I saw something or heard about the Russian aircraft ejection systems explosive charges blowing the legs off the pilots.:eek:

That first pic.. of the Air Chance Airbus is a P-shop job...

There are now 'usually' leg tethers that pull the calfs back towards the seat out of the way of the canopy bow as part of the first stage of the ejection sequence..... my guess is that sing's F-4 may not have had them....unless you ejected in a high G evolution....

Punched out of a Phantom? My father flew 'em in Nam... luckily he never had to punch out.

We had very rudimentry tethers. In my case was a very high-G sideload, the canopy had not cleared, and I actually caught the remains of the rail (after the seat 'knife' had broken the canopy) on the way out. My RIO got out clean. We had been expecting to go for a few minutes, but the ferocity of the loss of control when the hyd fluid went was astounding. All we needed was those few minutes to clear some nasty terrain and get out over the water.

I guess having two p-chop jobs in one post is about average these days. They came to me from a normally pretty good source.

lol. I love Polish Mazury! For those of you that don't know Polish, they are asking at the top "Is ice safe?" Then they give you the average thickness of ice in cm for a particular object. The uwaga (warning) states that going on ice is at your own risk.

This happened at Mountain Home AFB, ID about three years ago. I know because I was there. :)

I was sitting in my EOD response van parked about 50 yards from the control tower on the far side of the runway. Me and my buddy Wozniak were munching on a turkey sandwich when it went down. The F-16 was coming almost directly across from us. It was doing some sort of low power/stall maneuver (flying as slow as possible). I guess the engine flamed out. Even before the engine died it was not loud. When these things are coming almost right at you they make sort of a muffled whine. Once they get past is when you hear the roar of the exhaust.
Anyway, I didn't see the actual ejection because I was focusing on my sandwich. Woz, however, let out a very distinct "OH ****!!!"

I looked up and saw the f-16 do something it shouldn't have done; it hit the ground. I remember seeing part of the canopy flying off and the seat motor but it just didn't register because I was glued on the plane. It seemed like just a moment and BOOOM! I remember hearing these pop pop pop noises right before it hit. I can only assume it was the APU (alternate power unit) or was it emergency power unit... whatever... anyway the APU/EPU uses hydrazine to attempt and restart the engine in a flameout. Guess it only works with a pilot behind the controls. ;)

The guy was pissed. He got up before we could even get to him. He tore off his helmet and gloves and threw them down all pissed off.

Smelled something horrible.
That was that... "nothing to see here people... airshow's over..."

Well, it'd help if I included the photo... :)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138253255.jpg

Sing,

Several years ago, while I was still active duty, I went through the training syllabus to be qualified to ride in the backseat of an F/A-18. Helo-dunker, marathon water-treading/drown-proofing, etc, etc. Aside from the helo-dunker, which was a total blast, the next best part of the qual was the e-seat simulator. Pull the handles and it shoots you up the rails about 20 feet or so.

It fired at only a fraction of the real speed, but it was still a rush. I can only imagine the effects the REAL launch would have on someone. Glad you made it out okay.

Oh, and Thanks for your service! :D

Randy

I remember reading about the air show incident, and there was in-cockpit video as well. One of the airplane sites had tons of info on the incident, and IIRC, determined it to be pilot error: he didn't re-set his altimeter (or something like that) for the base altitude at which the show took place. (I'm not a pilot and I don't play one on TV)

While searching for that, I found this site: http://www.micom.net/oops/ - lots of bad day pix

http://www.micom.net/oops/F8overshoot1.jpg
http://www.micom.net/oops/F8overshoot2.jpg

Finally back in a country with fair internet, so here are some more photos...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270093.jpg

Notice the white spot in the front? Thats a pilots helmet.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270119.jpg

Got out just in time.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270174.jpg

It helps when both main wheels are inline with the landing direction of the airplane!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270227.jpg


German Flak took the #2 engine off this airplane. Wing departed the scene shortly afterwards. Hope the crew got out.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270311.jpg

Starlifter incident.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270410.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270422.jpg

Here is what it looks like after the pilot punches out. Believe that this is in Bosnia.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138270539.jpg

Looks to be the remains of an F/A-18 Hornet. Flattened out pretty nicely.

