at all.
Luck? The man was a united states marine that wasn't luck that was destiny
@@caseyholland7860 Luck always favors the bold.
I read "The Man Who Rode the Thunder" when I was a kid in the 70s. To this day when I think about the colonel's incredible and miraculous ordeal I get choked up. If guardian angels do exist--and I suspect that they do--the colonel had one with him that fateful day. I encourage anyone who enjoyed this video to seek out the book and read it. I read the book only once...when I was about 11 or 12 years old. 50+ years later, it's still in my heart. Thank you, Mr. Carroll! ❤
In 1975 prior to the launch on the Apollo-Soyuz launch, an Air Force F-4 was assigned to do a weather recon for the launch. Somewhere around Crescent City, FL, the F4 was struck by lightning and both engines failed due to excessive water ingression. The crew ejected at high altitude and were tossed around by the storm and beaten up by hail. Both of them survived the ejection and roller coaster ride and were picked by AF rescue HH3E from Tyndall AFB, FL.
How I do loves these stories... it's like 'Sundays at Uncle Wards!' What an amazing one of a kind event in the annals of military aviation.
Many thanks, Ward
Thank you for your support.
All we need is a crackling fire background sound :)
Too incredible not to be true. If I saw it in a movie without a qualified person telling me the story, I wouldn’t believe it.
Ward you should do a lot more of these pilot story videos! You lay out the story really clearly and you have a great voice. A lot of these other aviation story focused youtube channels (dark docs I'm looking at you) speak way too fast, and say a lot of BS information.
Lots more to come. Stay tuned!
@@WardCarroll best vid I have seen on your channel yet, keep it up
Ward, you are welcome to do more than one per video. Just like some little kid, I wanted to hear yet another great flying story!
I don't watch Dark Docs because of his voice.
@@WardCarroll hey Mr Caroll (I would call you by your rank if I knew it) I have a good story for you. When I was in college I used to hang out at this bar in college Park called hard times during happy hour. Excellent chili and wings. My first time there I was sitting next to an older fella and I don't remember how the subject came up but I was talking about my grandfather that was in the Navy during the Korean war (although he was in a tin can in the Mediterranean at the time and never made it to the Pacific) anyway he said he was in the Navy during Vietnam. So naturally I asked him what ship were you on? (Knowing I probably would not recognize the name) he said the forrestal. I slammed my beer on the bar and said "when it blew up?". He got so wide-eyed took a breath and responded "how the hell do you know about that!" I had just made a really good friend he would have never expected one of those college kids to care or even know about anything. So we got to talking and it turns out he was the actual plat cam operator. He wasn't on the camera at the time he was in the chow hall or mess or whatever you call it on aircraft carrier. He said he Came out of the seat 6 inches and was thrown onto the deck. Then he scrambled to his duty station. It was interesting because I've seen many documentaries on the forrestal especially after John McCain tried to run for president. McCain has bad luck he was involved with the forrestal and the oriskany disasters (as far as I know) anyway my buddy witnessed all of this. It was funny because a lot of the documentaries that I had seen got the entire thing completely wrong. He was able to tell me the real story. He gave Me a copy of naval aviation news 1967 signed it for me and some pictures plus his DD-214. I like to collect things for posterity. I'm assuming you already know this but what really happened was there were two pins that you're supposed to pull the arm the weapons. You're supposed to pull one before the ship reaches the catapult and the other one when it's ready to take off. To expedite the launching process they started pulling both pins while the planes were parked and there was a short and a rocket went off and hit the fully fueled and armed A4 across from it which was I think two planes down from John McCain. He said the problem with the video was that the the window in front of the Plat cam caught a reflection that made it seem the rocket came from somewhere else. That's why the documentaries were so inaccurate. Anyway you probably know all of this but it was really cool to be friend a guy that was there for a few years. So many good stories. Maybe that would be a good video to talk about the oriskany and forrestal incidents. Thanks for listening.
