gazit%cs.duke.edu@usc.edu (Hillel) (08/16/89)
From: gazit%cs.duke.edu@usc.edu (Hillel) In article <8271@cbnews.ATT.COM> page@ferrari.ece.uiuc.edu (Ward Page) writes: >An interesting story I heard from a safety engineer at Gen. Dynamics when >I worked there: An Israeli F-4 had just landed and was taxiing off of the >runway when the ejection seat went off and shot the pilot clear of the area. >The F-4 was still taxiing when the pilot, free of his chute, caught up with >the A/C, climbed in and taxied the plane to its hangar. I know that the original article is about one month old, but I "have to" to point out some strange points in the story: 1) Ejection seat is *not* an electronic system, and one has to use force to eject (to prevent "ejection by mistake"). 2) There is a force of more than 10 g on the pilot when he ejects. Most people can't run such a shock. 3) Ejection takes *time*, especially the way down (the chute has to be opened, etc.) 4) The seat ejects up *and* back, so the pilot had to finish the ejection process *behind* the plane. 5) It's not easy to taxi a plane when you can't seat (the seat was ejected, remember?) 6) F-4 has two seats, so the other pilot could take care of the plane. Hillel gazit@cs.duke.edu