Bailing out of an Me-109G

Post by **aferguson** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:45 pm

Anyone know the procedure for bailing out of an Me-109G-6? I imagine the canopy had explosive bolts and would be blown off in the slip stream? Was there any back up in case the explosive bolts failed? I can't see how a pilot would be able to open the canopy sideways into the slipstream.

Any info would be appreciated.

digger · Post by **digger** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:42 pm

Great question.
I don't think there were explosives involved...maybe, but I thought that was one of the drawbacks of the Erla Haube was that it made it a pain in the...

....to bail out of the 109G. I really have no idea and would love to know the answer if someone can enlighten us.

Post by **p51** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:03 pm

I don't believe it was that hard to open the canopy even in the slipstream. Most things I've seen with ME-109s pilots bailing have the canopy open like normal. But I'm sure explosives were not used.

Post by **aferguson** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:07 pm

here's an exerpt i found on the net from an allied test pilot who flew an Me-109 after the war:

"...the canopy was very heavy, weighing 50 lbs
because it incorporated a bullet proof window behind the pilots head as
well as a piece of armor. All this had to be lifted when you wanted to
get out. This is why, when pilots needed to bail out, they flipped the
airplane inverted and just dropped out; it was too much trouble to
fight with the canopy while trying to save your life. Visibility out
of the cockpit, he termed atrocious..."

So i guess that's the answer. I would have thought the force of the slipstream going over the top of the canopy would have made it impossible to open..

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 4:36 pm

Well, once you get the thing open, the canopy will develop its own lift and probably fling outwards.

I saw something similar happen a few years back when I went skydiving for my 18th birthday (I'm not lying

). The instructor, pilot, camerman and I went up in a modified Cesna 180, and the aircraft door was hinged at the top and designed to flip upward and out against the underside of the wing. When the insturctor unlatched the door and gave it a push, it flew open and stayed that way, due to the lift it generated. Then out we went...

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Website · Post by **Teamski** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 7:29 pm

IIRC, the procedure was to roll the plane over to fling the canopy open and then drop out. The canopy is heavy as hell. I once got to sit in a 109 and lifting that thing was a pain.

I read about a pilot who had to ditch a 109, a VERY bad situation. He had to wait for the cockpit to fill with water before he could lift the canopy. he said he was down at least 20 feet of water before he got out. Lucky man......

-Ski

nomo4me · Post by **nomo4me** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 10:55 pm

Both Adolf Galland and Heinz Knoke were nearly killed bailing out of 109's where the release knob broke and refused to release the entire canopy. Galland experienced this in an Emil, Knoke in a Gustav.
In this situation, they could only open the main -but not entire - portion of the canopy, leaving the rear portion in place.
When exiting, their parachute packs got caught on the rear glass, with both pilots being severly pounded against the fuselage while the plane began it's power dive.
In both cases the pilots write about hooking their foot around the control stick to shake the plane and release themselves.

Nomo

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:31 am

When you say 'release the entire canopy' does that mean that the canopy came completely off of the plane (ie physically detatched from the plane) or that the pilot still had to swing it open but when he did the rear portion was supposed to swing with it?

Big_Iron · Post by **Big_Iron** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 7:39 am

nono4me beat me to it...

In "I flew for the Fuhrer" Knocke describes his bail out in pretty vivid detail. And the process was of course to roll it over.

It could be assumed that this is a reason for the massive attrition during the Battle of Britain. If you can't limp the thing home, how exactly are you going to invert the crate, stabilize it and fall/bail out...

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 7:59 am

ok so it looks like the canopy comes completely off and was not just swung open by the pilot. I found this blurb on a luftwaffe discussion forum:

"..The 109, 190 and 262 all had canopy jettison mechanisms for quick release of the canopy prior to bail out. You occasionally see the Fw190 canopy flying off in US gun camera footage..."

And another exerpt from a detailed description of the 109:

"The hood jettison lever consists of two very strong springs in the rear part of the canopy, causing the rear section to come loose and therefore the whole main part of the hood becomes unhinged and can be pushed clear away into the airflow."

Rogue · Post by **Rogue** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:14 am

Ive also been in a G6, and couldn't imagine egress even without a canopy.

Tried fitting the pilot in your 109? That's what its really like, Tight.

Jagdflieger · Post by **Jagdflieger** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:41 am

nomo4me wrote:Both Adolf Galland and Heinz Knoke were nearly killed bailing out of 109's where the release knob broke and refused to release the entire canopy. Galland experienced this in an Emil, Knoke in a Gustav.
In this situation, they could only open the main -but not entire - portion of the canopy, leaving the rear portion in place.
When exiting, their parachute packs got caught on the rear glass, with both pilots being severly pounded against the fuselage while the plane began it's power dive.
In both cases the pilots write about hooking their foot around the control stick to shake the plane and release themselves.

Nomo

Marseille, the leading JG27 ace was killed when bailing out of his G model 109. He had a fire with a lot of smoke in the cockpit.... and was struggling to make German lines. He couldn't see well... rolled the plane but could not be sure of its attitude (apparently). He struck the tail plane and was either killed instantly or incapacitated and never deployed his parachute. He fell to his death.