James Doolittle made history on 24 September 1929, when he took off, flew a distance of 20 miles and landed an airplane by instruments alone [1]. The array of instruments included the Sperry Horizon, precursor of the artificial horizon, which still remains the essential instrument for maintaining orientation in flight.
Tag: fighter pilots
Aviation Medicine Quiz – Ejection and Ejection Seats
Here is a quiz on Ejection and Ejection Seats. Please answer to the best of your knowledge and understanding the following questions pertaining to Ejection.
Eject! Eject! Eject! – Human Factors in Delayed Ejection
Once the decision to abandon the aircraft is taken, the only action required is to fire the seat by pulling the seat-firing handle. This does not take more than a second or two, yet Air Forces the world over have lost pilots, experienced and rookie, because they waited too long to eject. The human factors …
Eject! Eject! Eject! – Current Ejection Systems
Technological advancements in the design and development of ejection systems have resulted in significant improvements in the ejection seat and life support systems. Some of the advancements in ejection seat related sub-systems are discussed here.
Eject! Eject! Eject! – Potential for Ejection Injuries
There are different phases of ejection, with potential for injury to the pilot. Sequentially, these phases are – (a) Canopy separation/ fragmentation; (b) Egress; (c) Ram Air/ Wind blast; (d) Wind drag deceleration; (e) Free fall; (f) Parachute deployment, and (g) Landing. As per the phase of ejection, a pilot can sustain various injuries with spinal injury being the commonest.