First ejection seat exit

Another one from our “Moments in Aviation History” series. An exit via ejection seat must be one of those things that are probably kinda cool to experience, but that, on the other hand, you hope you never experience at all. In any case, judging by my current life trajectory, it is something I will never experience, unless there’s a major malfunction of my office chair …

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12 comments on “First ejection seat exit
  1. Magnus Danielson says:

    I really like that you convey some history this way, and with the humor of the situation. Keep at the good work.

  2. Bernd says:

    Magnus Danielson, I agree. And I especially appreciate that the aircraft type looks quite accurate. However, the German Wikipedia says that his name was Rudolf Schenk, and seems to corroborate it with biographical data in the “Talk” section, whereas the English wikipedia talks about “Helmut” Schenk. Other more dubious www articles even misspell his last name as “Schenck”. Hard to find actual verified information on this.

  3. Franck Mée says:

    I thought it was January 13th, 1942, not 1943?

  4. YawningMan says:

    I think this whole series is largely tongue-in-cheek, and only tangentially coincides with actual historical events.

    Don’t get me wrong, I like the series quite a lot! I just wouldn’t expect to get any points on Jeopardy! if I were to study the history presented in these snippets.

  5. mike says:

    “Moments in Aviation History” is what we with our cartoon mindset imagine “really happened” behind the scenes in aviation 😉

    We’ve done a slide show before:
    https://www.chickenwingscomics.com/cw-goodies/free-stuff/

    But what would you guys think of a book (or coffee table book) with the whole collection of “Moments”??

    PS: And yes, I just double-checked and we were off by a year on this one. You’re the first one who noticed, Franck.
    Oops!

  6. M. Mitchell Marmel says:

    Schenk? Bist das du? ;D

  7. TG McCoy says:

    BTW I believe the jet depicted was a Heinkel which preceded the Me 262 by about 2 years or so….

  8. -- daVe says:

    When your next book is out, whether it’s Chicken Wings or Moments in Aviation History, I’ll buy it, unless my wife beats me to it.
    Mike, if “coffee table book” means the size of Chicken Wings 5, that’s great.

  9. Toby Fjeld says:

    Franck Mée is correct! The year in the strip is one year off/late… Helmut Schenk flew a Heinkel He 280 on a test flight on the 13th of January 1942 when his control surfaces became inoperative due to icing. He then ejected from his uncontrollable aircraft in on that day of the year 1942.

    This one will join my list of favorite ChickenWings strips!! Love everything you guys do!

  10. iprigger says:

    … funny… but one error: it was RUDOLF Schenk, not HELMUT Schenk.

  11. eekee says:

    Yeek! After seeing a certain video, malfunctioning office chairs aren’t funny any more. Well, they could be sort-of funny in a cartoony context, but when you know just what a failing gas strut can do to a person, it’s hard to laugh. Never use a chair with a gas strut that looks old and a bit beaten-up. Besides age, some gas struts have been found with a manufacturing defect, but they seem to have only come from one factory and don’t seem to have left their country of origin. Video link

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