OV-1 Mohawk

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeap just looked that up and the Russians are the only ones to have actually put into service helictopers with ejection seats in the Ka-50 helicopter.

The US Army did testing with the AH-1 Cobra but it was never developed.

 

[mkloby]

I remember reading that too chris.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

thanks for the info, i'm gonna assume no one has an idea how long it all takes then?

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Nope

 

[mkloby]

Is there a charge that blows the rotor blades off??

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

From my undestanding yes. Basically it is like the squibs that are on ejector racks or cargo hooks to emergency jettison the stores or external loads that jettisons the blades.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

yes i've always known it to be blowing off the rotor blades, seems devilishly simple when you think about it

 

[jhansen]

ok for the record. The OV-1D Mohawk ejection seat would bust thru the canopy or you could twist a handle located just infront of the overhead circuit breaker panel to "blow" the canopy away. All that it really did was to "pop" the canopy into the slip stream and the airflow would carry it away. We flew on Martin-Baker seats (0/60) and I trusted them with my life. I have over 1100 hours in the right seat of Mohawk. 1980-1992. Ft Hood with A Co, 15th MI, R.O.K. with A Co, 3rd MI (twice) and the school house at Ft Huachuca, Az. The comment about "breaking your legs" going out..do your research before you say something like that.

 

[Chief]

I got it from my father who flew in them for recon in alaska. Because of the Recon equipment a bar extended over the Knees. That's what he said, of course I could've heard wrong though I don't know what else sounds like,"Could break your legs".

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Great info jhansen....

I think it could be said that any ejection is an injury risked. I worked with several pilots who flew in Vietnam, 3 of them ejected from aircraft (one 4 times!) and they all had some kind of injury, either in their back or legs. There is no denying the effectiveness of today's ejection seats but there's a good chance if you punch out you're not escaping Scott-free!

Then you have those two Russian pilots who collided during an airshow. As one of them came down and got out of his harness he casually lit a cigarette as he watched both aircraft burn!

 

[Chief]

Even with charges set on the rotter-blades connecting joint there's still something about ejecting out of an aircraft with spinning metal blades directly over head.

 

[fjray]

I saw the topic and told JH he otta chime in on the OV-1 since I knew he had Mohawk time. We had the same seat, ESCAPAC, in the S-3's. Biggest thing we had drummed into us was keep your thighs flat on the seat pan. Based on info from previous ejections just a half inch of clearance could snap your femur like a toothpick. Going thru the canopy wasn't the problem. Shoot, we had a input tray across our laps that was a much bigger concern!

On the Intruder, originally crews were to jettison the canopy then punch out. Problem was the canopy wouldn't blow clean. Instead it came about half way back and crews were nailing the front of it. So, they basically said screw it we'll just go thru the plexiglass instead of plexi and metal. Prowler's have a different canopy and haven't had the same problems.

Have to admit, punching out of a helo just doesn't sound like much fun.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Have to admit, punching out of a helo just doesn't sound like much fun.

I agree. We always knew that if the bird was going down, we were riding it in. But then again as long as we had our blades, we could still autorotate. Honestly I would feel much more safer doing that anyway then ejecting or tying to jump from her.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

can you elaborate on the autorotate please

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

We autorotate when we lose our engine or engines (in the case of the blackhawk) and you no longer have power from them. Basically what happens is the wind passing through the blades keeps them spinning and the aircraft basically descends to the ground.

The pilot can control the descent with his collective and cyclic. The collective should be lowered full down. The pilot wants to try and keep the aircraft between 60 and 80 knots (we trained at 80 knots) and a descent of about 1000ft per minute.

Once the aircraft is near the ground the pilot flares the helicopter by using aft cyclic which slows the decent and allows the aircraft to land. Collective can be used to cushion the landing.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

thanks for the explaination, so what other aircrew safety proceedures/equiptment did you have?

 

[Matt308]

Got a few weeks...

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

plenty, Mr. Reaper wont come for me for a good 30 years after visiting you

 

[Matt308]

Probably true. He'll be too busy begging Satan to just go ahead and take my soul off his hands.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

thanks for the explaination, so what other aircrew safety proceedures/equiptment did you have?

Well there are the emergency procedures which I could copy out of my check list but I wont because it is too long and I am sure you can find them online somehwere.

Safety Equipment:

ALSE Vest (flight vest with survival equipment in it form knives to water and food, first aid kit, fishing kit, and signal equipment such as mirror, flares and also fire starting equipment and water purifiers.

Crash Ax

First Aid Kits

Fire Extinguishers

ALSE Kit (survival kit with eneogh stuff for the crew to survive for 3 days including tents, food, water, etc...)

Emergency Door Jettisons

Emergency Window Jettisons

The list could go on and on...