Doctor: You have a disease, but we can treat it.
Patient: What’s the Cure?
Doctor: It’s an 80s rock band fronted by Robert Smith, but let’s try to stay focused...
Ejection seat first usedIn 1942, the first use of an ejection seat to save a pilot was made. Helmut Schenk, a German test pilot, required its use when his Heinkel He 280 refused to separate from the tow aircraft due to the cable release mechanism icing up. As a precaution, Schenk ejected and landed safely. The tow was being made because the He-280 was powered by two Argus pulse-jets that required a high forward speed to start up. The first ejection seat was made by Heinkel, for the He 280. It was powered by compressed air, and accelerated the pilot upwards at between seven-g and nine-g. The He-280 was the first twin-jet engined aircraft and the first jet aircraft to go beyond prototype stage. The earliest known experiment to produce an airplane ejection seat took place on 12 Dec 1912.[Image: Heinkel He-162 ejection seat.] |
