parachute positionning in a He111
 

here is a strange question:

I was told that in a He111, only the pilot had his parachute duly strapped on him (he was ready to bail out, then)

whereas the other guys had to grab their parachute somewhere in the fuselage, attach it, then they could bail out.

As far as you know, is this true ??...

Thanks guys

GC

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

From a "human" point of view, the radio operator/dorsal gunner, beam and ventral gunners all had space to wear their parachute. I have a pic of a beam gunner with his 'chute whilst manning an MG and scanning the sky, but I don't know if the picture is staged.

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/mil...age-heavy.html

bit in the middle

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

Thanks a lot;

GC

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

That's the pic I was referring to :D Small world sometimes!

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

There are combat movies with actual footage.

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

Oh! I've not seen the video/movie. I wondered if it was staged because the ventral gunner is not in position.

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

Hi Gilles- in the case of A1+LN both the pilot & Beobachter (Manfred's father) bailed out together- leaving the stricken aircraft via the open doors of the bomb bay, & landed relatively close together. So for me this suggests that both were wearing their parachutes prior to the aircraft encountering a problem.

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

From an He111? The bomb bay is/was typically split into 8 vertical sections, I don't understand how that's possible :/ Could the internal dividers be jettisoned?

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

Interesting point- all we have is the word of the Beobachter to his son (Manfred) some years ago who says this is how they left the aircraft. In addition- thinking of A1+LN - the Bordmechaniker did not manage to escape from the aircraft- & when his body was found it is my understanding he was NOT wearing a parachute. Also- I had always assumed that parachutes would be carried in a rack, & then strapped to the chest (as in the US B17 for instance). But the excellent picture above (together with other pictures I have seen recently that seem to show crews wearing chutes outside the aircraft) seem to disprove the wearing of chutes of that type. It seems to me that in the case of A1+LN that the pilot & Beobachter were either BOTH wearing - or not wearing- their chutes- they just landed too close together for there to have been much of a delay in leaving the aircraft. The question is- how long would it take to strap a chute (as shown in the above picture) on? Any thoughts anyone?

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

If there is no-one at the controls, my opinion is: it just ain't happening. :(

Going back to my previous comment.... do you know what kind of mission they were on? If it was a later He111, built/modified for supply drops, the bomb bay might have been more a cargo hold with a different internal arrangement.

This is more an interesting story than any kind of definite answer on crew equipment :D I think that the He111 was roomy enough for the crew to wear parachutes whilst in position

More pics:

http://forum.warthunder.com/index.ph...ical-position/

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g6...ose-Poland.jpg

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

It was a Heinkel He111 H2. The main target was an aircraft works in Coventry, with a secondary target of Birmingham.Their bomb load included 8 chutes of 36 incendiary bombs. On the previous night they had been part of the raid on Coventry- when they carries 4*250kg bombs.

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

Hi Guys,

thanks for your interesting comments and for the pictures.

In fact, I am facing a very mysterious case (it is not A1+LN):

a He111 near Toulouse crashed after the LH engine caught fire, and
only the pilot escaped with his parachute and was harmless, while the four other crews remained in the aircraft and were killed.

How could you explain that the pilot bails out, while the balance of the crew stays on board ?

They may have been trapped:
was there a door that could have been closed ? the bomb bay was blocked closed ?
the centrifugal force kept them stuck inside the fuselage ?
Whereas the pilot, with the escape hatch above him, could bail out more easily ?

Your views are welcome. Have a nice week-end.

GC

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

There were places where the crew can store there parachutes (see pic). I think the crew except the pilot ( he would be sitting on his I think) would store their chute during non combat flight or when the commander felt it was safe to do so.

So perhaps in your plane, there was a major malfunction in an otherwise un-eventfull flight and the rest of the crew did not have time to put on their chutes.

According to protocol no jumping out of the bomb bay see pic 2 and 3 but designated places in the airplane.

Re: parachute positionning in a He111
 

thanks Snautzer, this is exactly what I suspected.

GC