I was involved in an emergency reclamation several years back, down in Australia. Ended up a LOT worse than than...

Late at night, around 2300, no moon. I remember commenting, an hour or so earlier, that you literally coudn't see your hand in front of your face. Pilot was on an instrument sortee, without NVGs.

Long story short, the mishap report said he must have fixated on some light on the ground, thinking it was a star. Hit the deck at over 600 kts @ 30 degree descent. Aircraft was literally spread out into a triangle up to 1/2 mile away. The biggest pieces we found were the barrels of the Vulcan machine gun. Pilot never knew he hit. Has to be the saddest experience in my 20 years.

Randy

Any of you guys fly an ultalight? That is something that I have always wanted to do.

Yes... and yes.
They all have either tethers or leg shielding. But they seem to not work well in all situations - only ideal situations. But if you're punching out, it's already less than "ideal".
The canopy glass (polycarbonate) is too thick on the real go-fasts - and thus you have the canopy blowoff as seen in the F-16 pic. On older, slower planes, you have a crown on the ejection seat which has the purpose of breaking the glass as you go thru. You know... so your head doesn't have to.


Been there, done that. Most people think I'm BSing them when I mention an e-seat simulator. IIRC, it fires with only the primary charge. BANG, you're there. People would pay money for that if it were a Disney ride.....

My Father, Brother and Uncle all flew ultralites. My father still ownes hangers on a local airport for them. I think four or five of their friends died in 10 years. Both my brother and uncle went down once(engine outs).


None of them fly them any longer.

The restraint system for the legs varies depending on the ejection seat. I worked with McDonnald Douglas on the F-15 program and spent enough time around a F-4 to know it very well. The older seats as well were known for being difficult on the pilots backs, but then being alive with a bad back is a lot better than having a perfect back but being in a coffin.

Some of the airplanes also have a capsule that ejects out, and the crew rides down in that. The F-111 is like this and it was even watertight, and would float (they hoped) if it came down in water.

One of my best friends punched out in a F-4 in 'Nam. He is 3/4rd of an inch shorter now and has had some spinal problems due to the ejection. Most of the guys I know who have done this suffer some problems in this area.

A few "Rhino" shots for Michael...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138288207.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138288258.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138288565.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138288759.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138288894.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1138289068.jpg

Marine Fighter-Reconaissance Squadron 3 (VMFP-3) Stationed out of MCAS El Toro, California. RF-4 Pantom...Carried one heckuva camera in the front, you can see one of the window glasses in the pic, the dark square on the starboard side, just aft of the radome.

Randy

Anyone ever see the video of the guy getting sucked into the intake of the Navy jet? I forget which one it was, maybe an A-6? I saw that while at the School of Aerospace Medicine. Wild. They pulled the guy out after shutting down the engine, I think I remember that his helmet got sucked off his head and killed the engine. The instructor said his boot got caught on the intake and that is what kept him from following his helmet into the fan but I dunno if that is true or not.

This one?

Here's another one.

Randy

The deck of a carrier involved in active air ops is one of the most dangerous places in all the world (except, maybe sitting in front of Ted Kennedy on the senate floor when he is sober).

They used to tell us that you'd be safer standing on the freeway, at closing time for the bars, dressed in black (or alone with a drunk in a '68 Olds on a rural dirt road in Massachusetts, late at night).

Sorry, had to do it. He offends all that is sacred in this country.

Agree on all points, and Mary Jo Kopechne would feel the same. Been on deck many times and its not a friendly place. Glad I was not carrier based...

Someday Teddy will meet his maker. HE knows what really happened that night. I hope that Mary Jo can rest in peace after that.

Joe A