Originally Posted by Blodwyn Pig
i don't remember ducking out of the way on Tornados, but it was SOP on Hawks to duck out of the way whever the canopy was opened or closed sans pins.
It depends on how the MDC is triggered. I seem to remember that when you pull your Hawk seat handle, the seat fires and starts heading up. The MDC's only triggered by a lever that was attached to the MDC firing unit which rests on a bar on the seat; so when seat goes up, bar goes up, lever is pushed, MDC goes bang.
Hence, if you were loading up with kit for a transit or something and had a jacket crammed behind you, then if a sleeve was resting on the little bar on the seat the lever on the MDC firing unit would be triggered as you tried to shut the canopy.
No idea if a similar trigger's used on Tornado. I know Tucano studes are taught to warn the groundcrew and close their eyes before shutting the canopy, even though there's no such trigger and no apparent way for the MDC/LCC to spuriously go off. Presumably just a good habit to get into either way!