yaniv%mush.huji.ac.il@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (ran el-Yaniv) (08/11/90)
From: ran el-Yaniv <yaniv%mush.huji.ac.il@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> Hello, Many pilots (as I have read) disliked having their canopy closed during takeoff, possible to facilate escape... A rather interesting detail - during the Israeli War of Independance the aircraft took off in the following order - Spitfires, Mustangs and Me 109 copies (Avia 199 Mezeks) last. This procedure was required because the Avias were very accident-prone, and a crashing plane would have blocked the runway. yaniv