Ejected From Plane Flying At 500 MPH

Northern Advocate, 30 August 1947, Page 5

Ejected From Plane Flying At 500 MPH

(Rec. 2 p.m.)

LONDON, Aug. 29,

Testing a new escape apparatus, a man was ejected from a Gloster Meteor jet fighter travelling over 500 miles • per hour at 12,000 ft over Oxfordshire* Nowhere in the world says The • Times, had anyone before been ejected from an aeroplane flying so fast. The man was Bernard Lynch, an; V, employee of the Martin-Baker Air- Vc

crau Company, of Denham, Buckinghamshire. • • ■' " 1

Lynch used a pilot ejection seat invented by James Martin, head of the firm. v., ”

The pilot, after jettisoning the cockpit cover, pulls a blind over his face. This fires a cartridge which ejects him, still sitting in his seat, clear of the aeroplane and protects' his face from the rush of air as he is hurled upwards. ■ ADOPTED BY RAF 7 i A static line linked to the seat operates a switch inside the cockpit, when the pilot is safely away from the aircraft, releasing a drouge which keeps the seat steady in midair. Eight second? after the drogue has been pulled out, a parachute attached to the seat is released automatically. When the pilot is clear of the plane he pulls his own parachute ripcord to descend normally. Lynch previously made two “emergency” landings from planes travelling more slowly. Today’s test was completely successful. The RAF has adopted the invention for standard use in jet-propelled fighters.