[chimera]

One of the more horrible aspects of going down aboard an aircraft is that once that thing started to spin or tumble, the g-forces just trapped you inside. You might be just feet away from escape but if the g-forces were too strong you couldn't get out. So you had to bail quickly before you were trapped or pray to God you were within reach of an escape hatch.

I always wondered why more crewmen didn't simply bail out once their aircraft was going down. The answer was, they couldn't get out.

[fugazi]

Catching fire before bailing would concern me a lot more than being trapped and most likely dying instantly upon impact. That, or being captured by the Germans, then thinking you’re about to be liberated by your Soviet allies, only to disappear to who-knows-where, spending the rest of your life betrayed and forgotten. But that’s just me.

[jmacusa]

I took a tour of the inside of a B-17 years ago. I never experienced anything so cramped and claustrophobic in my life. There wasn't anywhere you could stand up straight and if you weren't careful there were plenty of places to bang your head. How those men, kids really, wearing thick flight suits and parachutes did it is simply amazing.