Surviving an ejection from an F8 Crusader flying at 47,000 feet into a thunderstorm is truly amazing. William Rankin, a pilot in the United States Marine Corps, is The Man Who Rode Thunder when he ejected from his F8 Crusader on top of a cumulonimbus thunderstorm cloud. He had a very bad day that summer of 1959 by any pilot’s standard as not only did his engine fail but his parachute deployed in the middle of the thunderstorm.
