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Diamond
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This is prompted by another thread in this category.

Did Kamikaze Pilots wear parachutes?
 
Posts: 5891 | Location: Indiana | Registered: 06-13-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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I don't know if Japanese aircraft were like the British ones, but in equivalent-size RAF aircraft the pilot would have a seat parachute, i.e. the harness would be such that he was sitting on the parachute pack. The seat was set low and dished to match.

Thus a parachute or equivalent cushion was necessary for the pilot to be at the right height to fly the thing and see out properly.

Chest or back parachutes are other possibilities. If the Japanese seats were designed for pilots wearing either of those configurations, they could fly the machine just as well without a parachute.

This site (a kamikaze pilot's manual) doesn't mention parachutes, but it does say that "In the event of poor weather conditions when you cannot locate the target, or under other adverse circumstances, you may decide to return to base. Don't be discouraged. Do not waste your life lightly. You should not be possessed by petty emotions. Think how you can best defend the motherland. Remember what the wing commander has told you. You should return to the base jovially and without remorse."

Possibly that would extend to baling out, but only over Japanese territory, where the pilot could return to his base to try again another day. I don't actually know, though.
 
Posts: 744 | Location: Surrey, England | Registered: 06-03-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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Methos

I've just watched a TV documentary on the Japanese who preferred to die for the Emperor towards the end of WW2. It included Japanese propaganda film of kamikaze pilots leaving for their missions.

They wore parachute harness, but I couldn't actually see parachute packs. It wasn't all that clear. They could have been wearing packs, or the chutes could have been already in the cockpits. However, there is no point in wearing the harness if you are not going to attach a parachute to it.

So I guess the answer is yes, they did wear parachutes. Sorry it's taken so long to come up with it!

(By the way, I missed a favourite programme to watch this, to get the answer for myself as well as for you.)
 
Posts: 744 | Location: Surrey, England | Registered: 06-03-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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Thanks for the research Smile.
 
Posts: 5891 | Location: Indiana | Registered: 06-13-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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I don't know any specifics of Japanese pilots, but it stands to reason that not all of them were intended for suicide missions.

This being said, I'm sure that pilots were equipped with general issue of the day, most likely including safety/survival gear, parachutes, and perhaps even radio beacons for rescuers.

The fact that a plane is stocked with survival gear doesn't mean that it had to be used.
 
Posts: 3632 | Location: Washington, US | Registered: 06-03-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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