US Air Force F-15 Eagle ejection seat test using a mannequin.

In (mostly military) aircraft, the ejection seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rocket motor, carrying the pilot with it. The concept of an ejectable escape capsule has also been tried. Once clear of the aircraft, the ejection seat deploys a parachute, and descends safely to earth. This photograph is of an ejection seat test in which a mannequin was blasted through the canopy of an F/A-22 Raptor during launch. ... This photograph is of an ejection seat test in which a mannequin was blasted through the canopy of an F/A-22 Raptor during launch. ... The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle is an all-weather tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. ... “Flying Machine” redirects here. ... A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust from within a rocket engine. ... This article is about the device. ...

History

A warning applied on the cockpit side of all aircraft using an ejection seat system. Intended especially for the maintenance crew.

While a bungee-assisted escape from an aircraft took place in 1910, the ejection seat as we recognise it today was invented in Germany in 1938 and perfected during World War II. Prior to this, the only means of escape from an incapacitated aircraft was to jump clear ("bail-out"), and in many cases this was difficult due to injury, the difficulty of egress from a confined space, the airflow past the aircraft and other factors. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Bungee cord is an elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, covered in a woven sheath usually of nylon or cotton. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

The first ejection seats were developed independently during the World War II by Heinkel and SAAB. Early models were powered by compressed air and the first aircraft to be fitted with such a system was the Heinkel He 280 prototype jet fighter in 1940. One of the He 280 test pilots, Helmut Schenk, became the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejection seat on January 13, 1942 after his control surfaces iced up and became inoperable. However the He 280 never reached production status. Thus, the first operational type to provide ejection seats for the crew was the Heinkel He 219 Uhu night fighter in 1942. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. ... For the manufacturer of Saab cars, see Saab Automobile. ... Compressed air is used to refer to: Pneumatics, the use of pressurized gases to do work, as used in the Air car Breathing gas, often used in scuba diving, also to inflate buoyancy devices Compressed air can also be used for cooling using a vortex tube. ... The Heinkel He 280 was the first jet-powered fighter aircraft built in the world. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fly in formation during an air show at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Eagle-Owl) was a night fighter serving in the later stages of World War II with the German Luftwaffe. ...

In Sweden a version using compressed air was tested in 1941. A gunpowder ejection seat was developed by Bofors tested in 1943 for the Saab 21. The first test in the air was on a Saab 17 on 27 February 1944[1] and the first real use in July 29, 1946 after a mid-air collision between a J 21 and a J 22.[2] Bofors is an iron works, cannon maker, and defence industry located in Karlskoga, Sweden. ... The Saab 21 was a fighter/attack aircraft from SAAB that first took to air in 1943. ... The Saab 17 was a Swedish bomber-reconnaisance aircraft. ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In late 1944, the Heinkel He 162 featured a new type of ejection seat, this time fired by an explosive cartridge. In this system the seat rode on wheels set between two pipes running up the back of the cockpit. When lowered into position, caps at the top of the seat fitted over the pipes to close them. Cartridges, basically identical to shotgun shells, were placed in the bottom of the pipes, facing upward. When fired the gases would fill the pipes, "popping" the caps off the end and thereby forcing the seat to ride up the pipes on its wheels, and out of the aircraft. By the end of the war, the Do-335 Pfeil, Me-262 Schwalbe and Me-163 Komet also were fitted with ejection seats. The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (Peoples Fighter) was a single engined, jet powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in WWII. It was the fastest of the first generation of Axis and Allied jets. ... Cockpit of a light aircraft, showing instrumentation dials and dual control yokes. ... For other uses, see Shotgun (disambiguation). ... The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (Arrow) was a World War II heavy fighter built by the Dornier company. ... The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) was the first operational jet powered aircraft. ... The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was the only operational rocket fighter aircraft. ...

After World War II, the need for such systems became pressing, as aircraft speeds were getting ever higher, and it was not long before the sound barrier was broken. Manual escape at such speeds would be impossible. The United States Army Air Forces experimented with downward-ejecting systems operated by a spring, but it was the work of the British company Martin-Baker that was to prove crucial. U.S. Navy F/A-18 at transonic speed. ... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the aviation component of the United States Army primarily during World War II. The title of Army Air Forces succeeded the prior name of Army Air Corps in June 1941 during preparation for expected combat in what came to be known as... Helical or coil springs designed for tension A spring is a flexible elastic object used to store mechanical energy. ... Martin-Baker Aircraft is a manufacturer of aircraft seats and is the oldest existing maker of ejector seats. ...

Capt. Christopher Stricklin ejects from his F-16 aircraft with an ACES II ejection seat, on September 14, 2003. Stricklin was not injured.

