Pretty much universal, also the case for helicopters - a 4 (5?) man test crew got out of an EH101 out of Yeovil a few years ago after a tailrotor failure.
Lighter light aircraft are increasingly using ballistic parachutes in preference for early and high risk test flying, but personal parachutes and a pre-planned exit route is still the norm in my experience.
Again, helmets are common for initial and high risk / oscillatory mode testing.
I've never yet heard of an ejection seat being fitted to a civil aircraft for FT - the costs associated with fitting the seat, modifying the structure around it, providing a jettisonable canopy, etc. are invariably too great to justify it.
G
Last edited by Genghis the Engineer; 18th June 2003 at 23:05.