How Hard was Bailing Out of a Plane in World War II?

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How hard was bailing out in World War II? When pilots had to jump from their damaged aircraft to pull a parachute to survive? Let's answer that question! This was made using the World War II flight simulator IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles series. Hope you enjoy! Please like, comment, and subscribe.

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[FacesoftheForgotten]

I had to bail out of my WW2 vintage 1945 TBM Avenger at low altitude over the White Mountains over Arizona in 2018, and I can tell you it is hard to get your body out with the air stream forces pinning you against the rear canopy side - (STRAIGHT AND LEVEL), and then once out, not to get hit by the tail, I was lucky to survive it. (N337VT).

[zzzyxwv]

As a teen I read the book of french ace Pierre clostermann. He described bailing out by releasing canopy, unfasten, hive yourself up and with your foot slam the stick forward. The dive would eject you of the plane. He was shot down 3 times and survived the war. He flew English typhoon and tempest

[robertjohns]

My father bailed from his 17 in Feb '43, after hitting Wilhelmshaven, POW till wars end. Told me he later learned that his crew was thought to be the first full crew to successfully all survive bailing. One of the few facts dad shared, spoke very little of any part of the war...

[webleypug]

A dear friend of our family was a Canadian pilot flying out of England in WWII. He flew Halifax bombers & converted to Lancasters for his last two missions. He celebrated his 99th birthday this past August (2021). He's still very sharp. He told me they were not trained in parachute jumping. The only jump he ever made was over the Lake District of Carlisle in Cumbria (August 1944) on his 17th trip. They'd run out of fuel, as his navigator had missed a diversion signal to another airfield. Our friend was the last to leave the bomber. He recalls swinging in one direction after catching wind & may have completed a swing in the other before hitting the ground. He also told me he personally knew of pilots who, though uninjured in an aircraft that was crippled & going down, refused to leave their seats because there were wounded crew-mates aboard who could not bail out. Gives me chills whenever I think about that.

[loganpollock]

Old Professor Rodgers at KSU was a waist gunner in a B-17. When their plane was hit by flak, it immediately went into a steep dive and they were held to the floor by the g-force and couldn't move. The fuselage broke between the wing and the tail and they(waist gunners) were flung out and clear of the plane around 6000 ft. They were the only two survivors of a crew of ten. They were lucky to come down just inside allied lines.

[KevinMcNulty]

Even though most people thought the "car doors" on the P-39 and P-63 were hard to bail out of because they open against the windstream, they were actually some of the easiest aircraft to bail out of. Inside the cockpit, there was an emergency door jettison, which took the door off at the hinges. Then all you had to do was roll out onto the wing and you were out.

[richardstuart]

The sole survivor of my uncle's Lancaster bomber crew bailed out and landed in a German field in the middle of the night. He was found by a group of German civilians and one soldier. The civilians started to kick him to death, but the soldier stopped them. A second member of the crew bailed out but did not survive.

[Trevor_Austin]

I’ve bailed out of a glider that fell apart mid-air. I can tell you it’s fraught. Now everything inside your cockpit now tries to stop you getting out. That is if the aircraft’s g loading doesn’t prevent you getting out. Even once you are out, you are still not safe as bits of airborne wreckage can still take you out. I also question whether a stricken aircraft is controllable.

[andymetternich]

My grandfather bailed out 5 times, broke his skull once, when the. Ceiling of his Messerschmidt didn't detach and the ejector seat struck it. He was a test pilot for Heinkel, Junkers and Messerschmidt.

[jeffbosworth]

If I recall the story right my dad's best buddy (P51 pilot in the Pacific during WWII) had to bail out and got something (I forget what) caught and had to climb back into the cockpit and bail out again. Must of been terrible.

[SM]

I was going to 15 years ago, we had an old P-38 pilot visit our plant on Veteran's Day. He told a story about the time he had to bail it involved rolling the plane over onto its back so he could drop out.

[derekrusso]

Wow, I remember when you were at a few thousand and now nearly 42k and getting sponsored! Congrats man keep up the good work.👍

[arthurambroise]

I've also read the technique of applying full nose-down trim while forcing the aircraft to stay level and crouching on the seat, then suddenly letting go of the stick and jumping out of the aircraft helped by the forward momentum of the plane diving. Quite a scary way to leave an aircraft!

[skyprof]

Maybe another hazard hasn't been pointed out is landing using uncontrollable parachute- round, not like modern winglike. So pilot after missing death in the air could meet it unfortunately in some trees, pond, river or due to strong wind. Great video👍

[TJ]

Thank you World of Warships for sponsoring this video.
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[jameskolan]

Thanks for the interesting video. A close family friend was shot down during an air raid on Oldenburg. I asked him about it but didn't get much information other than that he was able to parachute and was trapped in a tree until the German soldiers captured him. He spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp. I believe only two or three from his B-24 crew survived and six (including the pilot and copilot) died. I am grateful that he survived as his friendship was an important one.

[masterimbecile]

The nostalgia tingles are real with the Disney-style animated instructional videos and the grainy narration with mid-Atlantic accent.

[dirkmahlberg]

The German jet fighter He 280, which was only produced in small series, was the first aircraft in the world to receive an ejection seat. On January 13, 1943, Captain Helmut Schenk operated the ejection seat of his He 280 during a test flight at the Rechlin test site after the aircraft had become uncontrollable due to icing; this was the first emergency ejection in the history of aviation. Schenk was uninjured; the He 280 crashed into a forest. The world's second emergency ejection also took place in Germany: On July 15, 1943, Captain Hans-Joachim Pancherz, a test pilot for Junkers, had to eject from a Junkers Ju 290 at Lärz (Rechlin) after parts of the aircraft broke off at top speed.

The first aircraft with an ejection seat fitted as standard was the German night fighter Heinkel He 219, developed from 1940 onwards. The first known double ejection was also made from such an aircraft on April 11, 1944, when the pilot, Corporal Herter, and his gunner, Private Perbix, managed to save themselves by using the ejection seat. All newly developed aircraft of the German Luftwaffe from 1942 onward were planned with ejection seats, such as the Do 335, in which the tail propeller could be dangerous for ejecting pilots, and the so-called "Volksjäger" He 162. In all, ejection seats saved the lives of more than 60 German crew members during World War II.The ejection seat is a German invention.

[thinkablebaileylim]

Some canopies would actually jam if a pilot tried to open it.

The famous P-47 Thunderbolt pilot Robert Johnson faced this. His 47 was hit by Focke-Wulf 190 cannon fire, and his plane entered the death spiral. He was able to slam down the rudder and level the wings, but his canopy jammed when trying to bail out. He then noticed that the plexiglas shattered in some areas. He tried to squeeze through, but his parachute snagged. He decided to stay in the plane. During that time, he was intercepted by who-is-believed-to-be Egon Mayer. His plane took several hits, but it still remained aloft. Mayer ran out of ammunition, and he left the American alone. Johnson would make it back to base.

[adamwalker]

I remember my dad telling me a story about a bailout where the pilot reached into the slipstream and his arm broke from the wind force. Now the pilot had to reach over with his good arm and pull his flapping broken arm back into the plane before bailing out.

It's stories like that you remember.

He said it was easier and safer to roll the plane over and bail straight out, depending on other circumstances that is.