Ejection seat ID?

[OldGeezer]

I don't know which section to put this in but I know the admins do a fine job of correcting errors like that, so I'll put it here for the moment. Someone near me is selling an ejection seat that I just don't recognize at all. I used to work for Stencel and before that I was at the Naval Air Rework Facility in Norfolk VA, so I've seen my share of seats. I actually have an F-89 seat myself. But this one isn't anything I'm familiar with, and I can't find it on the usual reference sites. Any guidance would be very much appreciated.

 

[herman1rg]

Can you get close up pictures of the name plates? I can see two, there may be more.

 

[OldGeezer]

Can you get close up pictures of the name plates? I can see two, there may be more.

One says "Seat man separator" which was a common feature in early seats, and the other is completely out of focus and unreadable. There's also another photo, a close-up of a tag saying General Dynamics with a part number, but I spent hours trying to make sense of that with no success. Near that one is a second "Seat-man separator" label. A friend with much more knowledge of ejection seats says that it's an early Air Mechanics Incorporated seat made for Republic, despite the GD tag. That would point toward F-84 but I've looked at dozens of cockpit photos of F-84s and while there are some similarities, there are also large differences. And that GD tag... it just doesn't make sense. I should go buy the seat, bring it back home, and go over it with a magnifier looking for other clues. $400 though...

 

[HP52]

One says "Seat man separator" which was a common feature in early seats, and the other is completely out of focus and unreadable. There's also another photo, a close-up of a tag saying General Dynamics with a part number, but I spent hours trying to make sense of that with no success. Near that one is a second "Seat-man separator" label. A friend with much more knowledge of ejection seats says that it's an early Air Mechanics Incorporated seat made for Republic, despite the GD tag. That would point toward F-84 but I've looked at dozens of cockpit photos of F-84s and while there are some similarities, there are also large differences. And that GD tag... it just doesn't make sense. I should go buy the seat, bring it back home, and go over it with a magnifier looking for other clues. $400 though...

I had an old bookseller friend Tony Catt in Sydney Aust. During the later part of WW2, he worked at Martin Baker UK. He said they had these ladder-like rails that went up to the apex inside a hangar roof. Every now and then - there would be an alarm followed by the explosion of the latest seat being tested with a dummy.
Guess they perfected it in the end!
HP 52

 

[cvairwerks]

Looking at the structure above the harness cutout, I suspect that this was a standard seat that was modified for a specific test program. With no headrest structure, it would have been used on something low speed.

 

[pb43]

I don't know which section to put this in but I know the admins do a fine job of correcting errors like that, so I'll put it here for the moment. Someone near me is selling an ejection seat that I just don't recognize at all. I used to work for Stencel and before that I was at the Naval Air Rework Facility in Norfolk VA, so I've seen my share of seats. I actually have an F-89 seat myself. But this one isn't anything I'm familiar with, and I can't find it on the usual reference sites. Any guidance would be very much appreciated.

View attachment 822567
View attachment 822566

B-57

 

[mjfur]

Based on the seat stencil in photo #2 perhaps,

Forgotten Jets (& Props) - A Warbirds Resource Group Site

Forgotten Jets tracking the service histories of military aircraft.

forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org

RB-57D-MA Canberra/53-3974
*Rebuilt as RB-57F 63-13503.
*1965: USAF 6091st RS.
*1966-68: USAF 7407th Support Squadron.
*1968: USAF 58th WRS.
*Converted to WB-57F.
*Bailed to NASA as "926" then "N357AR" then "N926NA".
*1973-77: NASA.
*1996: Put into storage at the AMARC bone yard.
*Still with NASA? Help?

Martin General Dynamics WB-57F 63-13503 Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Martin General Dynamics WB-57F 63-13503 - DA0R48 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/194502027@N08/51815834331/

 

[pb43]

Based on the seat stencil in photo #2 perhaps,

Forgotten Jets (& Props) - A Warbirds Resource Group Site

Forgotten Jets tracking the service histories of military aircraft.

forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org

RB-57D-MA Canberra/53-3974
*Rebuilt as RB-57F 63-13503.
*1965: USAF 6091st RS.
*1966-68: USAF 7407th Support Squadron.
*1968: USAF 58th WRS.
*Converted to WB-57F.
*Bailed to NASA as "926" then "N357AR" then "N926NA".
*1973-77: NASA.
*1996: Put into storage at the AMARC bone yard.
*Still with NASA? Help?

Martin General Dynamics WB-57F 63-13503 Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Martin General Dynamics WB-57F 63-13503 - DA0R48 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/194502027@N08/51815834331/
View attachment 823828

The RB-57F had a different seat with a seat pan handle instead of arm-rest grips. Maybe changed in a mod programme, pic of RB-57F seat here:-

 

[pb43]

Based on the seat stencil in photo #2 perhaps,

Forgotten Jets (& Props) - A Warbirds Resource Group Site

Forgotten Jets tracking the service histories of military aircraft.

forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org

RB-57D-MA Canberra/53-3974
*Rebuilt as RB-57F 63-13503.
*1965: USAF 6091st RS.
*1966-68: USAF 7407th Support Squadron.
*1968: USAF 58th WRS.
*Converted to WB-57F.
*Bailed to NASA as "926" then "N357AR" then "N926NA".
*1973-77: NASA.
*1996: Put into storage at the AMARC bone yard.
*Still with NASA? Help?

Martin General Dynamics WB-57F 63-13503 Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Martin General Dynamics WB-57F 63-13503 - DA0R48 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/194502027@N08/51815834331/
View attachment 823828

Probably removed from during a mod programme