"F.L. Whiteley" wrote in message
...

Yeah, what I meant, but I was up very late last night;^) Emergency egress
from the Horten's was one of the problems. IIRC, the rear hatch was
closed
from outside. Easier to pee in a bag though.

Frank Whiteley

No problem with the egress. While the hatch was fitted by the ground crew,
the pilot could pull the pins retaining it with a cockpit control allowing
it to fly away. This hugely disrupted the airflow over the center section
of the swept wing which would cause the glider to dive. The pilot needed
only to raise up from the kneeling position, pull his ripcord and depart
rearward as the canopy opened - there being no empenage to collide with.

BTW, it is not correct to say that the HO IV had a prone cockpit. It was
actually flown from a kneeling position which Dr. Gus Raspet called "an
appropriate praying position" considering its handling problems.

Various schemes were tried for supporting the pilots head. The best seemed
to be a full leather helmet with a strap that passed over a roller above the
pilots head. This supported the head while allowing the pilot to turn his
head from side to side.

Bill Daniels