Hard to Bail-out of Me 410?
 

Gentleman:

I seem to recall reading that the Me 410, at least when employed in the bomber-destroyer role, was notorious as being hard to bail-out from and thus was often lethal to its crews when shot down.

I'd be interested in confirmation, or otherwise, of this statement. Also, if it was indeed difficult to bail-out from, what feature(s) of the aircraft created this problem?

Thanks

Don W

Re: Hard to Bail-out of Me 410?
 

The tall tail comes to mind as being scary to get by. The entire rear canopy would be jettisoned, and then the pilot should either bunt the aircraft or flip it over and bunt it. Just jumping out, was very dangerous.

Re: Hard to Bail-out of Me 410?
 

It is true, few Hungarian crewmember collided with the tail surfaces and killed after the bail out from Me 210's as well. It was a fast aircraft with relatively short fuselage and big tail surfaces.
The Hungarian crews preferred the crash lands with it (even with an already burning plane).

Re: Hard to Bail-out of Me 410?
 

not only in 410, also in 109 and 110 it was just luck not to be hit by rudder or elevator when bailing out.
I guess several hundred of crew-members in Allied and German forces have been killed this way unable to pull the trigger.
Simple reason: the ejector seats came too late.
No photos available of course.
I try to attach a picture painted August 1944 by the artist Hans Liska for the propaganda paper "Signal".
Peter

Re: Hard to Bail-out of Me 410?
 

Gentlemen:

Thanks for the replies. I grabbed a couple of my books with pictures and profiles of the Me 410 and yes, those large tail surfaces look like a potentially lethal combination with having to bail out.

Peter, thanks for the illustration from Signal, there must have been quite a story that went with it!

Cheers

Don W

Re: Hard to Bail-out of Me 410?
 

Hi all,
for all those who understand German, you can read the story behind this picture at:

http://www.nachtjaegerspoden.de/pdf/3Seite.pdf

starting at page 2.

Enjoy

Best wishes

Robert

Re: Hard to Bail-out of Me 410?
 

Peter,
I have read of your career both in Wilhelm Johnens book and your own. In Duel Under The Stars it states that a searchlight crew light you up during your bail-out in the hope it was helping you clear the tail. The question is did it ,

Best Wishes

Brian Bines