The first live flight test of the Martin-Baker system took place on July 24, 1946, when Bernard Lynch ejected from a Gloster Meteor Mk III. Shortly afterwards, on August 17, 1946, 1st Sgt. Larry Lambert was the first live US ejectee. Martin-Baker ejector seats were fitted to prototype and production aircraft from the late 1940s, and the first emergency use of such a seat occurred in 1949 during testing of the Armstrong-Whitworth AW.52 Flying Wing. Download high resolution version (1180x1368, 857 KB)Capt. ... Download high resolution version (1180x1368, 857 KB)Capt. ... is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Gloster Meteor was the Allies first operational jet fighter. ... is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... tedfgfggggggggggggggggggggreqwwwwwwwwwtrythjmmnbn bgvbfsddddfffffffffrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr gfdffdv fdbbbbb grtrmjgiohtjutjgkhernfkkmwnr. ...

Early seats used a solid propellant charge to eject the pilot and seat, by igniting the charge inside a telescoping tube attached to the seat. Effectively the seat was fired from the aircraft like a bullet from a gun. As jet speeds increased still further, this method proved inadequate to get the pilot sufficiently clear of the airframe and increasing the propellant risked damage to the occupant's spine, so experiments with rocket propulsion began. The F-102 Delta Dagger was the first aircraft to be fitted with a rocket propelled seat, in 1958. Martin-Baker developed a similar design, using multiple rocket units feeding a single nozzle. This had the advantage of being able to eject the pilot to a safe height even if the aircraft was on or very near the ground. The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger fighter aircraft was part of the backbone of the United States air defenses in the late 1950s. ...

In the early 1960s, deployment began of rocket-powered ejection seats designed for use at supersonic speeds, in such planes as the F-106 Delta Dart. Six pilots have ejected at speeds exceeding 700 knots (805mph) and the highest altitude a Martin-Baker seat was deployed at was 57,000ft (from a Canberra in 1958). Following an accident in the attempeted launch of a D-21 drone, two SR-71 crew members ejected at Mach 3.25 at an altitude of 80,000ft. Despite these records, most ejections occur at fairly low speeds and altitudes, when the pilot can see that there is no hope of regaining aircraft control before impact on the ground. The Convair F-106A Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. ... A knot is a non SI unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour. ... The English Electric Canberra was a first-generation jet bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. ... The Lockheed D-21 Tagboard was a Mach 3+ reconnaissance drone that began development in October 1962. ... The Lockheed SR-71, unofficially known as the Blackbird, is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft by Lockheeds Skunk works, which was also responsible for the U-2 and many other advanced aircraft. ... An F/A-18 Hornet breaking the sound barrier. ...

Pilot safety

The purpose of an ejection seat is pilot survival, not pilot comfort. Many pilots have suffered career-ending injuries while using ejection seats, including crushed vertebrae. The pilot typically experiences an acceleration of about 12 to 14 g (117 to 137 m/s²). Western seats usually impose lighter loads on the pilots; 1960s-70s era ex-Soviet technology often goes up to 20-22 g (with SM-1 and KM-1 gunbarrel type ejection seats). Career-ending injuries are quite common, partly because eastern military pilots usually continue to fly into their late 40s or early 50s and end (retire) their flying career afterward, while most western jet pilots retire from the military in their late 30s. The term g force or gee force refers to the symbol g, the force of acceleration due to gravity at the earths surface. ...

Lt. William Belden ejects from an A-4 Skyhawk on the deck of the Shangri-La.

The Russian K-36 ejector seat manufactured by NPP Zvezda is considered by many as the world's most advanced. It was studied at length by the US Navy and Airforce and IBP Aircraft opened up a factory in the US to manufacture it for the F-22 Raptor and the Joint Strike Fighter. The US Government however selected the Martin Baker seat from the UK in a political move for the new US fighters. The amazing capabilities of the K-36 were convincingly demonstrated at the Fairford Air Show on 24 July 1993 when the pilots of two MiG 29 fighters successfully ejected after a mid-air collision[3]. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... The A-4 Skyhawk was an attack aircraft originally designed to operate from United States Navy aircraft carriers. ... Research, Development & Production Enterprise Zvezda (RD&PE Zvezda for short, or НПП Звезда in Russian) is a Russian manufacturer of life-support systems for high-altitude flight and space travel. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Seal of the Air Force. ... “F-22” redirects here. ... The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a fighter plane currently in early development by Lockheed Martin (with partners Northrop Grumman and BAE SYSTEMS.) The primary customers are the United States armed forces and the United Kingdom (RN and RAF), but the Netherlands... ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... RIAT 2006 RIAT 2006 The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the worlds largest military airshow, held annually over the third weekend in July, usually at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust. ... The Mikoyan MiG-29 (NATO reporting name Fulcrum) is a Russian fighter aircraft used in the air superiority role. ...

