Originally Posted by
Arnie Madsen
This is off-topic as far as the Snowbird accident but may interest folks who want a glimpse of the historical first ejection seat tests in Britain 1946 to 1947 ..... I found it interesting ..... notice the design (at the time) was pull eject handle above and behind behind pilots head ..... which also brought down a fabric curtain to protect his face ..... then eject rocket ignites ..... drogue chute pops ..... then full chute on the seat assembly .... then the pilot unbuckles himself from the seat , departs , and opens his personal parachute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFAw76CIcq8
Thanks for the video link AM. No rockets though, the early MB seats used cordite cartridges as illustrated in the included instructional diagram. The resulting excessive acceleration led to spinal injuries that later more progressive rocket acceleration avoided. Incidentally, with the exception of the MB Mk1 seat, all subsequent MB seats used the same scissor shackle main chute deployment system up to the MB Mk10 in the Hawk. It was this system that was the subject of an illegal RTI/Hawk/059 that led to Sean Cunningham's death. The in situ service that it called for prevented the critical final check of correct release of the drogue shackle and thus main chute deployment. Such a check is only possible in a proper servicing bay. All this was known of but conveniently forgotten. The bays were closed, the RTI issued, a bolt was overtightened, Sean Cunningham died, and MB were fined £1M. Why?