Ejection for multiple crew jet bombers

[comiso90]

The B1 has a crew capsule for ejection.

The Vulcan and Victor only had ejection seats for the pilot and co-pilot:


From wiki:
>>Although the Vulcan had a crew of up to seven, only the pilot and co-pilot were provided with ejector seats. This feature of the Vulcan has been the basis of significant criticism; there were instances of the pilot and co-pilot ejecting in an emergency leaving their colleagues to face death. The navigator plotter, navigator radar and electronics operator could only escape by leaving their seats and escaping out of the cockpit via the entrance door before the pilots had ejected. Their parachutes were opened automatically by static line. This door was situated underneath immediately forward of the front undercarriage and would have been a very tricky exercise if the latter was down at the time. The method of escape was practised regularly, and successfully put into action on more than one occasion, with all crew members surviving, but relied on the absence of g-forces which in other cases made it impossible.<<

Are there any other interesting means of escape or bomber ejection seat stories?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

The B1 has a crew capsule for ejection.

Only on the prototype.
Ejection system that saved B-1B crew is top-notch

 

[comiso90]

Cool... thanks... I thought they still used the capsule

 

[Glider]

Early F111's had a capsule system but later versions went back to having a normal seat.
B52 rear gunners had the rough end of the stick with downward firing ejector seats, not a good idea when you realise that most accidents happen on take off or landing. Early F104's also had downward firing seats.

 

[comiso90]

Early F111's had a capsule system but later versions went back to having a normal seat.
B52 rear gunners had the rough end of the stick with downward firing ejector seats, not a good idea when you realise that most accidents happen on take off or landing. Early F104's also had downward firing seats.

Do u have any idea what the min. altitude of a safe fireing of a downward ejection was (is)?

 

[pbfoot]

Do u have any idea what the min. altitude of a safe fireing of a downward ejection was (is)?

I'm not sure of the height req'd but was told about the USAF guy who rolled it 90 degrees on take off and ejected unsucessfully sideways

 

[Aggie08]

Yikes. Wonder why the bottom-firing seats were ever used because of take off and landing dangers.

 

[Glider]

Do u have any idea what the min. altitude of a safe fireing of a downward ejection was (is)?

No idea I'm afraid

 

[FLYBOYJ]

No idea I'm afraid

Info...
http://www.ejectionsite.com/

 

[Glider]

1st class site, many thanks

 

[FLYBOYJ]

My pleasure!

 

[pgm1962a]

on B-52's the gunner did not eject downward. On B-52A thru F models the gunner was in the rear of the plane. To eject he had a lever that would fire explosive bolts and the rear of the acft (basically the turret and everything aft of his seat would fall of the plane). The gunner was supposed to grab onto the turret control handles and let the aft end pull him out with it. On B-52G H models the gunner was located in the forward crew compartment and ejected upwards. On the lower deck of all models the navigator and radar navigator ejected downwards.

 

[Glider]

My mistake, thanks for the info

 

[Blaydon]

Details vary depending on the seat if it is a seat without rocket pack assistance about 200 ft with you would want a bit more for example the MB MK10 min 300 ft if the aircraft is inverted.

The good answer is "as much as possible"

 

[Graeme]

"Jet Bombers" Gunston. 1993

 

[Bill G.]

All versions of the F-111, the F, FB, and EF had a escape crew module and no ejections seats. And that is true for the Aussie F-111s that are still flying.

Since the Aussies are using the F-111 for maritime patrol that is a good thing. When the airplane has a bad day and the crew is forced to "eject" over water, the escape crew module is a whole lot better to be in on the water than a tiny life raft. This is even more so if the seas are rough and it is storming.

Bill G.

 

[SoD Stitch]

The reason for the original downward-firing ejection seats on the -104 was because the Lockheed seats were not zero-zero rated, and the designers were afraid that, at high speed, the pilot would be blown into the T-tail and killed. When Lockheed sold the "G" model to Germany, they (wisely) insisted on an upward-ejecting zero-zero MB seat, instead of the original Lockheed seat; probably saved quite a few pilot's lives, given the high accident rate the Germans experienced with the -104.

 

[Blaydon]

Certainly the introduction of Zero Zero was a huge breakthrough in pilot surviveability the only problem with them is firing inverted and if MB can design a vectored thrust rocket pack that too will be solved.

 

[drgondog]

The B-47 Bombadier/nav also had a downward firing ejection seat

 

[Glider]

Russian has had a seat for some time that can sense if the seat isn't going vertically and adjust accordingly. I believe most modern seats have the same ability what I don't know is how big a difference the seats can correct for.
The main driver for this development was the introduction of the Harrier as there were a number of casualties when the aircraft would start to roll on landing and the pilot ejecting would come out at an angle and not have sufficient height for safety.

Russian Yak 38 aircraft also had an automatic ejection system so when set for landing if the aircraft rolled past a certain point, the seat would fire without any action by the pilot.