Thursday, May 16, 2019

Don't Panic...


So my ennui continues.

I just haven't been feeling the blogging itch lately.

It shows, doesn't it?

Anyhoo...

I have written about ejection seats before, as has juvat. Tuna mentioned them, en passant. That post wasn't about ejection seats per se but it was, as are all of Tuna's posts, très amusant, so I included a link to it.

This post isn't really about ejection seats, but I did include a couple of ejection seat videos. Just to keep things semi-aviation focused. I tell ya, I'm having trouble sticking to it. I blame the trips to California and New Hampshire, both of which were interesting and fun, but both of which interrupted my normal sleep cycle.

First World problems, neh?

Anyhoo, the first video has two zero-zero ejection tests, no "monkeyboys in the front seat*" were injured in the filming of this video. Note, if you are given a choice of ejection seats, always take the second one shown in the video. You'll see why...

(Sorry about making you jump to YouTube, these things occur.)


The next one is a brief history of the Martin-Baker ejection seat.


Ejecting from an aircraft is not something you want to do, ever. But if that's the only move you have left, take it.

Beats tying the low altitude record, every time.




FWIW, I ain't ready to quit this blogging thing just yet, just in the middle of a slump. Longer than most, but it happens, even Babe Ruth struck out from time to time.


* Go read Tuna's old post for the provenance of that phrase. FWIW, I've heard backseaters (NFOs/WSOs/RIOs) referred to as "200-pound self-loading ballast." Lots of love to go around in aviation. Remember, there is no slack in fighter-attack.

46 comments:

  1. I know I've posted this before, but this is required viewing, given the topic:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Q6_8EyRYY&t=202s

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    1. I didnt realize engineers had a sense of humor! Or was that video a true documentary?

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    2. Engineers do have a sense of humor, sort of.

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  2. Ya Sarge, remember... getting three hits out of ten at bats results in a multi-million dollar payoff somewhere that I read......er....ah....but no such payoff here, neh? I found that a little physical labor around the homestead helps to reset the sleep clock, in fact dirt, edging blocks, river rock, shovels, trowels, et al are on the agenda today.

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    1. Argh, manual labor!?!?

      Would that it would only stop raining. (Yesterday was okay, today is nice so far.)

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  3. Cuando es Senior Manuel Labor?

    My only aircraft ejection seat experience has been while piloting various aircraft via video games.
    Note. Choosing to eject from a badly damaged F-16 while close to the ground and inverted didn't end well.

    Re:Ennui. It happens, I plan on keeping up my end of the deal, whatever you write, I will read.
    Same thing applies to all your blogging team.
    Thank you all for the work you put into the blog.

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    1. "Close to the ground and inverted" has killed more than one aircrewman!

      There are days I feel like a diesel submarine which has been submerged too long, battery is low, air is stale. I need to run on the surface for a while and recharge.

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    2. It happened to my soon-to-be bro-in-law in '65. On the range at Bergstrom. Not good. Long story.

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  4. That slo-mo sure made it look like the dummy pilot (no redundancy there!) head broke part of the canopy. That would be "speshul".

    I bet Mr Lynch's back in old age would mine feel like new in comparison.

    Re: Ennui. 6 days a week is a lot of effort. Heck, one day a week is difficult at times. Don't sweat the small stuff. Wife, Kids, Grand Kids, Self need to take precedence.

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    1. Yes, ouch!

      There are times when it's a drag doing the blogging thing, maybe a couple of times a year. I just need a long weekend and we've got one coming at the end of the month. Four days off with no plans. Paradise!

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  5. The secret to ejecting, as I've told before, as told to me by my progenitor and mighty Thunderjet pilot, is.. "Elbows In, tuck the elbows in."

    But on another note. "G"

    Could perhaps seasonal allergies be affecting your ennui? Sinuses not totally clear will cause mental buttocks-across-the-floor episodes. I know when my head is stuffed full that I am capable of writing comments but not posts. (It takes less cleverness and mental acuity to do 3-4 paragraphs riffing off of someone else and being Mr. Wizard than it does to come up with original content. Well, at least for me.)

