Tuesday laugh at the expense of the USAF

Originally Posted by rwoodcock01

If memory serves, and I am going back a bit, there was an unofficial policy in the USAF that they where not keen to bail out a zero feet.

I so want to read the engineers log for this one

Cheers

Rich

When you get it give it me.. i want to read it too. You get access to USAF signal reports? I used to but my contact has moved on.

One question rich, those chainsaws.. bit of a risk with the charges for the ejection being there. Take it being ex RAF you'd have heard about the incident with the Red Arrows and their golf clubs some years ago. It resulted in the current send off proceedure the RAF follow for ground crews.

Originally Posted by getyerkneedown

Pretty risky still though, those det charges used to clear the bolts for the canopy in the event of an ejection dont stand up well to that kind of interference.

Arent there points on the aircraft specifically marked out for cutting pilots out? Indeed I was under the impression that's what the yellow 'rescue' arrows you see painted on are for.

[TSM]

From what i read around, older jets the canopy used to have to come off before the seats were ejected, on later things you see a zig zag in the canopy roof which i was told was an explosive charge to rid the canopy. Times move on, but ejecting would have cost huge amounts.

Its not a case of older or younger aircraft. Its in their design.

Some aircraft, like you say TSM, have det charges moulded in to the canopy glass.. when the black and yellow is pulled, these charges blow, a fraction of a second later, probes on the seats extend vertically (in case the charges havent cleared the canopy), at the same time, straps on the pilots flying suit retract, pulling his hands arms legs and body tighter than tight into the seat, it also means his hands arent flaying around the cockpit. Nano seconds later, the rocket engine ignites and the pilot is taken out of the aircraft. The rocket burns for about 2 - 3 seconds then shuts off. The whole process from pulling the handle, to being clear of the cockpit takes in the region of 1.6 seconds.

On other aircraft, the canopy is clear (no det charges) but the bolts which hold the canopy frame to the fuselage have det charges with them. In this case, pulling the handle has the exact same response as above, with the only change being instead of blowing the glass out, the entire canopy is disposed of. Again, the probes extend meaning that if the canopy was still in place when the seat left the aircraft.. the seat would just travel straight through the canopy with the pilot being unhurt.

Im not sure about USAF policy, but RAF policy is that you can eject no more than 3 times. Reason being that each time you eject, the force compresses your spine by a few inches. After 3 ejections you are deemed unfit to fly, and are discharged on medical grounds.

[TSM]

So its possable for the 'TopGun' hitting head on canopy issue to happen. If for some reason (and its possable) that the gas timing sequencer gets things wrong then its all doom. Considering that the canopies are quite strong and thick then even if the probes shot through the canopy and the back of the seat punched through, there is the possability that there is part of the canopy that has not broken and will cause bodly injury. Its well known that things like failed seats (very rare) or other freek things have happened.

Anyway, he got out, eventualy and at great cost. Bet he was bored.

You have to remember that the cockpit is pressurised - that means no air can get in or out - I wouldn't have wanted to be stuck in there for 5 hours

Originally Posted by Mr Toad

You have to remember that the cockpit is pressurised - that means no air can get in or out - I wouldn't have wanted to be stuck in there for 5 hours

Not entirely true. They have Air Conditioning units they can plug in on the ground, and also the cockpits (as well as airliners) dont get pressurised until 8000ft ASL It would have been quite warm though, in the baking Virginia sun, in all that flight gear under that canopy.

I remember when i was doing my EFATO (engine failure after take off) training at Linton, id spent 2 hours flying circuits in the summer sun, all we had was little DV (direct vision) panels which opened. They're about 2x2 inches and just open wards, but they dont bring that much fresh air in. I was hot, stressed, deydrated and getting pi55ed off. Whilst it was a nice day, there was a 15kt cross wind which made EFATO landings interesting. Also at different altitudes of your climb out, you do different things should the fan stop. It is important to note that at VGS we DO practice "turnbacks" above 500ft, and i once almost experienced that spin and stall he refers to in that article.

That old saying: "The propellor doesnt make the aircraft move, its there to keep the pilot cool. Dont beleive me, make it stop and watch him sweat!"

Perhaps they're only meant as 1 way jets a la 2nd World War Mitsubishi Zeros

Ejection is a last resort. The pilots life was not in danger. I think the time scale was trying to find a solution without ruining the airplane.

He must have sweated in that cockpit...sweated even more when they brought the chainsaw out