There were four German aircraft families notable for incorporating ejection seats, essentially because of the high performance in each case.
These were: Dornier Do.335 series, Heinkel He.219 series, Heinkel 280 series, Heinkel He.162 series.
Of these four families, the Do.335 and He.162 quite clearly demand ejector seats, because bailing-out, where it was at all possible, would be otherwise fatal for the pilot (and or radar operator/gunner, in the case of two-seater variants).
It is also of note that there had been requests for ejector seat to be fitted to both the Me.262 and the FW.190 families.
This was not done in the case of the FW.190, due to weight issues. In the Me.262 series the seats were not always operational.
The ejector seats were variously powered by either the rapid discharge of a compressed air bottle (in the earlier versions) or the use of one (later two) 20mm cannon cartridges, which were in turn being replaced by one 30mm cartridge in some cases.
Nor should it be thought that said seats were comfortable to be occupying during the ejection phase. It was found that unless the pilot kept his spine very specifically aligned he would find it broken, easily, because of the sharp detonation of the cartridge, which compressed one vertebra into the other.
Doddy Hay (“The Man in the Hot Seat”) , a Briton who helped as guinea-pig for the Martin-Baker Ejection Seats makes it very clear that the gradualised increase of thrust from a rocket is far preferable to the sudden “snap-thrust” from the cannon cartridges. Even today ejection from an aircraft is not an experience many wish to undergo more than once, for much the same reasons as Hay gives.
The He.162 went from drawing board to flight in 69 days, a record that has never since been matched. It was an operational aircraft a mere 6 months from conception, also an unequalled record. By war’s end some 300 had been produced, and approximately another 1200 were in production. There existed swept-back and swept-forward winged versions, and the He. Os 11 turbojet had been planned as an operational powerplant, as had the Jumo 004 E series, and the BWW 003 E series. There also existed design studies for Argus pulse jet in single and twin configuration, and BMW 713r series combined turbojet/rocket engine powered variants.
The most promising was the He.162 D forward-swept He. Os11.C-powered variant with one Mauser Mk213 30mm cannon.
Unfortunately, this was never built, because the Os 11. series jets never achieved true production status.
Clave, as ever, beautiful work, which I thoroughly enjoy seeing.
Kind Regards, Uyraell.