That is one of the most memorable flying stories I've ever heard;
pilot ejected during a thunderstorm then got jerked up and down
four times; finally lived to the age of 89. Electric shock treatment
has been tried many times but this one is a bit extreme!
So lucky you think he would have been deep fried by the time the storm was done with him.....that also has to be a record free fall 40 mins plus !.... Thanks Ward !
Incredible story!!!
Ain’t it? Thanks, Rick!
Interesting crossover here.
yes indeed.
Didn’t know you had an interest in this kind of content, cool! I love your channel too. I sing but don’t know that much about music theory. I’m learning lots from it.
Rick you might appreciate this, as a young drummer many years ago in an obscure
band, I was recognized (something that almost never happened) by a fan at a show. In talking with the guy I learned he was part of a C-5 Galaxy crew from Travis AFB. All talk of music ceased as I peppered him with questions about the C-5...Years later I managed to get a ride on the mighty Galaxy! I still cherish that conversation with the loadmaster.
One of the longest parachute flights in history.
I Found out the other day that a Family member of mine flew the U-2 Spy plane And even got close to joining the Blue Angels. Unfortunately he had high blood pressure and thats what eventually forced him to quit. He went on to become an Air Force Instructor at Denver
I remember seeing him recounting his story on the Jonny Carson or Joey Bishop show when I was a kid.
OMG, Ward Carroll!
I heard about this while in the Air Force, but it was a passing story among the airmen. I never knew the details of this pilot's horrific experience and exposure to so many of the elements that a thunderstorm can muster. That deafening thunder alone while exposed had to be the ultimate torture, to the max.
On the ground is bad enough, but in the clouds?
I am a storm chaser and have been for many years. I rode the lightning too, all the way to the hospital on August 31, 2014, when I was struck by lightning. Still have nerve issues to this day. Love the channel!
I remember reading somewhere about a WW2 bomber crew who bailed out in a thunderstorm and they went up instead of down. They did not survive, though their frozen corpses finally landed. This guy's fear was well founded, but fortunately he had oxygen and the storm subsided early enough to spare him. Another great tale from the skies, Ward.
I worked at Vought Aircraft in the 1980's. A person in my group told me this story. I thought it happened when the F-8 was flying to the Marine Corps. AirStation whom we shared the field with. I was also told that the pilot had decided on the 4th time that he was going to die soon and had decided to cut the chute loose. But he managed to come to earth finally and survived as you stated. Vought was a great place to work. I was in Advanced Manufacturing Technology where we came up, and developed new materials and processes, and machines to aid production of aircraft.
Hey Mooch, how are you doing?
It's absolutely amazing that Colonel Rankin survived such a violent experience. That's a very blessed man. Absolute hero.
THAT , would be truly frightening. The feeling of utter helplessness being tossed around by immense natural forces. Amazing story.
“Fire warning lights”…..1980, Williams AFB AZ. We had been having issues with the F-5s fire warning lights, so we get an urgent message from HQ TAC at Langley AFB, VA stating, “disregard fire warning lights on your F-5s”….. so, during our pre-flight briefing we just sorta looked at each other with glazed eyes…lol. After the pre flight we received another urgent message from HQs TAC saying, “disregard first urgent message, do not disregard fire warning lights”. That took the confused look in our eyes back to a normal look….”flyers, never ever disregard fire warning lights”. Thanks Ward for helping me remember that tidbit from time!! Carry on!!
I was ten years old when that happened. In 1967, I went to the U.S. Navy Submarine School in Groton, Conn. I have enjoyed hearing about Sailors that fly and I subscribed to your channel.
Well, hey, at least submariners don't have to worry about whether their chute was packed properly.
@@alonespirit9923 True, no parachutes required. Just have to be sure not to get below crush depth. Submarines are all volunteer and receive hazardous duty pay the same as being in combat.
