What could the navigator do?
Discussion
frodo_monkey said:
Command eject both out? That's about it - we have trainer variants of Tornado which you could fly from the back seat, but as a backseater I'm not trained to land the bugger so it'd be a real last ditch thing!
Interesting. So given the experience you have, say it was last ditch (no pun over water!) would you be able to have a decent crack at it if you were in a trainer variant or would you feel safer just launching you both out?
Chuck328 said:
Interesting. So given the experience you have, say it was last ditch (no pun over water!) would you be able to have a decent crack at it if you were in a trainer variant or would you feel safer just launching you both out?
I might give it a go if the chap in front was in a really crappy ejection posture and might break his neck or be killed, but prob safer to fly it for a bit, get a SAR chopper launched and bang out in a controlled manner. IMHO of course! Never had it happen thus far in 1300hrs on Tornadoes - touch wood...frodo_monkey said:
Chuck328 said:
Interesting. So given the experience you have, say it was last ditch (no pun over water!) would you be able to have a decent crack at it if you were in a trainer variant or would you feel safer just launching you both out?
I might give it a go if the chap in front was in a really crappy ejection posture and might break his neck or be killed, but prob safer to fly it for a bit, get a SAR chopper launched and bang out in a controlled manner. IMHO of course! Never had it happen thus far in 1300hrs on Tornadoes - touch wood...eccles said:
Simpo Two said:
He's knows more than all of us, but I think they just pull the legs in (so you don't lose them against the windshield on the way out). You still need to hold your head correctly.
They pull the arms in as well.Hooli said:
I thought they did legs, arms & shoulder straps tbh. Still leaves the head I guess if your not able to hold it up yourself to keep your spine aligned.
Apropos of absolutely nothing at all, I had a sit in the prototype Harrier at Brooklands. I remember thinking that if you had to eject from that, you would have left bits of your body behind. My knees were under the instrument panel. And I have short legs...........Riff Raff said:
Hooli said:
I thought they did legs, arms & shoulder straps tbh. Still leaves the head I guess if your not able to hold it up yourself to keep your spine aligned.
Apropos of absolutely nothing at all, I had a sit in the prototype Harrier at Brooklands. I remember thinking that if you had to eject from that, you would have left bits of your body behind. My knees were under the instrument panel. And I have short legs...........Hooli said:
I thought they did legs, arms & shoulder straps tbh. Still leaves the head I guess if your not able to hold it up yourself to keep your spine aligned.
Our Martin-Baker seat ratchets-in legs and arms through clip-in restraints fitted to g-pants and life support jacket, and also shoulder straps through the top of the seat beneath the headbox, but I was more thinking about neck position - I can think of one chap who was ejected while looking back over his shoulder and broke his neck very badly indeed. Link to Wibble's story:
http://www.ian-weaver.com/ians_page/accident-10th-...
His book is a good read too, and he is a lovely chap
eccles said:
There is a strict measurement of the length of your thigh that used to put paid to many a budding fast jet jocks career.
It's 660mm. I was 668.I sat in a few things like a Harrier and a Tornado after being binned at OASC and decided it was all b
ks and I would have been fine. Then I sat in a Tucano. They were right - i'd never have made it out of that in one piece. I suppose it's kinder in some ways to be ignorant and fall at the tape-measure stage, than to get through and discover you can't think quickly enough to be a fighter pilot.Edited by Prawo Jazdy on Sunday 20th October 17:43
Prawo Jazdy said:
I suppose it's kinder in some ways to be ignorant and fall at the tape-measure stage, than to get through and discover you can't think quickly enough to be a fighter pilot.
I agree. I can always blame my poor eyesight, but the reality is I sometimes struggle in a spamcan at 100kts, let alone a Tornado at 600. 150ft off the deck. In IMC. With someone shooting at me. LimaDelta said:
I agree. I can always blame my poor eyesight, but the reality is I sometimes struggle in a spamcan at 100kts, let alone a Tornado at 600. 150ft off the deck. In IMC. With someone shooting at me.
That's the other thing. I mention how I seemed to fit OK in some cockpits, but that was wearing a shirt and trousers. Now add immersion suit, flight suit, gloves, anti-G trousers, survival jacket and systems, bonedome, mask, etc. How comfortably would I have fitted then? And that's before you attempt combat.frodo_monkey said:
Our Martin-Baker seat ratchets-in legs and arms through clip-in restraints fitted to g-pants and life support jacket, and also shoulder straps through the top of the seat beneath the headbox, but I was more thinking about neck position - I can think of one chap who was ejected while looking back over his shoulder and broke his neck very badly indeed.
Link to Wibble's story:
http://www.ian-weaver.com/ians_page/accident-10th-...
His book is a good read too, and he is a lovely chap
Very interesting story.Link to Wibble's story:
http://www.ian-weaver.com/ians_page/accident-10th-...
His book is a good read too, and he is a lovely chap
It looks like, if you are the navigator, you eject, for self preservation, and hope for the best for the pilot.
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