PILOT ESCAPING THROUGH UNDERWATER EJECTION

Do you remember that some fighter pilots could safely eject from underwater back in 1965? Could it be survived? One may wonder but a few ejections were reported. The transcript is below the video. Look at that canopy, it looks like it came from an F-8 Crusader:

TRANSCRIPT:

If your aircraft has provision for underwater ejection, you have a ready-made, secondary escape route. Succesful underwater ejections can be made from any aircraft attitude – nose down, tail down, and inverted.

Escape by this method requires no preparation other than that recommended for normal seat ejection. There should be at least ten feet of water above you before you can safely eject. Never eject from the surface. With present systems, the chute cannot open with a zero-zero situation (which means at a height of 0 and at a speed of 0). The effect of free-falling 80 feet to water is little different than falling 80 feet to concrete. True, some lucky ones have lived to tell about it. But it is one hell of a gamble.

When you eject through the canopy underwater, the seat breaks through clearing the way for your body. Because water resistance imposes terrific forces on your head and neck, it is vital to hold the face curtain tight against your head for support. The forces of ejection might cause a momentary blackout. Immediately upon collecting your wits, disconnect yourself from the seat by pulling the emergency release handle breaking your restraints. Now, separate yourself from the seat. This is difficult. You will have to kick and swim violently even though you are disconnected.

If your chute gets hung up on the seat, do not waste time trying to clear it. Release your riser fittings and swim clear off the chute. Do not inflate flotation equipment until clear of the seat. Remember, surface slowly, exhaling as you go. Remove your oxygen mask.

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Pilot’s G-suit

Anti-G coveralls - © www.tpub.com

… or ANTI-G COVERALLS

When in flight, the body can have trouble adjusting to stresses produced by rapid changing of speed or direction. In situations such as seat ejection, ditching, or parachute opening shock, the short duration of the excessive force has little effect on the body.

However, changing the direction of flight produces stress forces equal to several times the normal pull of gravity for much longer periods of time. These longer duration forces can have dangerous effects. At 5 g’s (5 times the force of gravity), the aircrewman’s body is exposed to a force that increases its weight 5 times.

This increased weight has many effects. Your body is pushed down into your seat. Your arms and legs feel like lead, and operation of equipment becomes more difficult. The extra weight on your internal organs causes stomach and chest pain. Most important, however, is the effect on your circulatory system. At 5 g’s, your heart cannot pump enough blood to your head. When this happens, you will pass out. Wearing anti-g coveralls will help prevent this from happening.

The Navy uses two models of anti-g coveralls (commonly called « G » suits). These coveralls provide protection against blacking out, loss of vision, and lowered mental efficiency caused by high g-forces experienced in high-performance aircraft. Figure 11-4 shows a typical anti-g coverall. Anti-g coveralls compress your legs and stomach to prevent blood from pooling in your lower body.

This increases your stress tolerance an average of about 2 g’s. Without an anti-g coverall, you may be able to withstand about 4.5 to 5.5 g’s without losing vision or blacking out. With a coverall, you can withstand 6.0 to 7.0 g’s.

This protection is available only for sustained accelerations of 4 to 5 seconds. Anti-g equipment does not offer protection in snap maneuvers where 10 to 12 g’s are applied in about 1 second. Such extreme forces for a short time are not as harmful to the body as are lesser forces sustained for a longer time.

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Pilots training up to 7 Gs !

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