By May 2006, Martin-Baker ejection seats had saved 7196 lives. The total figure for all types of ejector seats is unknown, but must be considerably higher.

Egress Systems

The "standard" ejection system operates in two stages. First, the entire canopy or hatch above the aviator is opened or jettisoned, and the seat and occupant are launched through the opening. In most earlier aircraft this required two separate actions by the aviator, while later egress system designs, such as the Advanced Concept Ejection Seat model 2 (ACES II) will perform both functions on a single action.

The ACES II ejection seat is used in most of the United States Air Force's mainline fighters, including the A-10, F-15, and F-16. The A-10 uses connected firing handles that activate both the canopy jettison systems, followed by the seat ejection. The F-15 has the same connected system as the A-10 Seat. Both handles accomplish the same task, so pulling either one suffices. The F-16 has only one rubber handle located between the pilot's knees, since the cockpit is too narrow for side-mounted handles. Unlike the F-15 and A-10, however, the F-16 does NOT have canopy breaking systems installed. The angle of the ejection seat inside the aircraft is so extreme that a pilot's head would strike the canopy before any installed canopy breakers would. Also, the canopy is constructed of highly durable composite material which cannot be shattered by seat ejection. The Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft designed to provide air interdiction and close air support (CAS) of ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets. ... The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter designed to permit the U.S. Air Force to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. ... The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a modern multi-role jet fighter aircraft built in the United States and used by dozens of countries all over the world. ...

Non-standard egress systems include Downward Track (used for some crew positions in bomber aircraft, including the B-52 Stratofortress), Canopy Destruct (CD) and Through-Canopy Penetration (TCP), Drag Extraction, Encapsulated Seat and even Crew Capsule. “B-52” redirects here. ...

Early models of the F-104 Starfighter were equipped with a Downward Track ejection seat due to the hazard of the T-tail. In order to make this work, the pilot was equipped with "spurs" which were attached to cables that would pull the legs inwards so the pilot could be ejected. Following this development, a number of other egress systems began using leg-retractors as a way to prevent injuries to flailing legs, and to provide a more stable center of gravity. The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a single-engine, high-performance, supersonic interceptor aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1958 until 1967 and continued in service with the Air National Guard until it was phased out in 1975. ... In aircraft a T-tail is an arrangement of the tail control surfaces with the horizontal surfaces (tailplane and elevators) mounted to the top of the fin, rather than the more common location on the fuselage at the base of the fin. ...

Similarly, two of the six ejection seats on the B-52 Stratofortress fire downward, through hatch openings on the bottom of the aircraft; The downward hatches are released from the aircraft by a thruster that unlocks the hatch, gravity and wind remove the hatch and arm the seat. The four seats on the forward upper deck fire upwards (two of them, EWO and Gunner, facing the rear of the airplane) as usual. Note that any such down-firing system is of no use on or near the ground.

Aircraft designed for low-level use sometimes have ejection seats which fire through the canopy, as waiting for the canopy to be ejected is too slow. Many aircraft types (e.g. BAe Hawk, A-6 Intruder, and the Harrier line of aircraft) use Canopy Destruct systems, which have an explosive cord (MDC - Mild Detonation Cord or FLSC -Flexable Linear Shaped Charge) embedded within the acrylic plastic of the canopy. The MDC is initiated when the eject handle is pulled, and shatters the canopy over the seat a few milliseconds before the seat is launched. The BAE Systems (BAE) Hawk is an advanced jet trainer which first flew in 1974 as the Hawker-Siddeley Hawk. ... The A-6 Intruder is a twin-engine, mid-wing attack aircraft built by Grumman Aerospace. ... This article is about the Harrier family of V/STOL aircraft. ...

Through-Canopy Penetration is similar to Canopy Destruct, but a sharp spike on the top of the seat, known as the "shell tooth," strikes the underside of the canopy and shatters it. The A-10 Thunderbolt II is equipped with canopy breakers on either side of its headrest in the event that the canopy fails to jettison. In ground emergencies, a ground crew or pilot can use a breaker knife attached to the inside of the canopy to shatter the transparency.

CD and TCP systems cannot be used with canopies made of flexible materials, such as the Lexan polycarbonate canopy used on the F-16. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Polycarbonates are a particular group of thermoplastic polyesters. ... The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a modern multi-role jet fighter aircraft built in the United States and used by dozens of countries all over the world. ...

Soviet Yakovlev Yak-38 VTOL naval fighter planes were equipped with automatically activated ejection seats, mandated by the notorious unreliability of their vertical lifting powerplants. The Yakovlev Yak-38 (NATO reporting name: Forger) was Soviet Naval Aviations first and only operational VTOL multi-role combat aircraft. ... The Hawker Harrier, one of the famous examples of a plane with VTOL capability. ...

