Gary
Yes, generally the "Jumper" will be below the plane since he/she has the same forward velocity as the plane when he/she exits, (now comes the "however") however the Jumper's body is less streamlined than the plane so it has a bit more drag (force in opposite direction to direction of motion) slowing it down relative to the plane. Whether it would be enough to cause the Jumper to strike the "H" tail of an Electra? Possibly. Depends on the configuration of the Jumper's body.
Of course we have all seen a Jumper achieve a position where he/she can minimize that drag and actually appear to be "flying".
Of course, as a former artillery officer, you know that a body falling out of a plane, a bomb dropped from a plane, an artillery shell fired into the air travels in a trajectory that is roughly parabolic. Thus, the Norden Bomb Sight solved the geometry (trigonometry) of that configuration and allowed nuch more accurate bombing. That's why the development of that sighting devive was "Top Secret".
It is true that after a small amount of time the plane will pull ahead of the jumper due to the drag on the jumper not being balanced with thrust from a propeller but this does not happen until the jumper is well below the plane. I've jumped 329 times and never hit the tail, I've dropped hundreds of jumpers while flying the jump plane and I have watched thousands of jumps and nobody else ever hit the tail either. I have never even heard of a jumper hitting the tail of the plane he had exited. Do you have any examples of a jumper hitting the tail of the plane he jumped from?
The only case I know of was a real freak event. A Jumper in free fall hit the tail of a plane that just happened to be flying below him. The plane crashed but the jumper survived and the FAA got sued for not having warned the pilot of the jump plane about the other plane below him.
Here is what the NTSB determined as the probable cause.
NTSB Identification:
BFO94FA015.
The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact
Records Management Division Accident occurred Sunday, November 21, 1993 in NORTHAMPTON, MA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/11/1995
Aircraft: PIPER PA-28-161, registration: N3011F
Injuries: 4 Fatal.
A PIPER PA-28, N3011F, WAS IN VFR CRUISE FLIGHT HEADING EASTBOUND AT ABOUT 5700' MSL, AS A CESSNA 210 (PARACHUTE JUMP PLANE) HAD JUST COMPLETED A CLEARING TURN TO A WESTBOUND HEADING, INTO THE SUN, AT 7300' MSL. A PARACHUTIST JUMPED FROM THE JUMP PLANE & STRUCK THE VERTICAL STABILIZER OF THE PA-28 AFTER A FEW SECONDS OF FREE FALL. CONTROL OF THE PA-28 WAS LOST, & IT CRASHED IN AN UNCONTROLLED DESCENT. THE JUMP PLANE WAS IN RADAR & RADIO COMMUNICATION WITH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC) IN ORDER TO RECEIVE TRAFFIC ADVISORIES PER THE FAA ATC CONTROLLER'S HANDBOOK. THE PA-28 WAS RECORDED ON RADAR. NO ADVISORIES WERE ISSUED TO THE JUMP PLANE AFTER THE PILOT CALLED '1 MINUTE PRIOR TO JUMP.' TESTS SHOWED THAT ONE TRANSCEIVER IN THE PA-28 WAS TUNED TO 120.30 MHZ; A WARNING FOR PARACHUTE JUMPING WAS GIVEN OVER THIS FREQUENCY. A 1/8' PARACHUTE SYMBOL (COLORED BLUE) WAS DEPICTED ON THE SECTIONAL CHART AND WAS SUPERIMPOSED OVER A RIVER (ALSO COLORED BLUE). THE CONTROLLER WAS RECEIVING ON-THE-JOB TRAINING FROM A FULL PERFORMANCE CONTROLLER.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
FAILURE OF THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC) FACILITY TO IDENTIFY AND PROVIDE THE REQUIRED TRAFFIC INFORMATION TO THE JUMP AIRCRAFT BEFORE RELEASE OF THE JUMPER(S). A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY THE PILOT OF THE JUMP AIRCRAFT.
Here is a
link to the NTSB report, and to the
probable cause determination.
gl