The story of William Rankin will stand the test of time!
On that bad day, Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin’s F-8 Crusader crashed in midair. To preserve his life, this veteran pilot left the plane at an altitude of 12,000 meters and parachuted to the ground. It would have been the only unlucky thing about his flight, but it wasn’t: he jumped straight into a roaring storm, seemingly wanting to swallow the skilled pilot.
On July 26, 1959, Mr. Rankin flew along the Carolina coast with first-class pilot Herbert Nolan. The pair of F-8 Crusader fighter jets of the two are leisurely at an altitude of 14,000 meters. Everything was fine, except for a big storm that was lying at their feet. They only need to weather this storm to return to the Customs base located in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Only a few minutes away from the base, everything turned in an unpredictable direction. Lieutenant Colonel Rankin’s jet engines stopped abruptly. He tried to keep the plane from crashing into the ground at terrifying speed but was completely helpless. His experience in air combat with more than 100 battles during World War II told him what to do.
“Loss of power. Probably going to have to abandon the plane ,” said Mr. Rankin radio communication to his passenger, Mr. Nolan.
Pulling the lever and ejecting from the plane, the pilot and the plane parted without saying goodbye. Lieutenant Colonel Rankin freedives from an altitude of 14,000 meters. The air at this altitude is colder than -50 degrees Celsius, the pressure at this altitude makes Mr. Rankin struggle to find his breath. But it is clear that he had a safe landing when he was still able to give an interview that:
“I felt something bad rise up, my stomach seemed to have doubled in size. My nostrils filled with air and felt like it was going to explode. For 30 seconds, I thought the pressure would knock me down. I.
A shocking chill swept through him. His ankles and wrists started to sting as if someone had put dry ice on it. My left hand is numb. On the way down, I let my glove off.”
That is what Lieutenant Colonel Rankin told Time magazine in August 1959.
The pilot’s parachute would deploy on its own at 3,000 meters, and although he wanted to open it earlier than the default altitude, he knew he couldn’t. At this altitude, the temperature is too low, the pressure is extremely high, and the amount of oxygen is not enough to breathe will turn him into a martyr before his feet can touch the ground.
He crashed straight into the ground, through the storm he and pilot Nolan flew through not long ago.
Lieutenant Colonel Rankin’s parachute suddenly opened earlier than expected, and Mr. Rankin was alone against the invincible force of nature: he was hovering in the middle of a storm. The burly body of the seasoned 39-year-old pilot was flung about in a strong storm, and lightning flashed around this unlucky person. An experience no one has ever experienced.
” I saw lightning. And oh my god, do I remember those lightning bolts,” Mr. Rankin nervously recalled, telling Time. “I didn’t really hear the thunder, but I could feel it clearly. I remember flying through the heavy rain and it worried me; I was worried that the rain would tear me apart. When I was flying through the rain, I opened my mouth to breathe and took in a full mouthful of water. I was tossed up and down about every 2,000 meters. The experience went on for a very long time, it was like. sitting in an elevator that falls so fast .”
Like a scarecrow in a great storm, Mr. Rankin was tossed about in the storm, under the pressure that the parachute could get tangled at any moment. His eyes, nose, mouth, and ears were all bleeding from the pressure of the high altitude. The veteran pilot’s endurance limit was reached, he vomited.
But in the end, Mr. Rankin still had a happy ending for him. He escaped the storm, proceeding to land on the ground.
Strong winds sent Rankin’s parachute crashing straight into a tree near the town, knocking him head-on as he landed. Trembling to his feet, he recollected what had just happened, hitch a ride across the street and headed to a nearby grocery store, which had already called Mr. Rankin for an ambulance.
Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin’s experience riding the storm of a lifetime lasted 40 minutes. Miraculously, the injuries on his body were not too serious. This one-of-a-kind adventure inspired him to write the book The Man Who Rode the Thunder.
In 1964, Mr. William Rankin was discharged from the army, retiring until his death in 2009, in Oakdale, Pennsylvania. But his adventure in the heart of the storm will last forever!