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Eject, Eject, Eject
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Tony Self Examines the History of the Ejection Seat and Documents Several Exciting Case Histories of Ejections From Raafaircraft. . .
Eject, Eject, Eject!
On 24th July 1946, a Gloster Meteor flew over the English airfield of Chalgrove. This fact alone is not unusual-but this flight was one to be etched in aviation history, as one of the Meteor’s occupants, Mr Bernard Lynch, became the first man to eject from an aircraft. Since this Martin-Baker company employee volunteer parted with the aircraft in such a spectacular manner, ejection seats have saved the lives of some 5000 aircrews. Today, ejection systems are fitted to all high-performance military aircraft throughout the world.
With the advent of the fast and powerful fighters during World War II, it became increasingly difficult for the pilot to bail out in the slipstream, especially if the aircraft was spinning or out of control. The Martin-Baker company solved the problem by developing a seat that propelled itself out of the aircraft to push the pilot clear of the aircraft. The Martin-Baker company traces its origin to Martin Aircraft Works, founded in 1929 by James (later Sir James) Martin, which became Martin-Baker Aircraft in 1934 when Martin joined with Captain Valentine Baker. Four Martin-designed aircraft were produced by Martin-Baker: the two-seat M.B.1 light aircraft, and the M.B.2, 3 and 5 fighter aircraft. Only prototypes of these four designs were manufactured, but the M.B.5 was significant in being one of the best-performance piston-engined aircraft ever to fly, even rivalling Australia’s CA-15 prototype. In 1944, James Martin turned his attention to ejection seat development, and today the company’s name is almost synonymous with the life-saving ‘bang seat’. A number of American companies have also entered the ejection seat market, including a division of Douglas Aircraft and Stencel, while Teledyne Ryan has obtained a licence for Martin-Baker seat manufacture.
How It Works
The automatic ejection seat is a complex piece of machinery that car, ever be tested, and that may never even be used. When it is used, however, it must work. The RAAF’s F-18 aircraft will be fitted with the MB10 ejection seat, the latest in the line of Martin-Baker’s products; indeed it is interesting to examine the operation of these life-saving devices.
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