When we hit the trees, the airspeed indicated 125 knots (140 mph). If my head had been forward instead of back against the headrest, it would not have snapped forward sending my helmet (with an ill-fitting nape strap) flying through the fragmented canopy. The stretched harness, like a rubber band, slung my bare head back against the poorly padded headrest, knocking me out.

If I had not lost my helmet, or the head-rest been properly padded, I would have not been knocked out and could have gotten out of the fire sooner. We cut 35 feet out of the top of 110-foot tree right off the end of the runway, and an 800-foot swath through the trees, landing in that circle impacting at 15 Gs!

You should be able to survive a 35 mph impact, the average impact speed in vehicle accidents, if I survived 140 mph impact!