They could have named this cat GLADOS.
They could have named this cat GLADOS.
All this talk of ejector seats. Are there figures for the number of pilots saved Vs ejector seat fatalities?
Required
Aww, man, Finnegan got rid of Big Red
At least the rig he traded it for is sweet
And he still has Square Force One
Adrian_Thompson said:All this talk of ejector seats. Are there figures for the number of pilots saved Vs ejector seat fatalities?
I remember being in an airshow at NAS Willow Grove in the early '80s, where somebody forgot to disarm the ejector seat in a static display aircraft, and a kid punched himself out through the canopy. He died later from the injuries. I also remember a low-level punchout following a Blue Angels midair in the early '70s. The pilot ejected safely but got sucked into the burning wreckage by the indraft. I don't recall whether he died or was only injured.
But I have also seen crashes, including a Harrier that suffered an engine failure while hovering, and something else that caught fire on the taxiway while waiting to give a demonstration, where pilots were saved by being able to vacate an aircraft very quickly at or near ground level. There is this famous incident:
In reply to NickD :
And the OG Ramp truck.
I think he may have a problem
Adrian_Thompson said:All this talk of ejector seats. Are there figures for the number of pilots saved Vs ejector seat fatalities?
Probably, but my understanding is that when you punch out, you can expect to have at least one broken limb that got snagged on the way out, along with other injuries. Better than landing like a shovel, at least.
Duke said:Adrian_Thompson said:All this talk of ejector seats. Are there figures for the number of pilots saved Vs ejector seat fatalities?
I remember being in an airshow at NAS Willow Grove in the early '80s, where somebody forgot to disarm the ejector seat in a static display aircraft, and a kid punched himself out through the canopy. He died later from the injuries. I also remember a low-level punchout following a Blue Angels midair in the early '70s. The pilot ejected safely but got sucked into the burning wreckage by the indraft. I don't recall whether he died or was only injured.
My father knew a guy who'd been a mechanic aboard a navy carrier. One of the pilots got a letter from his wife that she was divorcing him. Pilot got in his fighter in the hangar deck and punched out the ejector seat and slammed it into the ceiling, killing himself. Seems like there had to be a less unpleasant way to off yourself.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/weaver_sr71_bailout.html
Knurled. said:Adrian_Thompson said:All this talk of ejector seats. Are there figures for the number of pilots saved Vs ejector seat fatalities?
Probably, but my understanding is that when you punch out, you can expect to have at least one broken limb that got snagged on the way out, along with other injuries. Better than landing like a shovel, at least.
You can also only punch out of a plane a limited number of times, two times I believe, before they ground you, due to the stress it places on the body. Learned that from an Air Force colonel I knew who used to primarily fly B1s. He got parked after having to punch out of something that wasn't a B1 suffered a mechanical failure during a standard training flight. Went for his checkout and they discovered he had a heart condition that they hadn't noticed before, and they were shocked that the ejection hadn't killed him.
eastsideTim said:In reply to NickD :
And the OG Ramp truck.
I think he may have a problem
You call that a problem. I call it "Winning"
F-104 pilots wore "spurs" on their heels. The Locheed C2 ejection seat would pull them back in the event of an ejection. Otherwise, the canopy bow would take your legs off at the knees.
Appleseed said:F-104 pilots wore "spurs" on their heels. The Locheed C2 ejection seat would pull them back in the event of an ejection. Otherwise, the canopy bow would take your legs off at the knees.
The bigger problem was that you were flying the F-104, which wasn't exactly a stellar aircraft.
P-38s also took some finangling to bail from without getting hurt/killed. But, the P-38 was, once initial teething issues were solved, a helluva rig.
Everybody have fun tonight, everybody:
Appleseed said:F-104 pilots wore "spurs" on their heels. The Locheed C2 ejection seat would pull them back in the event of an ejection. Otherwise, the canopy bow would take your legs off at the knees.
F-4 had a more elegant solution. Pilot and RIO wore "garters" on their thigh and ankles. The garters are looped through the blue cords you see in the picks below. In an ejection, the cords contract and pull the crew's ankles in to the bottom of the seat. Allegedly, with the Phantom, the issue was the bottom of the instrument panels, not the canopy bow. Ejection seats are awesome. 
kazoospec said:Appleseed said:F-104 pilots wore "spurs" on their heels. The Locheed C2 ejection seat would pull them back in the event of an ejection. Otherwise, the canopy bow would take your legs off at the knees.
F-4 had a more elegant solution. Pilot and RIO wore "garters" on their thigh and ankles. The garters are looped through the blue cords you see in the picks below. In an ejection, the cords contract and pull the crew's ankles in to the bottom of the seat. Allegedly, with the Phantom, the issue was the bottom of the instrument panels, not the canopy bow. Ejection seats are awesome.
Decades later, Audi got the idea to put straps like that on the drivetrain, to tension the seatbelts and pull the steering column away from the driver, in the event of a collision hard enough to displace the engine...
RevRico said:
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