Since there were no ejection seats in WW 2 fighter planes, how did pilots "bail out" when they had to

Question

Did WW2, help to provide knowlege for our modern fighter plane ejection systems? Which were the easiest fighter planes to bail out of, and which ones were the most problematic?

Answer 1

I think the "how" is pretty well covered. As far as the easiest/hardest, I wouldn't think any of the single engine fighters would have any great advantage over another, I'm sure some were a bit better than others but not significant. If anyone knows any better, speak up. The P39 Airacobra I would think would be on the harder side as it had an actual door that needed to be opened (unless there was an emergency way out?). The twin engine fighters i would think would be a bit hairy, can you imagine hitting the rear horizontal stabilizer on a P38? Youch! The bomber boys I think had it worse than the fighters, once you went into a spin you might as well forget it as the centrifugal force would pin you to the inside wall of the plane and that was it. The ball turret on a B17 I would think would be the absolute worst place to be in an emergency.

Answer 2

For the record, the ww2 german jet bomber Arado 234 pioneered ejection seats. Having talked to both allied and axis fighter pilots, it seems that side hinged canopies were the worst to bail out of, since it could be held closed by the wind. If you rolled the aircraft on its back, egress was a lot easier. When my company was small years ago, our chief pilot was once an Me-109 pilot. He stated that there was a good chance of striking the tail during bail out. I could be wrong, since I am using opinion instead of statistics.

Answer 3

'Orses for courses. the Spitfire and Mustang (with a merlin engine) must come near the top but the Foke Wolf 190 amd indeed the Me 109 were very formidable. the Japanese Zero was not to be sneezed at: At different times of the war new aircraft appeared some were better then others. Some were designed for long distance flights and some were not. As I said, 'orses for courses The Spitfire like the Hurricane was designed for home defence and short range. The former over the years increased it's performance incredibly but the Hurricane which I think was the final monoplane development of the Hawker Fury biplane had fairly limited development potential. A later Hawker aircraft again called the Fury almost reached jet engine speeds during the Korean war and is thought to have broken the sound barrier but that can not be proven

Answer 4

The planes were equipped with a canopy release. Pull the lever and wind blew the canopy off. The pilot only had to stand up then step over the side, jump, wait for 3 seconds to clear the plane, then pull a parachute rip cord. The stall speed was usually under 75 knots.

Answer 5

WW2 planes didn't go THAT fast where i t would be a hazard to eject. They just slowed down, opened the hatch, and jumped out. Jets forced the invention of ejection seats.

Answer 6

The easiest planes? Those were the planes which ran out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean at about 10,000 feet. Punching out of a P-51 or a Corsair, that which was blown-in-half; literally meant: punching out.

Answer 7

They had to open the canopy, unstrap their belts, step into the blast of the propellor and try to jump upward from the aircraft. It didn't always work so well because it's hard to jump away from something moving the same speed as you are.

Answer 8

They would slow down the plane .open up cock pit and stand up try and jump away from the plane if not may be hurt would row plane
up side down

Answer 9

After opening the canopy, they either stood then jumped, or rolled the plane upside down and released their harness.

Answer 10

They got out of the cockpit by standing up and getting out or they could roll the plane over and fall out.