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    1. Elbows in was the reason I always planned to use the lower handles. Because they were between your legs, it was difficult to pull and have elbows out. (it was more of a curling motion than a lifting). The exception was if I was ejecting under negative G, then it might be difficult to reach those handles and the upper ones might be more accessible. However, under negative G, almost always, your butt wasn't firmly in the seat. That allowed the seat to accelerate for a microsecond before you did. That meant your chances of injury were quite a bit higher.

      As Sarge said, ejecting is always bad. The alternative is worse.

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    2. Plus, if one had to eject, one might have to try to remember what the outstanding instructors at Survival School attempted to beat into aircrew's skulls.

      Thanks for the post.
      Paul L. Quandt

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    3. Beans - Elbows in it is! (Also what juvat said.)

      As to the seasonal allergy thing? A possibility I had not considered. Could be.

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    4. juvat - I defer to the expert, as always.

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    5. PLQ - That would be the real test wouldn't it?

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    6. Re: Elbows in. My dad said you could always tell who rode the rocketchair because their elbows were screwed up and they all had a weird scrunched look to them. Since broken elbows and compressed spinal columns, if not outright broken necks and back, is a common side effect of riding the fire, well... Still better than death.

      If you are feeling cruddy around the same time every day, it may be pressure change related. Vitamin I (ibuprofen) can be your friend.)

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    7. PLQ - my dad and his country-raised fellow aviation cadets all did much better in Survival School than did the city-raised folk. Dad loved telling how he actually came back from the 'leave you in the wilderness' portion of SS 5lbs heavier. Trapping and eating just about every moving thing did well for him.

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    8. Beans the first - I don't feel cruddy, just tired. It's the lack of a full, leave me alone weekend for over a month.

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    9. Beans the second - I would reckon that city folk wouldn't do well in a wilderness survival scenario. But wow, 5 lbs heavier? That's impressive!

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    10. BeansMay 16, 2019 at 11:52 AM

      "PLQ - my dad and his country-raised fellow aviation cadets all did much better in Survival School than did the city-raised folk. Dad loved telling how he actually came back from the 'leave you in the wilderness' portion of SS 5lbs heavier. Trapping and eating just about every moving thing did well for him."

      When and where did your Dad go through Survival School?

      Paul

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    11. Yes, inquiring minds (read nosy for inquiring) want to know.

      ;)

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    12. Um.. Air Force, 1952 or 53? Somewhere in semi-desert government land somewhere out southwest? Dunno. My mother keeps meaning to send me his DD214 so I can bug the Air Force for his records, at least what they'll tell me. I think part of it was the cadets/pilot trainees did some swapping of food stuff and dad traded for things others didn't like. He did say that he was dropped off in what was supposed to be semi-barren land and it wasn't. I got the impression that after he left his spot, barren was a good description.

      I never saw my dad turn down any type of food, so I wouldn't put it past him to eat snakes, birds, bird eggs, lizards, rabbits, rats, bugs, plants, javelina, canine, horse, donkey, camel, whatever was available. He did grow up in SW Louisiana and supplemented the table with what he caught, shot, trapped, procured, sniped, maybe even poached. Late depression and WWII years, so, well, no snapping turtle was safe.

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    13. And he did sneer at the later Survival School as apparently some congresscritters got complained to about how hard his late Korean War era school was and the Air Force toned it down or something. His instructors included survivors of the Pacific and European theaters, men who escaped and evaded both the Japs and the Nazis, so emphasis was on practical knowledge, sometimes gained firsthand.

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    14. Well Beans, most of the things on that food list sound ok, and many of them are things we all eat on a regular basis. Chickens are birds, and javelina is just "natural" pork, snakes are supposed to taste like chicken, while I wouldn't be keen to eat canine, horse, donkey or camel that is more out of sentiment, and the horse/donkey/camel might carry me for a while instead of me having to walk quite so far. If I was truly hungry, not a problem. And plants are just salads and veggies, and seasonings. Will admit not raising my hand for bugs, and lizards, and rats...then I am not so sure. But I suppose you can hide just about anything in a soup or a stew. Turtle soup!! Yum!!

