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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0654.PDF
658 FLIGHT, 17 May 1957 A high-speed multiple-image photograph of the forward- facing "A" seat with skip-flow generator. The photograph was taken in the Southern California Co-operative wind tunnel with a specially developed camera. UNDER the direction of the U.S. Industry CrewEscape Systems Committee, both Convair andLockheed have been granted co-ordinating con- tracts for the development of ejection seats for the"Century" series supersonic fighters. Convair are developing an upward-escape system and Lockheedare working on a downward-ejection seat. A major task is to protect the pilot from the fierceonslaught of the airstream immediately after ejection. For this purpose, Lockheed designed the skip-flowgenerator system, described in Flight for November 30, 1956, which relies on a smallplate extended into the air- stream ahead of the seat tocause an envelope of rela- tively slow-moving air toform round the pilot. The seat is stabilized by fins.Convair have taken up this device and applied it to anupward-ejection seat, which is also stabilized by means of fins. Convair have also developed a seat which tips the pilot over on tohis back at the moment of ejection and projects him feet-first into the airstream. Special harness and guards secure his feet andshield him from blast. Fins are also deployed to stabilize the seat in flight. The Talco RESCU rocket device, illustrated in Flight forNovember 23,1956, is incorporated to give the seat added boost to clear the airframe at very high speeds or during ground-levelejection. This Convair seat, which has been mentioned in con- nection with the F-102 and F-106, is nicknamed "aerial bobsled." Altogether, thirteen major aircraft companies are engaged inthe ejection-seat development programme. Small-scale models of Seats for the Century Series —of U.S.A.F. Fighters: Convair and Lockheed Developments the Convair and Lockheed seats have so far been tested in theSouthern California Co-operative wind tunnel; and full-scale blast and trajectory tests are soon to begin on the rocket sled installa-tions at Edwards A.F.B. and Hurricane Mesa, Utah. With the "aerial bobsled," officially known as the B-seat, thepulling of the firing ring between the pilot's thighs causes his feet to be drawn back by cords on to stirrups. The seat then rotatesbackwards while, at the same time, the stirrups are moved up and partly covered by streamlined fairings. The pilot's knees are thusbrought firmly up to his chest. Another guard-plate emerges from each side of the seat to hold the pilot's knees in, and thereby torestrain his forearms. This whole process takes 0.25 sec. The rotation of the seat begins only after it has travelled some19in up the rails in a vertical attitude under the initial impulse of the ejection cartridge. Thereafter a scissor linkage effects therotation. By the time the seat emerges fully from the cockpit the rotation is complete and total time of just under a second haselapsed. Horizontal and vertical stabilizing fins spread from the top (now aft) portion of the seat and a rocket charge takes overthe task of propelling the pilot and seat forwards and upwards to clear the aircraft structure.The Lockheed seat with the skip-flow generator plate is lighter than the B-seat and better suited to present cockpit layouts. Therotation process, of course, requires some clear space just aft of the normal seat position. But both seats are being taken to therocket-sled test phase to ascertain their various characteristics. Both have shown stability better than that obtained with presentU.S.A.F. ejection equipment. In order to record the trajectory and behaviour of the new seatsduring small-scale model tests in wind tunnels, a special high- speed, multi-exposure camera was developed by Irving Jacobson,a Hollywood photographic engineer and consultant. The camera is remotely controlled and can make from ten to 2,000 exposuresper second on a single sheet of film. Northrop Aircraft, Inc., have developed a special rocket sled onwhich the B-seat will be tested at the A.R.D.C. Experimental Track Branch rail at Edwards A.F.B. Eight runs will also be madewith the A-seat in various positions and at various speeds on the Mojave Desert track. Later, platform and cockpit ejection testswill be made at the SMART Track Facility at Hurricane Mesa. These tests will show what further modifications are needed beforethe final configuration is decided. In both A- and B-seats the parachute is deployed by an aneroidcapsule device, but no details have been given about the timing and method of separation of pilot from seat, or about the methodfor decelerating the pilot before opening the parachute. These operations may themselves be critical in many cases. The following firms and factories are working on the escapesystem projects: Aircraft Mechanics, Inc.; Boeing Airplane Com- pany, Washington and Kansas; Chance Vought Aircraft, Inc.;Coleman Engineering Company; Cook Research Laboratories; Douglas Aircraft Company, El Segundo, Long Beach and SantaMonica; Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp.; Lockheed; the Martin Company; McDonnell Aircraft Corp.; North AmericanAviation, Inc., Los Angeles and Ohio; Northrop Aircraft, Inc.; Republic Aviation Corp.; Stanley Aviation Corp.; Talco Engineer-ing Company; Temco Aircraft Corp.; Weber Aircraft Corp.; and Convair, San Diego and Fort Worth. W. B. Harwell, manager of production flight for Convair, San Diego, demonstrates the rotation of the "B" seat. Foot positioning, thigh restraint and the extension of the stabilizing fins can be seen.
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