Question for Hacker on new T-38 ejection seats

[warbird1]

In reference to this article, several questions:

http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentB ... f2a2c9e61&

1. What is your opinion of the new seat?

2. Is it more comfortable than the old one?

3. From the article: "The seat decreases the potential of injury to aircrew members, especially at high airspeed, because its thigh and ankle restraints keep them more secure." What are these "restraints" like? Do you have to wear "spurs" like the old F-104 ejection seat? Are the restraints cables or some kind of other physical restraint?

4. Are the seats "horizon-seeking" like the Aces II seats or just "zero-zero" meaning that if you are in any kind of bank at low altitude, you're still out of luck?

5. How long until all T-38's have them installed?

6. The article mentions that the parachute on this new seat is an "aeroconical design". What does that mean? Is it still the old round style or the more modern "airfoil" design parachute?

7. Any other advantages or disadvantages you can think of that the article hasn't mentioned?

8. Have you gotten to fly one yet?


Thanks ahead of time for answering these, Randy!

[warbird1]

Bump of this thread in case Randy hasn't seen it.

[RickH]

These are the same Martin Baker seats fitted to the NASA T-38s beginning in 1999. They are a variant of the MB Mk 16 fitted to the T-6 II.

[RSpivey]

8. Have you gotten to fly one yet?

Geeeez. I hope he hasn't had to fly an ejection seat. I think he'd rather sit in the seat and fly the plane!

[warbird1]

8. Have you gotten to fly one yet?

Geeeez. I hope he hasn't had to fly an ejection seat. I think he'd rather sit in the seat and fly the plane!

You don't "fly" an ejection seat, you "ride" it as a passenger. I was talking about flying a T-38 that had the new seat.

[Randy Haskin]

1. What is your opinion of the new seat?

Looking forward to it due to the increased capability. Since I'm a tall and heavy person, I've always been at the very edge of the current T-38 seat's capability. In fact, I have had to sign a waiver with the AF indicating that I understand that I'm at risk of injury with the current seat due to my height/weight!

Equally important will be that the seats are sequenced. The most recent T-38 fatalities were partially due to seats colliding during an ejection.

On the down side, the seat is physically larger, and that further restricts the view from the back seat. Not a big deal most of the time, but IPs do quite a good bit of landing from the back seat and obviously it helps when you can see more of the runway environment.

2. Is it more comfortable than the old one?

I don't personally think so, but that probably has to do again with my size and weight. The ejection handle sits rather close to my twig-and-berries.

The T-38 doesn't have very much fuel, though, so I don't really think over the course of a 1.0 or 1.1 it will make that much of a difference.

3. From the article: "The seat decreases the potential of injury to aircrew members, especially at high airspeed, because its thigh and ankle restraints keep them more secure." What are these "restraints" like? Do you have to wear "spurs" like the old F-104 ejection seat? Are the restraints cables or some kind of other physical restraint?

It's a simple loop that gets clipped around your shin/ankle area. The portion that gets looped around the leg is a metal clip with what appears to be some kind of nylon or non-metal loop. Not sure what the rest of it is made of.

Either way, it doesn't require the wear of any special hardware on your leg like the 'spurs'.

4. Are the seats "horizon-seeking" like the Aces II seats or just "zero-zero" meaning that if you are in any kind of bank at low altitude, you're still out of luck?

I am not 100% sure, to be honest, because I'm not flying them yet. So, I haven't had much of a chance to really get to know the technical details of the seat.

5. How long until all T-38's have them installed?

Another year or two. We're expecting to have them sometime next summer at Vance.

6. The article mentions that the parachute on this new seat is an "aeroconical design". What does that mean? Is it still the old round style or the more modern "airfoil" design parachute?

7. Any other advantages or disadvantages you can think of that the article hasn't mentioned?

8. Have you gotten to fly one yet?


Thanks ahead of time for answering these, Randy! [/quote]