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Guys-

I volunteer at an Aviation Museum and speak about the A-10 all day long, but I'm always looking to learn more to pass along to the guests. I've shared many things I've learned on this board and often, when a guest asks me a question I can't answer, I come here and ask.

So here's one the got me.

What keeps the pilot of an A-10 from losing his feet during an ejection..meaning, is there some type of restraint or harness that pulls his legs off the pedals and towards the seat before the ejection starts?

Also, the A-10s have the ACES II seat now. Any info you cna share about this seat or ejections in general is always appreciated. People seem fascinated by the ejection seats. The only this they ask about more is the Avenger.

Thanks.

just sheer acceleration I guess. Therea re leg harness's that pull feet in but not on the hog. The hog has had the Aces II since it was born( iam almost sure of this, please correct me if I am wrong). Most pilots dont ride the seat low which would normally leave legs extended under the instrument pannel, the are more upright as the hogs' seat is strait...just a thought

Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!

The earliest ejection seats in the A-10 were the McDonnell Douglas ESCAPAC 9 seats, not all had them, most in fact came from the factory with the ACES II seat. The older jets with the escapac 9 seats were refitted with ACES II. This happened if I remember correctly sometime around 1979. The jet I was assigned to had the older seat and was TCTO'd in place at Davis-Monthan at about that time.
The seat sits back at a slight angle (approx 7-10 degrees), which causes the pilot to go out at the same angle. The natural action during the ejection is for the legs to pendulum towards the seat bucket and (unless they have clown feet) clear the windscreen bow by a safe margin. They have no leg restraints nor stirrups. Faster flying aircraft with the ACES II are experimenting with "passive" leg restraints. They would be cables that loop around the leg openings to the rudder pedals and would lasso the legs and pin them to the seat during the ejection. Limb flailing above 500 kts has proven to be a serious issue.


"face it....perhaps your only purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others!"

Everyone is correct when they say there is no leg restraint system on the ACES II. We are trained to have our feet on the rudder pedals during ejection so your thighs are flat on the seat. A seat accelerating out of the jet (15g/sec?) would not create a small amount of pain when it hit you if your thighs weren't flat on the seat. Even an inch or two is significant (so to speak) when that much force is involved.

The guy that ejected over in OIF had a foot injury because the tips of his feet hit the air conditioning vents on the way out.

TG would the foot injury from hitting the louvers have come from the guy having long legs or the seat all the way down? When I was staioned at woodbridge we had a pilot..and old maj. whom flew with the seat all the way down, I have no Idea how he saw anything, but one day recovering him I asked him why and he said 'what better protection than the bath-tub' It makes sense but I still dont know how he did it. A real good friend of mine used to drive hogs (DO at Columbus now), and he didnt ride the seat down. Was this an old timers thing or just a matter of being 'comfortable'?

JB

Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!

Capt. Udell was my pilot at Mountain Home after this incident. While on a stopover in the Azores he shared the story with me in great detail over a beer. This man has always had my respect and always will.

http://www.f-15estrikeeagle.com/navigation/index_multimedia.htm

Click on Stories on the left and then select "Back in the Saddle"

Go Ugly Early !
No body's ugly after 2:00 A.M.

Edited by - Hogmender on Jan 31 2004 9:16 PM

_________________
Go Ugly Early!
Nobody is ugly after 2 A.M.

<img src=newicons/anim_shock.gif border=0 align=middle> Wow, what a story! I'm always amazed at the courage and tenacity of our servicemembers, even during peacetime.


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Pete Nelson
Your Warthog Territory Webmaster

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Pete Nelson
Your Warthog Territory Webmaster

Excellent story!

Thanks!

One question...why was he carrying his wallet in his G-Suit??<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>