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    15. Beans - If survival school isn't tough, I guess it wouldn't be worth that much.

      Those who have been in the last decade or so? I know a few, I won't ask, I doubt they'd answer.

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    16. Suz - Pretty much spot on. If we're hungry enough we'll eat whatever is available in order to survive.

      I hope to never be in such a spot.

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    17. Oh, one last thing. The instructors who survived shoot downs in the ETO and the Pacific knew what the students needed to stay alive. Congresscritters wouldn't, another thing they know little or nothing about. Well, some might, the veterans among them, their number is too small.

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    18. Well, remember that 'Cajun' thing? He and his friends actually had, growing up, kind of a competition as to who could put the strangest thing into gumbo. So, snakes, frogs, lizards, pretty much anything that tasted 'like chicken' or various seafoody things.

      Dad really loved the 'C' rat pork and beans. Apparently others in the school hated them, and traded P&B for his comfort items and smokes. Silly people.... Never give food away.

      As to rat, it's... okay. Some lizards are more tasty than others. Iguana actually tastes good, and grills up real nice with some lime. Snakes are like lizards, some taste better than others.

      I just can't imagine what will happen to the snowflake generation if they have to end up eating Hoover Chickens or some other weird animal. Like nutria, or silver carp. Funny, they'll eat talapia (which is what fish farmers use to clean the water of all the other fishes' poop... ew...)

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    19. "...Air Force, 1952 or 53?" That would be right around the time Gen. LeMay had the school started, iffn I recall correctly. Not that I was involved with the school at that time, but we were given the ( official ) history of the school when we were training to become instructors.

      Paul

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    20. Dad said the course was a bit of a ball-buster but got cleaned up in following years. Though the running around in the boonies portion pretty much matched what Dad did when he was a kid. "Go into BFE, make a fort/nest/hovel/cabin/hidey-hole and stay there for a few days living off the land." Uh, that WAS his childhood!

      I can see it being a bit of a murderous course if LeMay was involved. Knowing how he felt about aviators that survived Japanese camps, I can see him personally yelling at any weak-at-the-knees fliers.

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    21. I don't know if he was embellishing or fabricating, but he did say, after he got back from the course and they questioned him, that he'd do it again.

      So, seeee? Being a smart-arse is inherited!

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    22. So, he was there for the hunting?

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    23. Maybe... He was one of the designated distant landing field animal control officer in F-84 school (yes, he got paid to sit in a jeep and shoot deer and antelope and whatever else got near the touch-and-go airfield. Said shootings would find their way into the food at the base.)

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  6. You're not striking out!
    One of the things we had to get used to in the Phantom was the face curtain and/or "between the knees" handle. We were all used to the side of the seat handles which supposedly got rid of the canopy, then you pull and, as he said in the old movie, "out you go!" They had developed the calf restraining do-hickies (sorry for the tech-oriented aviation term) by the time we got to ride the Martin-Baker Seat. We felt incredibly safe, zero-zero, you know, having received the briefing from the marketing department.

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    1. Thanks Dave.

      Yeah, the marketing department, I'd trust them. OTOH, it's not like you get to pick your ejection seat, someone else does. Someone who probably has zero chance of ever having to ride one.

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    2. Well, M-B actually celebrates the number of lives (mostly) saved. So they have that going for them.

      I always wondered how the B-70 ejection capsule would have worked out. Seat, survival shelter, boat, all in one, supposedly.

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    3. Actually, I think we WERE very safe. That confidence in the seat gave us liberty to perform much more aggressively in many areas of the game. We got to ride the simulator thing, that was fun. Looking back, there were a lot of fun things we got to do in preparation for the BIG FUN - spark, burn, boom and go!

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    4. It's important to have confidence in the equipment.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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