Didn't the Stuka Dive Bomber have something (admittedly analogue) similar in the 1930's?
The downsides were that the automatic recovery was very-high-g, almost guaranteed to make the pilot pass out, and flying slowly with the pilot passed out in a very predictable pattern over enemy troops was not very good for you, especially after the enemies figured out the recovery pattern.
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/ju-87-diving-p...
Edit: It would be engaged after dropping bombs; not when the pilot was unconscious.