Height of a peg

[monse]

Has the height of a peg been determined approximately ?

By example, the balloon Rules says that an observer can’t bail out if the balloon is at altitude 1 or 2.

[flash]

Only recall seeing the peg ceilings in the Tools For Working Out Stats doc, Simon. 1 is 250m - more than enough to jump from, however, they are not evenly distributed, eg 4 is 1100m,5 is 1550m
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/do...do=file&id=959

[zenlizard]

Yeah, using the word "scale" for the whole altitude system is...optimistic. Really, not even a logarithmic scale would be consistent.

[monse]

Thank you for the answer, Dave.
As the balloon Rules says that an observer can’t bail out if the balloon is at altitude 1 or 2, and if one peg is 250 m and two pegs are 500 m, it means that the observer must bail out from an altitude above 500 meters.
But the first attempts were made from a lower altitude.
Do you know from what altitude the parachute jump should be made safely from a plane and a ballon during WW1 in a combat situation ?

French aviator Pegoud made the first parachute jump attempt at an altitude of 200 meters.
On August 19, 1913, the French aviator Adolphe PÉGOUD jumped 200 meters from the ground of his Blériot plane sacrificed for the occasion, with a parachute made by the "Maison BONNET", over the Châteaufort aerodrome in the Yvelines. PEGOUD opened his parachute before jumping, allowing himself to be extracted from the plane by the traction of his wing. Hitting the imping of his plane, he broke his shoulder and ended his fall into a tree.
http://matpara.wifeo.com/du-debut-du...e-mondiale.php

One of the first military parachute jump was made at an altitude of 300 meters.
It is to a marine rifleman, Constant Duclos, who deserves the first parachute jump in French military history on November 17, 1915 at 4 p.m. This jump made in the Chalais-Meudon park, 300 meters above sea level, as well as several parachute descents at the end of November made it possible to have the prototype tested by Duclos homologated. This new weapon will also allow the intelligence services to introduce agents behind enemy lines and, towards the end of the conflict, the release of food and ammunition.
Constant Duclos, who holds the record for first world war jumps with twenty-three parachute descents, will also have helped raise awareness among skiers about the use of the parachute intended primarily to save their lives. There are more than 150 jumps made by French aerostiers between March 1916 and November 1918.
https://francearchives.gouv.fr/fr/pa...oire/267940168

[OldGuy59]

My knee-jerk reponse would be that 500 feet (150 meters) would be a minimum height. It would be dangerous, because the chute would need time to deploy, expand, and decelerate the falling pilot before reaching the ground.

For balloons in WW1, there were bags rigged above the baskets, and the observers wore harnesses. This meant that when the observer jumped from the basket, the chute would deploy and expand very rapidly, with the observer possibly never accelerating past a slow drop. As long as the chute deployed properly, and didn't tangle in the balloon rigging, the decent would be fairly safe from very low altitude.

[flash]

..Do you know from what altitude the parachute jump should be made safely from a plane and a balloon during WW1 in a combat situation ?

No idea, Simon, I'm guessing they didn't have too much choice in the matter though !
As far as I can see, depending on what licence you hold, civilians these days jump from min 3000' - 2500', (900m+ to 750m) the better you are the lower you can jump from but the kit is clearly way different these days.
In combat the Army aims to drop paras from min 600’ (182m), or so, in training from 1,200’ (365m); base jumpers have done it with a deployed chute from 100’ (30m).

[milcoll73]

My knee-jerk reponse would be that 500 feet (150 meters) would be a minimum height. It would be dangerous, because the chute would need time to deploy, expand, and decelerate the falling pilot before reaching the ground.

For balloons in WW1, there were bags rigged above the baskets, and the observers wore harnesses. This meant that when the observer jumped from the basket, the chute would deploy and expand very rapidly, with the observer possibly never accelerating past a slow drop. As long as the chute deployed properly, and didn't tangle in the balloon rigging, the decent would be fairly safe from very low altitude.

some were also suspended in a large bag under the basket as well.

[monse]

Thank you all, for your answers.