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Old 17th May 2023, 08:42
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SpazSinbad
 
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'Controls frozen. Going straight in!' by Justin Hardy in Aviation History Jan 2007 Volume 17 Number 3
"FEBRUARY 28, 1955, NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.-Test pilot George Smith plunged into the sea, unconscious but alive, after ejecting from a North American F-l00A Super Sabre. When he was forced to bail out, the plane was traveling at 777 mph, or Mach 1.05 - making him the first person to survive an ejection while traveling at supersonic speeds.'''

... at 37,000 feet - soon after breaking the sound barrier- the plane's nose tipped downward and the controls refused to budge. The hydraulic lock resulted in an uncontrolled dive, and Smith radioed back to the tower: "Lost hydraulic pressure. : Controls frozen. Going straight in!"...

...After he ejected, the wind slammed into him with a force of 8,000 pounds, creating a deceleration force equivalent to 40 Gs...."
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