rocketman Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 IMO the tank crews bail out far too quickly after being hit/knocked out. They are usually out in about 1 sec. Given the shock of being hit, seeing comrades perish, fire sometimes breaking out, and being in a confined space all adds to this being too fast. Does anyone know what it was like IRL? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Yes, they do seem to get out too fast, even though I'm sure bailing crews are trying to escape as quickly as they possibly can. I wonder if anyone ever timed how long it really took -- they probably drilled for it so that they could do it in less than a certain amount of time. Maybe someone with modern tank experience can enlighten us. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 In John Ellis' study "The Sharp End" the tankers quote seem to suggest around 3-6 seconds. Based on the time for the fire to take hold in a tank (three seconds for a Sherman 10 for a Churchill) or the time the enemy needed to reload and fire a second, normally fatal, shot, at an already aquired and immobile target. I do remember an account of a tanker dropping a metal spanner in a tank and before he could tell the crew they had bailed, the noise made was similar to an German AP shot striking home. He stated that they had all evacuated in a couple seconds, and he had to shamefacedly explain what had happened! Of course if crew members were injured, stunned or shocked by the impact, times could slow down, especially with vehicles where not all the crew had access to escape hatches. As for drilling, the adrenalin surge in a real situation would seriously shorten times to bail out. Who cares if you dislocate fingers, tear nails or fracture bones as long as you are out of harms way, the brain has a strange way of not performing to it best if it knows the threat is not real. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 There is this for reference (bailing from a Sherman and Panther): 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
womble Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 ...tanker dropping a metal spanner in a tank and before he could tell the crew they had bailed, the noise made was similar to an German AP shot striking home. He stated that they had all evacuated in a couple seconds, and he had to shamefacedly explain what had happened! ROFL At last a reason that the 'relative' key for 'Bail' (or any other inadvertent bailidj) actually adds verisimilitude! And the WeGo delay before being able to remount represents the crewman explaining to his crewmates what's happened, and being whacked with caps for being a doofus 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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