And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
The canopy and the seat are gone, so the pilot has ejected. A bit of digging on the internet and I found this. https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/55547 Al_in_Ottawa
Ejection seats are generally zero-zero, meaning there's no such things as "too low", because the seats work at 0 feet altitude, going 0 MPH. The only guaranteed non-survivable ejects are rolled more than 90° or fully inverted, at low altitude, without time to right themselves before impact.
The problem in all cases is getting snagged up by plane parts, like the canopy or control stick, on the way out. That's why guys got jacked up coming out of crippled planes since ever.
Oh, and dollars to donuts, the squadron CO was like, "Seriously there, Wrong Way, you couldn't have come down in the meadow 20' to the side??"
Note that on this Harrier the canopy frame remains with the fuselage. Some aircraft designs have a loop of det cord around the frame, and the first event in an ejection sequence is to cut the transparency away. Other ejection seats have featured a spike on the headrest, and the seat just punches through the plastic. BTW, carrier aircraft (in Allied service, anyway) use different plastic for canopies than ground-based planes. The material properties are different; naval aircraft use a plastic that causes less visual distortion, because landing on the boat is more difficult. The ground-based planes can use a material that’s tougher, more scratch resistant.
Flight demo for the 75th anniversary of Naval Aviation in Pensacola in '86. Watched a Brit put on a good show but then set the thing down on it's belly. Forgot to put the gear down! Damn those things are LOUD.
Back when the earth cooled, my physics prof used to have a Fun with Physics Friday's. It seems he was on the English team that was working on the ejection seats for the then new jet age. First ones were a half stick under the seat. The original tests was going to be with a voluntold pilot but he wouldn't get in the plane so they got a 175 pig strapped in a hit the button. Learned two things that day. First was the canopy needed to be broken away first and second that there was a thing known as ceiling bacon. Blew that poor oinker all over the test cell. They started using rockets then.
My last fil said he was injured when his canopy failed to open or fully open. He said it was hell on his shoulders. I can’t recall what he was flying but it was the Vietnam era. RAF. Rest his soul.
recalling a service helicopter with wheels stuck up, flew out to sea, dumped most of its fuel, returned to land - no one could pull gear down, crew but pilot out, pilot stayed with bird until tank went dry - plopped into the water/mud, helo written off as most wiring at bottom
I especially like the survival raft in the ditch next to the plane.
ReplyDeleteThat's a big raft for a single-seater!
DeleteThere's a raft behind the wing as well. Probably the rescue team...
DeleteThat pilot is never going to live that down. I bet he gets a new call sign out of it: 'Pull Tab to Inflate' or something similar.
DeleteLol, my first thought as well.
ReplyDeleteIt was good to see that it worked.
ReplyDeletebuff right out
ReplyDeleteRight, because we've never seen that reply before.
DeleteHe can't help himself.
DeleteThe canopy and the seat are gone, so the pilot has ejected.
ReplyDeleteA bit of digging on the internet and I found this.
https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/55547
Al_in_Ottawa
"The pilot - Flight Lieutenant S K Brown - ejected but was badly injured..."
DeleteToo low for his chute to open properly, I'm guessing.
Ejection seats are generally zero-zero, meaning there's no such things as "too low", because the seats work at 0 feet altitude, going 0 MPH.
DeleteThe only guaranteed non-survivable ejects are rolled more than 90° or fully inverted, at low altitude, without time to right themselves before impact.
The problem in all cases is getting snagged up by plane parts, like the canopy or control stick, on the way out.
That's why guys got jacked up coming out of crippled planes since ever.
Oh, and dollars to donuts, the squadron CO was like, "Seriously there, Wrong Way, you couldn't have come down in the meadow 20' to the side??"
I know some WWII fighters used water injection on the engines.......................but that is dialed up to 11.
ReplyDeleteNote that on this Harrier the canopy frame remains with the fuselage. Some aircraft designs have a loop of det cord around the frame, and the first event in an ejection sequence is to cut the transparency away. Other ejection seats have featured a spike on the headrest, and the seat just punches through the plastic. BTW, carrier aircraft (in Allied service, anyway) use different plastic for canopies than ground-based planes. The material properties are different; naval aircraft use a plastic that causes less visual distortion, because landing on the boat is more difficult. The ground-based planes can use a material that’s tougher, more scratch resistant.
ReplyDeleteSome interesting remarks, thanks.
ReplyDeleteFlight demo for the 75th anniversary of Naval Aviation in Pensacola in '86.
ReplyDeleteWatched a Brit put on a good show but then set the thing down on it's belly.
Forgot to put the gear down! Damn those things are LOUD.
Back when the earth cooled, my physics prof used to have a Fun with Physics Friday's. It seems he was on the English team that was working on the ejection seats for the then new jet age. First ones were a half stick under the seat. The original tests was going to be with a voluntold pilot but he wouldn't get in the plane so they got a 175 pig strapped in a hit the button. Learned two things that day. First was the canopy needed to be broken away first and second that there was a thing known as ceiling bacon. Blew that poor oinker all over the test cell. They started using rockets then.
ReplyDeleteSpin
My last fil said he was injured when his canopy failed to open or fully open. He said it was hell on his shoulders. I can’t recall what he was flying but it was the Vietnam era. RAF. Rest his soul.
ReplyDeleterecalling a service helicopter with wheels stuck up, flew out to sea, dumped most of its fuel, returned to land - no one could pull gear down, crew but pilot out, pilot stayed with bird until tank went dry - plopped into the water/mud, helo written off as most wiring at bottom
ReplyDeleteTo correct Aesop, you can be too low for a "zero-zero" seat to save you, even if wings level, depending on your sink rate at the time of ejection.
ReplyDelete