Ironically, the german 'mae-west' was technically a better design that the 1932 psttern which the RAF used, as it was gas-pressurized to inflate. The RAF one relied on the user blowing into the tube of his stole/bladder.
However, although the luftwaffe one was like a vest, it had no neck support, so there were cases of pilots landing in the drink who were unconsious, and because the vest (rather like a modern gillet) inflated around them, this cause the pilot to tip onto his face and he drowned. This didn't happen with the RAF one. Ironically, many RAF pilots traded vests with luftwaffe pilots they had shot down. Brian Kingcombe and Eric Lock, for example.
|