@@georgecrutchfield8734 Yep! As it happens one of my much younger cousins has been married to a submariner for a decade or more now & Dad spent a decade or so as a Surface Warfare officer on various "WW2 leftovers" FRAM DD's chasing Soviet subs. He particularly enjoyed the Gearing and Sumner class ones he was on.
I took an applied meteorology class in college, and this pretty much nails how a thunderstorm operates. In fact, in the summer, raindrops are just melted hailstones.
I love the stories you choose. Every time I think naval aviation couldn't get any better, Ward turns up. Thank you for all you do...
Love this guy's pieces. He clearly knows what he is taking about, researches every incident for the relevant details and always makes the story interesting.
Amazing this pilot survived this ordeal!
Gives a whole new meaning to "riding the storm out".
I read his book at the library many, many years ago. It answered my childhood question upon looking at any anvil-shaped severe thunderstorm topping 60,000 ft.: what would it be like to fall through it from top to bottom? These storms have such unmatched fury. It still amazes me that the pilot survived this awesome experience. . .
COL “Wild Bill” Rankin credited his survival to his physical fitness and emphasized that fact when he was CO of the Recruit Training Regiment, MCRD San Diego in 1963. (Where and when I was a boot) Knew an air traffic controller in the 70s who attended a close air briefing he gave during the Korean War. Rankin introduced himself as “a Marine Rifleman currenting assigned to flying fighters.” He was an outstanding Marine. Thanks for another fine video.
Back in 2000, I was recreational skydiving near St. Petersburg, Russia. On my last jump there, exiting from the backseat of a Yak-52, I made an unplanned freefall through 4000+ feet of Thundercloud. My experience was much like in this story, though the updrafts were clearly less severe. Twice, I was taken back up but only about 100 ft by them. Both hit so hard, they literally knocked the wind out of me (no pun intended). The rain, hail and lightning though, was just like this pilot experienced. It was brutal, I was pretty beat-up and a little bloodied by the time I got to the ground, under my reserve. I can only imagine how this guy felt, he was in it for a lot longer.
First! Wish the F8 also had an iconic movie of its own. F14 had top gun, F16 had iron eagle.
th-cam.com/video/oSNLeC-eMUQ/w-d-xo.html
I had a prof who used to fly A-4's in the Marine Corps. In a fit of youthful bravado, he punch into the side of a thunderstorm. I don't remember what altitude he entered the storm, but the storm spit him out the bottom a mere 500 feet off the deck. He made some significant life changes after this.
My dad has Col. Rankin's book, it goes through his training and other flight experiences, as well as his experience going through the thunderstorm. It also has pictures, including one of the crater his F-8 created on impact.
A very lucky individual. It clearly wasn't his day to go.
Wow, what a great story! And he survived to tell it, and describe it. "lightning like blue blades several feet thick" !!!
In 1968, I was a Marine Fire Team Leader on a Company sized OP. Somebody called for air support, it came in the form of F-8 Crusaders loaded with napalm. As the first made its approach, four of us peered I've a birm to watch. That pilot was below tree top level when he pulled up releasing the ordnance and hitting full afterburner. The backblast knocked us into a bomb crater. We got up, looked at each other, and broke into laughter. Our eyebrows were gone and we each appeared to have a three day sunburn. After that drop, there were no more enemy to deal with.
More stories like this would really be appreciative.
Fascinating story. As an Instructor Pilot I teach the following to my students. Three things can happen when an airplane is struck by lightning. first, and almost always, nothing happens, lightning just passes right around on its way to the ground. Secondly, electrical failure or minor air frame damage might occurs. Usually electrical failures can be restored. In the case of you Ward, sounds like you had minor air frame damage. final thing that can happen, catastrophic failure, fire or even explosion, which in the case of the 3rd option almost never, but this story illustrates it can happen.
Ahoskie NC in 1959?! He was lucky he was ever found! That is still only a stone's throw from the middle of nowhere. (me, formerly of Edgecombe County, then Wake County and now Iredell County. It's been a great run!)