Drag Extraction is the lightest and simplest egress system available, and has been used on many experimental aircraft, and even the Space Shuttle. Halfway between simply "bailing out" and using explosive-eject systems, Drag Extraction uses the airflow past the aircraft (or spacecraft) to move the aviator out of the cockpit and away from the stricken craft on a guide rail. Some operate like a standard ejector seat, by jettisoning the canopy, then deploying a drag chute into the airflow. That chute pulls the occupant out of the aircraft, either with the seat or following release of the seat straps, who then rides off the end of a rail extending far enough out to help clear the structure. In the case of the Space Shuttle, the astronauts ride a long, curved rail, blown by the wind against their bodies, then deploy their chutes after free-falling to a safe altitude. NASAs Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States governments current manned launch vehicle. ...

Encapsulated Seat egress systems were developed for use in the B-58 Hustler and B-70 Valkyrie supersonic bombers. These seats were enclosed in an air-operated clamshell, which permitted the aircrew to escape at airspeeds high enough to cause bodily harm. These seats were designed to allow the pilot to control the plane even with the clamshell closed, and the capsule would float in case of water landings. The Convair B-58 Hustler was a American high-speed jet bomber capable of Mach 2 supersonic flight. ... The XB-70 in flight. ...

Some aircraft designs, such as the General Dynamics F-111, do not have individual ejection seats, but instead, the entire section of the airframe containing the crew can be ejected as a single capsule. In this system, very powerful rockets are used, and multiple large parachutes are used to bring the capsule down, in a manner very similar to the Launch Escape System of the Apollo spacecraft. On landing, an airbag system is used to cushion the landing, and this also acts as a flotation device if the Crew Capsule lands in water. The General Dynamics F-111 is a medium-range strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and tactical strike aircraft designed in the 1960s. ... Apollo Spacecraft: Command Module, Service Module, Lunar Module. ... For the Mozilla crash reporting software previously called Airbag, see Breakpad. ...

Ejection seats in other aircraft

The Kamov Ka-50 was the first helicopter to be fitted with an ejection seat. The system is very similar to that of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft; the main rotors are equipped with explosive bolts and are designed to disintegrate moments before the seat rocket is fired. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ... A rotor is the rotating part of a helicopter which generates lift, either vertically in the case of a main rotor, or horizontally in the case of a tail rotor. ... An explosive bolt is a fastener that incorporates a pyrotechnic charge that can be initiated by an electrical command. ...

Early flights of the US space shuttle were with a crew of two, both provided with ejector seats, but the seats were disabled and then removed as the crew size was increased. ^{[citation needed]} NASAs Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States governments current manned launch vehicle. ...

The Soviet shuttle "Buran" was planned to be fitted with K-36RB (K-36M-11F35) seats, but it was unmanned on its single flight; the seats were never installed. The Shuttle Buran, serial number 11F35 K1, was the only space shuttle to come out of the Shuttle Buran program that was completed. ...

The only spacecraft ever flown with installed ejection seats are the Space Shuttle, the Soviet Vostok and American Gemini series. During the Vostok program, all the returning cosmonauts would eject as their capsule descended under parachutes at about 7,000 m (23,000 ft). This fact was kept secret for many years as the FAI rules at the time required that a pilot must land with the spacecraft for the purposes of FAI record books. NASAs Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States governments current manned launch vehicle. ... The Vostok program (Восто́к, translated as East) was a Soviet human spaceflight project that succeeded in putting a person into Earth orbit for the first time. ... Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of the United States of America. ... Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is a standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics. ...

Passenger planes are unlikely to ever receive ejection technology. A single ejection seat costs over ten times as much as a first-class ticket. Furthermore, the seat along with all its components weigh almost four times the amount of an average passenger. Any ejection would have to be initiated by the flight crew, as civilians would require training on how to use an ejection seat and could not be controlled enough to prevent them from inadvertently setting off the system. Even if an airline did manage to accomplish all this, there would still be the undeniable fact that an ejection would probably be fatal to children, those suffering from bone diseases, and the elderly.

However, some ultralight and single-engine general aviation aircraft have been refitted with ballistically deployed parachutes recently. However these systems cannot be considered "ejection" systems because you are not actually ejected from the aircraft. Ultralight aviation is a segment of aviation that is permitted in the United States of America by the FAA as long as certain weight, speed, and fuel capacity restrictions are observed. ... General aviation (abbr. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Ballistic Recovery Systems. ...

See also

• Escape crew capsule

An escape crew capsule allows a pilot (or astronaut) to eject from his or her craft and still be protected at extreme speeds and altitudes which might not be survivable in a simple ejection seat. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ejector seat

• The Ejection Site
• www.gdt-systems.com
• ejectionseat.com.ne.kr
• Ejection seat simulator
• Ejection History
• Picture and specifications of an ejection seat