Quote:
Originally Posted by Kutscha
There was, afaik, no known ejections from the Do335,
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The system was tested more than 200 times but only three known attempts were made to use it in an emergency.
The first man to try it for real, Werner Altrogge, was killed not because the seat failed but because the jettisoned hood struck his head, rendering him unconscious or killing him.
The second was Uffz. Bahlmann who attempted to eject after the rear engine caught fire. Again the jettisoned canopy struck his head, but he was not killed or rendered unconscious and managed to try to operate the ejector seat. Nothing happened. He now attempted a forced landing but as the aircraft hit the runway the ejector seat did belatedly operate, depositing him on the runway and inflicting severe injuries.
A third and final attempt was made by Heinz Fischer on 26/4/45. This time neither the tail jettisoning mechanism nor the ejector seat worked but he managed to abandon the aircraft in the normal manner,surviving unscathed.
It's fair to say that the system was not an unqualified success.
R