Lightning Ejection.

[forget]

The classic photograph of the Lightning ejection, everyone’s seen it, but is it real? I know the aircraft did crash as seen; I know the pilot ejected very low - but the photograph?

Put it on its side and does it look right? How come the pilot has apparently got ahead of the aircraft, which still had ‘approach’ power on. I’m seriously baffled. Any clues to make it really real.

[Pontius Navigator]

IIRC its true.

To my eye it appears that the aircraft is nearer the camera than the pilot.

Rather than descending in a true vertical it looks as if it is diving the its port side.

[forget]

Hmm. Given the position of the drogue you could time almost exactly how long the pilot has been without aircraft.

[Archimedes]

It's absolutely real, as far as can be ascertained.

Event was on 13 Sept 1962, photo in the Daily Mirror of 9 October (the photographer, instead of making a quick buck selling it to the tabloids, gave to the BOI first before the photos made it into the public domain). One assumes that the BOI didn't tinker with it, and while the Mirror may have attempted to enhance it within the limitations of the technology of the day, no-one has yet admitted any trickery (unlike the photo of the Victor with 35 bombs leaving the aircraft in a remarkably short release sequence that still appears in books today billed as being 100% genuine...)


(The details of the accident: The pilot, George Aird had just parted company with the aircraft after things went slightly pear-shaped on approach to Hatfield.

He went through the roof of one of the greenhouses in the background, and ended up with a broken leg.

To be terribly spotterish (thanks to Martin Bowman's book on the Lightning), the photographer was a Mr Jim Meads, and he was showing his sons (Paul and Barry if you're interested, which you weren't...) how his camera worked when a rather more interesting photo opportunity than the bloke on the tractor presented itself...)

Edited because I pressed submit instead of preview....

[om15]

The pilot was Mr George Aird, his descent was broken by a greenhouse resulting in injuries to his legs.
Captain Aird later flew HS748s with Emerald cargo operations.
Best regards,
om15

[spekesoftly]

How come the pilot has apparently got ahead of the aircraft, which still had ‘approach’ power on.

According to a report I have read, about ten seconds from touch down at Hatfield, the aircraft pitched nose up out of control* and the pilot ejected only 150ft from the ground. If the Lightning therefore climbed before its near vertical dive, it would explain why the pilot is lower than the aircraft at the time the photograph was taken.


* The subsequent accident investigation found that a flash fire in the engine bay had weakened a V-screw jack actuating the tail plane, causing it to fail.

[Magnersdrinker]

Is it me or the picture but the tailfin looks slightly out of shape ? maybe the canopy struck it on ejection !!

[forget]

............about ten seconds from touch down the aircraft pitched nose up out of control* and the pilot ejected only 150ft from the ground. If the Lightning therefore climbed before its near vertical dive, it would explain why the pilot is lower than the aircraft at the time the photograph was taken.

If all this happened - why is the drogue chute where it is?

[Archimedes]

Magners - it's the picture. In the pic in the Bowman book (which is of the page of the Mirror the story appeared on), the tail is exactly how you'd expect it to look, and appears undamaged.

[K.Whyjelly]

Believe George Aird flew for a while out of Woodvale (poss AEF ) before going civvie

[soddim]

The position of the pilot relative to the aircraft in the photo does not tell the story of where and at what attitude the aircraft was when the pilot departed from it.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by K.Whyjelly

Believe George Aird flew for a while out of Woodvale (poss AEF ) before going civvie

I know as a DH test pilot (when this photograph was taken) George had logged a lot of Mosquito hours and back in the mid-1980's he had the distinction of making the east-west UK-USA trans-altlantic delivery flights of both the Mosquito bought by the USAF Museum and a few years later the ex-Strathallan Mossie bought by Kermit Weeks.

[forget]

The position of the pilot relative to the aircraft in the photo does not tell the story of where and at what attitude the aircraft was when the pilot departed from it.

The drogue and main chute state will tell, almost to a split second, how long he's been out of the aircraft. So how does this work ........ (assuming it's right!)

[kokpit]

The back-end looks slightly 'deformed' to the shape that I would have expected, could that possibly be the canopy by the port rear fuselage?

[Green Flash]

Could the 'deformation' near the port rear fuselage be as a result of the engine bay fire? (burnt out or detached panel??) Or could it even be a failed port tailplane?

[forget]

Follow this through and tell me where the aircraft was at point 1.

(Same Mk seat, I think.)

Pull handle… a sear is withdrawn from the ejection gun breech firing unit, initiating a one second delay, during which time the canopy is jettisoned. After the 1 second delay (bang!) the ejection gun cartridges are fired. The ejection seat ascends the gun guide rails; seat removes sears from the Drogue Gun and Time Release Unit, starting a time delay in both units. As the seat clears the aircraft the 0.5 second delay in the Drogue Gun runs out, firing the Drogue Gun Bullet, which extracts the drogues to slow and stabilise the seat. 0.75 seconds later (below 5,000M), the time delay in the Time Release Unit runs out allowing the drogues to extract the main chute and also release the seat harness locks to allow man/seat separation. Thus the minimum time from the initiation of ejection to man/seat separation is 2.25 seconds

[spanners123]

Green Flash
Could the 'deformation' near the port rear fuselage be as a result of the engine bay fire? (burnt out or detached panel??) Or could it even be a failed port tailplane?

I think it's the airbrakes.

[4mastacker]

If Green Flash is referring to the 'shape' under the wing, surely that is the wheel bay door.

[spanners123]

the 'shape' under the wing is the belly tank, which was smaller on the earlier lightnings.
I could be wrong tho

[Warmtoast]

Press cutting from 14 Sept 1962




And intriguingly on the same page another piece of RAF history.