[Hoverbug]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

Your right about the chutes early on and the balloonist had them.
But late in the war they did use them. Ernst Udet Germany's 2nd highest ace used one and it saved his life.
But for Germany's 3rd highest ace Oberleutant Erich Lowenhardt had just scored his 54th victory when he collided with Leutnant Alfred Wenz of Jasta11.Both men jumped from their planes But Lowenhardt was killed when his chute failed to open on Aug 10th 1918.
JP

It makes sense that Germany would be the first to adopt the parachute for general use as they tended to stay over their own lines and they had no reserves of pilots. There was slightly less incentive for the Allies to introduce them as if they went down it was likely to be over German territory, so they'd be out of the war anyway.

[flyXwire]

Hey guys, I just won two free tickets to see the premiere of "Flyboys" on Sept. 19 Tuesday night...woohoo! I'll give review but won't give away any spoilers, I promise.