Bang Seat Battle

[ErnstBlofeld]

Aviation Week and Space Technology/Bill Sweetman:

It took a long time and 80-plus rocket sled runs, but the Martin-Baker US16E ejection seat for the Joint Strike Fighter has been qualified to 550 knots for a full range of pilots, just 50 knots short of the specification. However, Goodrich is still mounting a challenge with the ACES 5 seat, claiming that it will offer lower life-cycle costs. Both seats were on display at the Air Force Association convention, held earlier this week at a remote site in Maryland.

The JSF ejection system design is challenging in several ways. The seat has to deliver high performance because a STOVL landing problem could mean ejecting at low altitude from a descending aircraft that is also yawed or pitched out of level flight. The JSF is also the first fighter designed to accommodate 95 percent of the potential US pilot population, with body weights from 103 to 245 pounds. Together, these two requirements mean that the lightest pilots experience most acceleration.

The JSF's helmet-mounted display, for all the sophistication of its engineering, is heavier and more forward-weighted than a standard helmet. The result is that the pilot's head tips forward on ejection: the concern is not just the forward tip itself, but the slam-back effect as the seat hits the airstream and a 550-knot windblast forces the pilot's head against the seat.

Visible for the first time at AFA was Martin-Baker's solution to the problem: an airbag system stowed in the headrest, which deploys to either side of the pilot's head, preventing lateral movement, and then controls the slam-back by deflating at a fixed rate.

[ErnstBlofeld]

 

US16E JSF replica seats

[ErnstBlofeld]

Click on photo or use the link:

 

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post:22e106eb-da6e-4f7f-9321-cb757d69823c

 

To Story

[Pepper]

Sonofstrangelove

"The result is that the pilot's head tips forward on ejection: the concern is not just the forward tip itself, but the slam-back effect as the seat hits the airstream and a 550-knot windblast forces the pilot's head against the seat. "

 

You would not envy those that test this equipment in real environment.