Was once riding a motorcycle on I-75 in a rain storm, heard the loudest clap of thunder, I felt electricity going up my right arm, no where near this pilots ride, but I was startled.
I remember reading his autobiography back in the late 70s, "The Man Who Rode The Thunder". WHAT an experience!
Very interesting story. Something very similar happened to a paragliding pilot during a competition and she was cloud sucked up with a force strong enough that none of the decent techniques could combat it. She didnt have oxygen thought and ended up blacking out. Her flight GPS showed her above the storm at 30-some thousand feet doing circles where she had passed out leaning to 1 side causing slow gradual Weightshift turns. The rain soaked wing froze and eventually stalled causing her to plummet back to earth and the fall and rush of air brought her back to consciousness where she was able to regain control again. Once again cloud suck started to pull her up but the time she managed to force a decent. She suffered from frostbite and a few minor injuries but otherwise wad ok. Another competitor who got caught in the same system and wasnt able to escape in time was struck by lightning and died. Storm systems are no joke.
I remember as a child of 10 or 12 seeing this book in my Father's bed stand and reading in amazement this incredible story. Thank you for your video and the memories from my past.
My Dad was Crew Chief on a B-26 called The Look-See from Bowling Field in DC. It was the plane of the General Inspector of the Air during WWII. Col. Watson was the inspector. Anyhow, thru an odd chain of events, the plane once landed with the brakes locked, without any prior warning. A metric sh**ton of piloting skill and all blown tires later, the pilot commented, "I bet that's the shortest a B-26 ever landed! Come on, let's grab some lunch!" My dad was left to arrange repairs. 5 minutes after everyone left he was still sitting there, as crews rolled up, wondering how they all survived without so much as a scratch.
I read the book as a teenager and was impressed that he survived at all. IIRC, he ejected some 40 miles from where he finally came to earth.
Navy HPSP med student here. Love what you are doing and can't get enough of your stories Sir! I would love to hear a little about pilots' interactions with flight surgeons: stereotypes, stories, how to get along with the aircrews, etc. Thanks for your great work and your service!
I always had great flight surgeons during my career. Much respect.
One my racing buddies was an AF Flight Surgeon , Andrews AFB at close of Vietnam 🇻🇳 War.
RIP Robert, man among men! [Who worked Diligently to keep Crews Disease-Free; Social diseases, that is].
ALL gave some...SOME gave ALL! 🇺🇸
Can you imagine the driver who finally picked him up, saying "You look terrible, what happened to you?" Thanks so much for sharing this story, I feel like I'm back in the Wardroom with a former CO who told stories of amazing feats of survival. I've subscribed!
The Man Who Rode the Thunder. Great Book. One of the first books I read as a kid.
Back in the 70’s when I was in elementary school a read a story like this one. This was an F-4 pilot who experienced a stab lock up that took him over a cell. The plane was climbing and he wound up punching out too with a similar ride after. He had an eye pop out in the ordeal. He landed near a road too and after several cars passing by, a young kid in his family’s car told his father that he was an Airforce pilot and they needed to help him.
That was a story in a magazine in a stack I picked up for extra reading credit. It was one of the sparks that got me interested in flying. 45 years later I fly jets for a living and warbirds for fun.
I wonder if Bill was any relation to Tex Rankin.
That Man lived through an Epic right out of Ancient Greece.
I remember reading this book back in the 3rd grade, back, (WAY BACK), in the early 60s . Have remembered his name and the incident , to this day. What a Ride !!!!
I read William Rankin's account of this event while in Junior High. Rankin's career was inspiring.
The F-8 seemed to generate a lot of crazy tales.. like getting airborne with wings folded and landing itself after the pilot ejected.
And now this.
Ballsy. Tough guy to survive that.
