Leaving the canopy open was also a good idea in case of a forced landing....

In the US Navy, it was standard practice - up until the advent of non-sliding canopies - to leave the canopy open on catapult launches and traps.

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Good point. Many BoB pilots were killed or severely burned when the sliding canopy on their Spitfire or Hurricane jammed, trapping them in the cockpit of a burning aircraft. This is what happened to Richard Hillary, one of the first members of the Guinea Pig Club. His experiences are described in his book "The Last Enemy". http://www.historyofmilitary.com/The_Last_Enemy_Classics_of_War_1580800564.html

I believe one of the guys in the photo on this page appeared in the film "Battle of Britain".
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/guinea_pig_club.htm

I think you'll find its the tall gentleman holding the pint glass and standing in the middle of the shot next to the pianist.
Just he doesn't half look like the man I saw in the film earlier today, as it was on Hungarian TV! The odd thing was they only dubbed the English language parts, they subtitled the German

Ozzy

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I think this would depend on the circumstances & when the aircraft turned over. A thin sheet of perspex would not offer much protection if it slid for any length of runway or even on grass. It really doesn't bear thinking about. I think I would prefer it to be open if possible. I've read of several WWI pilots who survived this type of accident only to break their necks on releasing the harness to get out. This might also have happened during WWII.

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This leads to another point. All versions of the Bf 109 have a side-hinged canopy which would be impossible to open during take-off or landing - or if it turned on its back in the process which many apparently did. I read somewhere that more Bf 109 pilots were kiled in this sort of accident than in combat during WWII. It might have been in "I Flew for the Fuhrer" by Heinz Knoke which is worth reading if you can get hold of it. I always wondered why they didn't modify the Bf 109 with a sliding hood as on the British types. I also thought the same thing about the gull-wing Mercedes sports cars that were popular back in the 50s. There's a modern sports car with the same feature but I forget which.

I could be wrong about the guy in the Guinea Pig Club photo. The chap standing at the left of the piano with his head bandaged reminded me of the one in the film for some reason. It's possible that many of those brave young men looked much the same after having similar surgery. Their spirit after suffering such severe injuries always amazed & impressed me. Sir Archibald McIndoe must have been a very special kind of person.