My father learned to fly in the RAF about 1950. Posted to a Meteor OCU at a time when "They were crashing left and right". Apparently many ejecties lost their legs and bled to death/died of shock.
They finally discovered that chaps over a certain height had a hip to knee measurement that precluded the knees passing behind the canopy bow.
They measured everyone and those to tall were posted to Vampires where, due to a lack of said expulsive device, no similar problem existed.
Of course this led to ernest discussion on just how you got out, with various theories expounded. The half roll and drop out seemed to harbour the fewest ways of hurting yourself...if you had that much control...and a few months later Dad had cause to fling one into the Bristol Channel late one night....to be plucked out of the water by Ark Royal next morning.
One method, which I gather was greeted somewhat derisively, was to lose the canopy and then 'jump' straight up, pass behind the engine and under the horizontal stab.
Dad recently celebrated his 70th birthday, 15 years after retiring from 25000 hours logged in many, many aircraft...DH82a, Percival Prentice, Harvard, Meteor, Vampire, Lincoln (ops Malaya 1 sqn RAAF 58/59), Canberra, C47, F27, DC4, DC6b, Lockheed Electra, B707 and B747...and that's not nearly an exhaustive list
Interesting old coot
He'll play dogfight computer games for hours but is ambivalent about flying in my Bonanza...guess he figures he's used up enough lives
Now I know why
Chuck.