A Falling Out - The Luckiest Man Alive!

Today we are going to discover the fascinating experience of one of the more interesting pilots from the "Great War," World War I in Europe. This war began on July 28, 1914 in Europe, although it involved the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific as well. 

 

 

Our story begins in the city of Darlington, County Durham, in England on December 27, 1890. On this day in 1890 a printer and compositor by the name John P. Makepeace and his wife Mary A. Milburn welcomed a young boy by the name of Reginald Milburn Makepeace into their family. Little did they know that their son would become a World War I flying Ace, and that he would also be involved in an amazing but true aviation experience!

 

 

In 1905 Reginald and his family emigrated to Canada, eventually settling in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After Reginald Makepeace grew up and finished school, he took up a job working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. But Reginald had a desire to serve, and wanted to learn to fly.

 

 

When Reginald turned 21 he enlisted in the military where he took flying lessons, and on November 17, 1916 was commissioned (on probation) as a second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps, and was assigned to No. 20 Squadron as a pilot flying a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d on June 8, 1917.

 

 

A photograph of a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d flying machine.

 

 

Roayl Aircraft Factory FE.2b Specifications:

 

• Crew: 2
• Length: 32 feet 3 inches
• Wingspan: 47 feet 9 inches
• Height: 12 feet 8 inches
• Empty weight: 2,061 pounds
• Gross weight:  3,037 pounds
• Powerplant: 1 x Beardmore 6-cylindar water-cooled in-line piston engine, 160 hp
• Propeller: 4-bladed wooden fixed-pitch pusher propeller
• Maximum speed: 91.5 mph
• Range: 3 hours
• Service ceiling: 11,000 feet
• Armament:
  • Guns: 1 or 2 .303 (7.7 mm) Lewis gun for observer (one mounted in front and one firing back over the top of the wing. Sometimes one mounted for the pilot's use.
  • Bombs: Up to 517 pounds of bombs

 

 

Lt. Makepeace was sent to Europe as a fighter pilot flying a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2d where he joined the aerial war going on in World War I. He scored his first victory on June 29, 1917, with Lt. Melville Waddington as his observer/gunner in the rear. On July 6, 1917, Lt. Makepeace and Lt. Waddington scored their second victory. On July 12, 1917 his probation period was over and he was confirmed as a Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps.

 

 

Lt. Makepeace then went on to triumph six more times flying the FE.2d, including a triple score on July 27, 1917, followed by another victory, his eighth win, on August 17, 1917. Makepeace was then awarded the Military Cross on September 26, 1917. His citation reads as follows:

 

 

Second Lieutenant Reginald Milburn Makepeace, Royal Flying Corps, Special Reserve.

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty whilst on an offensive patrol. He and his gunner shot down three enemy aircraft in quick succession, having attacked a large hostile formation, about twenty in number, with great dash and determination."

 

 

At that point in time the squadron was re-equipped with the upgraded and brand new Bristol F.2 fighter like the aircraft pictured below:

 

 

Bristol F.2 Fighter specifications:

• Crew: 2
• Length: 25 feet 10 inches
• Wingspan: 39 feet 3 inches
• Height: 9 feet 9 inches
• Empty weight: 2,145 pounds
• Max takeoff weight: 3,243 pounds
• Powerplant: 1 x Rolls-Royce Falcon II v-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 275 hp
• Propeller: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
• Maxium speed: 123 mph
• Range: 369 miles
• Service ceiling: 18,000 feet
• Armament:
  • 1 x .303 inch (7.7 mm) forward-firing Vickers machine gun in the upper fuselage
  • 1 or 2 .303 inch Lewis Guns in the observer's cockpit
  • Bombs: 240 pounds

 

 

Makepeace and Waddington were the very first to score a victory flying the new Bristol F.2 fighter. They downed an Albatros D.V in flames on September 4, 1918. Makepeace then went on to win his seventeeth, and final victory, on January 28, 1918, when he flew as observer/gunner for pilot Second Lieutenant John Stanley Chick of No. 11 Squadron.

 

He's Out! He's In!

 

One thing that does not appear in the records for Lt. Makepeace is a flight that took place in a Bristol F.2B with gunner/observer Captain John H. Hedley on January 4, 1918. They were both about to experience something that would change Hedley's life.

 

 

By 1918 the skies over Europe were filled with a chaotic ballet of whirling bi-planes attacking and being attacked by the enemy. During a dogfight on January 4, 1918, with now Captain Reginald "Jimmy" Makepeace at the controls, and Captain John H. Hedley perched in back of the two seater Bristol F.2B,  they found themsleves in a frantic, swirling aerial duel with the enemy.

 

 

Suddenly, and without warning, Capt. Makepeace placed his aircraft into a steep, stomach-turning dive to avoid an enemy aircraft attacking them. At this point in history the officers in charge of flight crews felt it was advisable to not issue  air crews parachutes, in large part because the brass thought it would make them less likely to take risks if they knew there was a safe "out."  Probably not the smartest thing the brass did.

 

 

Well, the sudden dive created strong negative Gs, tossing Capt. John H. Hedley out of his seat and into the aircraft's slipstream! With no parachute, and the earth rushing up to greet him, he no doubt felt he was certain it was curtains for him! Or was it?

 

 

As Hedley fell quickly towards the ground, so did the Bristol F.2B! Somehow, Hedley met the descending airplane, and quickly grabbed the flat-topped aft fuselage of the fighter. He then hung on to the airplane for his dear life!

 

 

A Falling Out by Captain John Headley, "The Luckiest Man Alive!"

 

 

Hedley managed to crawl back into his seat and the fight went on, the crew apparently non-plussed by this flying adventure. Capt. Hedley went on to score 11 victories for himself before he was shot down and became a POW two months later. Capt. Makepeace himself shot down 17 enemy aircraft with his forward-firing gun, so they were literally a deadly duo.

 

 

Once the war was over, Hedley became an American citizen, moved to Chicago, Illinois, and for a while made a living billing himself as "The Luckiest Man Alive." He went on tour and gave lectures about his free fall adventure.

 

 

Promotional material for John Hedley’s lecture titled “Rambling Through the Air.”

 

 

 

 

Interestingly enough, had Hedley moved to Berlin instead, he would have had to share his fame with 1st Lt. Otto Berla. On May 24, 1917, Lt. Berla was an observer on an Albatos C.V when a sudden bout of turbulence forced the aircraft's nose down and popped the unbelted Berla up and out of his seat.

 

 

He and the airplane briefly separated, but a second updraft forced the tail of the aicraft up just in time to meet the rapidly descending Berla. Berla punched his feet first through the plywood-skinned turtledeck just aft of his cockpit. Very happy to be back aboard, Berla rode back to base in his new temporary office.

 

 

Postscript:

 

After the war ended, Capt. Makepeace was assigned to be an instructor pilot at the No. 1 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery, based at Turnberry Aerodrome in Scotland. On May 28, 1918, while giving instruction to 2nd lt. Thomas Albert McClure, the wings of their Bristol F.2B fighter folded up in flight, plummeting to ground and killing both pilots. Capt. Makepeace was buried at Anfield Cemetery, Liverpool, England.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this blog, sign up to receive your own weekly blog post here: Subscribe here!

 

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!