This 1949 color animated film titled “Bailing Out” is a U.S. Navy training film covering parachute ejections. It begins with an animated Vought F4U Corsair cruising through the sky when a thunderstorm begins (0:14-0:38). A bird flies into the engine and causes rapid altitude loss. It passes a floating 7000-ft altitude sign as it drops towards a mountain range (0:39-1:45). The Lieutenant looks terrified at the prospect of using his parachute and bailing out (1:46-1:53). An animated Leonardo Da Vinci hangs his prototype parachute out a window and encourages his assistant to test it, who is shown yelling and quitting, unwilling to jump (1:54-2:30). The plane is shown continuing to lose altitude. The Lieutenant’s cockpit transforms into his bed, where he hides under the covers as an alarm goes off, which transforms back into his cockpit instruments (2:31-2:55). Jean-Pierre Blanchard’s 1785 parachute test with a dog as the passenger is animated (3:05-4:12). The Lieutenant’s imagination of the parachute failing is animated (4:13-4:36). Dozens of animated pilots are shown parachuting at once (4:45-4:51). The parachute is shown being checked out, which transforms into the packing data card and instruction manual (4:52-5:22). The effects of loose straps are shown, and a brief showcase of proper wearing (5:23-5:46). The plane is shown passing markers at 5,000, 4,000, and 3,000 feet in the air (5:51-6:01). The film shows an animated explanation of jumping with a 1940s Navy parachute: slow the plane down, open the canopy, disconnect radio and oxygen, undo safety belt, throw back the shoulder straps, and prepare to jump. (6:02-6:51). The Lieutenant is shown remembering his ground training, correctly exits the plane in a parachute, and pulls the lever (6:52-8:08). The Lieutenant is shown remembering jumping off a shed as a child, and easily lands (8:09-9:09). The film ends with him casually trying to light a cigarette, and the dog that first tested the parachute gives him a drag off his opera-length cigarette holder (9:10-9:33).
The character shown in the film is not named but is likely based on "Grampa Pettibone". This was a character created in 1943 by Lt. Robert Osborn, an illustrator who worked in collaboration with writer (and USN Commander) Seth Warner. The so-called “sage of safety” character shared pearls of veteran pilot wisdom in the pair's airplane safety and mishap column, which was published in the Bureau of Aeronautics' newsletter. Following a description of a mishap, the old curmudgeon aviator railed at young fliers for making stupid mistakes. More than one aviator caught in a pinch in the sky has suddenly remembered a timely pearl of wisdom from Gramps that helped the flier avoid a costly- and perhaps fatal-error.
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