I read the book soon after it came out. I had just started flying and it confirmed my firm belief that you stay out of thunderstorms.
how could you see your watch with water or tears in your eyes
I'm from North Carolina and I haven't heard this story before. I have even been to Ahoskie. For some strange reason back when Radio Shack was still a brick and mortar operation corporate put a store there. Fantastic story. A strong will to survive may have given this fighter pilot the instincts to survive. Summer heat and humidity can bring the thunder and lightening in scary ways. I usually worked at strip stores and most summers we would have a round or two of "gulley washers". Invariably lightening would strike a nearby power transformer and we would be in pitch black darkness for 45 minutes to an hours. Good Story!
Rankin's is a mind-blowing tale, about the only thing it lacks is an erupting volcano!
Knew a Kansas Guard F-100 pilot in Korea 1969, he reportedly disliked flying in storms so much his nickname became "Lightening".
Rankin gave a talk about this to my Boy Scout troop in Millington, TN. sometime in the early 1960s. He said that the strap ends did a lot of damage and when he landed and people saw him some screamed because he looked like hamburger in a flight suit. Alien invasion movies were quite popular at the time which didn't help. He was a very effective story teller.
He got me interested in ejections and parachute falls and I read several books, one about the members of the Caterpillar Club and another that had a chapter on survivors that didn't even had a parachute.
I read this story in a book that’s a compilation of such stories. It’s an incredible story of survival.
This is one of the few times when punching out of an F8U _decreases_ your survival chances.
The visuals my mind created while you told this story were horribly amazing. Thanks for sharing these stories. They are stories that most of us would never hear if it wasn't for guys like you. Thanks again.
Awesome story! One I have never before heard. Col. Rankin engaged in hand to hand combat with a thunderstorm and fought it too a draw. Balls of effing steel, Ooooh-Rahhh!!!
Wow! What an amazing experience he had! Obviously didn't enjoy it while it was happening, but it gave him a uniqueness that no other pilot had.
Holy Moly. I can't even.
The fact his chute kept working through all that...
I could visualise the entire ordeal in front of my eyes ..... Thanks to you
I remember reading his novel in the 70's and thought what a man.
Heard about this story and read a little about this story. Brave man.
Air Force Here, Jet Fighter/Bomber Crew Chief/Mechanic 1962-1966.
First, Thank You for your Service, Sir!
Great You Tube site. I will keep watching as much as I can.
Jim Ferrell
So many American stories are about how painlessly wonderfull, how capable, and how superior Americans are. Your stories are the gritty truth about doing the real job of being a responsible force. I take my hat off to you for showing the sometimes painful undersides of what is a tough job. And moreto, the hendreds of heros you tell about. Thankyou.
Wow, he was lucky he survived, he must have been made of strong stuff! Great story, thank you ❣
Wow!! I was on the edge of my seat throughout this video! What a story!!
You're one hell of a narrator!
Thanks for watching, Shantanu!
The good thing from this story is the man was not ready to die yet in a way he was blessed that he did not get hit by lightning
When I was a kid in the early 50's, our next door neighbor was a Crusader pilot. One day, he didn't return home. He and his jet weren't found. I never forgot that, and later learned that the Crusader jet had some serious control problems. I'm surprised you gave it a good rating. Anyway, many years later, I read of a crashed Crusader jet found that crashed in the mountains and wondered if that was the neighbor we lost. He left behind a young wife and little girl.
When you yank the handle to put that APU impeller out into the wind . . . and it comes off in your hand. That was the easy part! Amazing story, incredible that he managed to survive that.
I read this book back in middle school, 50 years ago at least 3 times. Incredible store that still fascinates me….
Definately hit the like! I can't imagine riding the lightning at all, but over 30 minutes of up and down knowing you could be killed at any moment, amazing! I really enjoy your stories and knowledge of military aviation, keep it up.
89 , I guess the old adage is true "that which does not kill you no matter how hard it might try will only make you stronger" Great video Ward these are stories nobody hears about!