Originally Posted by
Geriaviator
Sorry I cannot find the reference but one of my German night-fighter authors recalled an ejection from his Heinkel 219 after being attacked by a Mosquito. He and his radop/gunner ejected successfully and parachuted to safety. I think the Heinkel seat was powered by compressed air.
Some records vary (needless to say.... there was a war on & record-keeping was not a priority!) but it's generally accepted that Helmut Schenk was the first person to 'eject' on 13 Jan 42 from a He-280 - one of the first aircraft to be fitted with a ‘
Schleudersitzapparat’: a 265-pound, 'state-of-the-art', compressed air-powered ‘catapult seat device’ escape system....