[ukmicky (OP)]

If my parachute failed could i survive if i landed in water.

[neilep]

not if it was frozen ! []....However, I've often wondered this myself....if you went in feet first squeezing your nose, I wonder what the chances are ?......

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[simeonie]

I am sure if you landed doing a belly flop or something then no because it would be like hitting a brick wall going so fast

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[daveshorts]

I think there were a few airmen in the war who survived, and were able to walk, after falling 4000 feet into trees and then snow.... however conifers and a snow drift are a lot less solid than water when you are moving fast as there is air in them... Probably your best bet would be to fall as flat as you can to maximise your air restistance and reduce your terminal velocity, and then at the last possible moment spin round to land feet first, I'm not sure I would like to try however...!

[David Sparkman]

In school I was taught that the normal human terminal velocity was 80 miles per hour. No as all englishmen carry umbrellas, if you open it, your terminal velocity will be lowered and you might survive. It would also help if you wore loose clothing, landed on something soft, sang a song from Mary Poppin's, etc...

Seriously there was an English flyer who fell out of a bomber in WWII and lived to tell about it. (Lots of bones were broken) Landing in water is still best to do feet first. Water doesn't move too fast, and head first at 80 mph is sure to make jello out of your brains, break your neck and smash your cranium.

Once you hit feet first, your first problem will be to curl up and slow down your decent into the water. The deeper you go, the colder it gets, and the less likely you will make it back to the top with any air left (most of it was forced out of your lungs).

David

[simeonie]

Well as soon as you hit the water (feet first) instead of curling up into a ball why not just use all of your energy to swim upwards towards the surface.

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[ukmicky (OP)]

Not really simeonie because you would be moving so fast through the water that you would only be able to move parts of your body upwards. if you went in feet first.

[David Sparkman]

Your movement down though the water is only for a second or two. Curling up or pointing your feet sideways dispells energy like skidding a car to the left or right. The swimming up part comes next.

I had some experience diving off of a cliff that was almost a 3 second drop. The warm layer of water was only about 12 feet deep, and I ended up about 20 feet deep in the water after every jump.

But it was fun !

David