William Rankin

{{Short description|Survivor of fall through a thunderstorm cloud}} {{for|other people with this name}} {{Infobox military person |name = William Henry Rankin |image = |image_upright = |alt = |caption = |birth_name = |birth_date = {{birth date|1920|10|16}} |birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US |death_date = {{death date and age|2009|07|06|1920|10|16}} |death_place = Oakdale, Pennsylvania, US |burial_place = |burial_coordinates =  |allegiance = United States |branch = United States Marine Corps Aviation |service_years = 1940–1964 |rank = Lieutenant colonel |unit = |commands = |battles = |awards = }}

Lieutenant Colonel '''William Henry Rankin''' (October 16, 1920 – July 6, 2009) was the first person to survive a fall from the top of a cumulonimbus thunderstorm cloud.<ref name="cloudbook">{{cite book |title=The Cloudspotter's Guide |last=Pretor-Pinney |first=Gavin |year=2006 |publisher=The Cloud Appreciation Society |isbn=0-340-89589-6 |pages=320 pg}}</ref> He was a pilot in the United States Marine Corps and a World War II and Korean War veteran. In 1959, he was flying an F-8 Crusader jet fighter over a cumulonimbus cloud when the engine failed, and he ejected and parachuted into the cloud.<ref name="cloudbook"/> Rankin wrote a book about his experience, ''The Man Who Rode the Thunder''.<ref>{{cite web | work = Check-Six.com| url = http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/F8U-143696-Rankin-Freefall.htm | title = Rankin's F8U Crusader | date = July 17, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="pilotbook">{{cite book |title=The Man Who Rode the Thunder |last=Rankin |first=William |year=1960 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-548271-2 |pages=220 pg}}</ref>

==Ejection== On July 26, 1959, Rankin was flying from Naval Air Station South Weymouth, Massachusetts, to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina.<ref>{{cite magazine | magazine = Time | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937849,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080408135250/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937849,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 8, 2008 | title = HEROES: The Nightmare Fall | date = August 17, 1959 }}</ref> He climbed over a thunderhead that peaked at {{convert|45000|ft|-2}}; then—at {{convert|47000|ft|-2}} and at mach 0.82—he heard a loud bump and rumble from the engine. The engine stopped, and a fire warning light flashed.<ref name="cloudbook"/> He pulled the lever to deploy auxiliary power, and it broke off in his hand. Though not wearing a pressure suit, at 6:00 p.m. he ejected into the {{convert|-50|C}} air.<ref name="cloudbook"/> He suffered immediate frostbite, and decompression caused his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth to bleed. His abdomen swelled severely. He did, however, manage to make use of his emergency oxygen supply.<ref name="cloudbook"/>

Five minutes after he abandoned the plane, his parachute had not opened{{clarify|reason=Was this abnormal? Next sentence claims it opened prematurely|date=May 2026}}. While in the upper regions of the thunderstorm, with near-zero visibility, the parachute opened prematurely instead of at {{convert|10000|ft|m|-3}} because the storm had affected the barometric parachute switch and caused it to open.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.damninteresting.com/rider-on-the-storm/|title=Rider on the Storm|website=www.damninteresting.com|access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref> After ten minutes, Rankin was still aloft, carried by updrafts and getting hit by hailstones. Violent spinning and pounding caused him to vomit. Lightning appeared, which he described as blue sheets several feet thick, and thunder that he could feel. "I saw lightning all around me, over, above, everywhere, and I saw it in every shape imaginable. But when very close it appeared mainly as a huge, bluish sheet, several feet thick, sometimes sticking close to me in pairs, like the blades of a scissor..." The rain forced him to hold his breath to keep from drowning. One lightning bolt lit up the parachute, making Rankin believe he had died.<ref name="cloudbook" />

Conditions calmed, and he descended into a forest. His watch read 6:40 p.m. It had been 40 minutes since he had ejected. He searched for help and eventually was admitted into a hospital at Ahoskie, North Carolina.<ref name="cloudbook" /> He suffered from frostbite, welts, bruises, and severe decompression.

==In popular culture== Rankin wrote ''The Man Who Rode the Thunder'' about his experience;{{r|pilotbook}} Floyd C. Gale called the book a "thrilling true adventure".<ref name="gale196110">{{Cite magazine |last=Gale |first=Floyd C. |author= |last2= |first2= |date=October 1961 |title=Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf |department= |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v20n01_1961-10#page/n171/mode/2up |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=173–177 |type= }}</ref> His story was covered in the March 2, 2017, episode of ''The Dollop Podcast''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dollop-with-dave-anthony-and-gareth-reynolds/id643055307?i=1000382084776|title=The Dollop with David Anthony and Gareth Reynolds}}</ref> His story was covered in the television show ''Mysteries at the Museum'', season 14, episode 9.

==See also == * Cloud suck * Ewa Wiśnierska, a paraglider who also went through a thunderstorm cloud.

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rankin, William}} Category:1920 births Category:2009 deaths Category:People from Pittsburgh Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:Parachuting Category:American aviators Category:Joint Forces Staff College alumni Category:United States Marine Corps pilots of World War II Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War