In IL-2 we already have a pretty OK bailout time i think.... if you have canopy open, and you are flying straight and level at a normal speed 250-350 km/h, you bail out easily within a few seconds.
If you have to remove the canopy add a few more seconds.
Over specific G-loads or stalls/spins it is virtually impossible to get out.
If you think that pressing Ctrl+E is equivalent to removing your harness maybe it could be worked on.
I don't know about you guys but perhaps an interactive feature could easily be introduced
such as seen in other games like "Alan wake: where you have to time a button press to start a generator" (0:50)
or "Bioshock 2: where you have to press a button at the correct times to hack a machine".
Perhaps this could simulate you taking off the harness... have 1 timer for each harness and being able to "stay calm" during this process to time the ejection key for the "green zone" on each harness buckle to not "fiddle" with it. If you fail to hit the button within the green zone, you will either have to repeat it, or you get a time penalty...
And back to the immersion factor... Ace Combat Assault Horizon is a
GAME coming to consoles etc, but looking at this teaser
if you watch from 1:00 you can see a First Person View ejection. I think even though this is a hollywood action game, you can draw a lot of people into a sim by adding a view from your pilots head as you climb out of the cockpit, have a final look at your burning wreck and perhaps your enemys plane zooming by you, as you jump off and hear the wind blow across your ears as the sound of your engine fades, and then pull the ripcord
Also a subject brought up was the possibility to collide with your own plane... If you are violently spinning, there is a great chance you might hit your own plane and die. A nice ragdoll effect for this would be cool :p
Also I cannot imagine how incredibly cool it must be to shoot your enemy into flames, slowly pass him as you see his canopy opening, him climbing out on the wing, and jumping off over the course of perhaps 10-15 seconds.. MUCH more realistic
And one final note: as far as I know a common way to bail out was to open the canopy, release all harnesses and with both your legs, kick the stick forwards so the plane does negative G's and you would be "launched" out of the plane