Civilian Ejection seats

[jimgriff]

I am trying to find out what rules and regs different countries have for operating ex mil a/c's with live ejection seats installed. Anyone gor any links, ideas or threads on this subject please

[OzExpat]

I don't really know, but I'll have a go at it and see what sort of discussion is generated. I'd have thought that Military pilots are trained to use the ejection seat and that this training not only includes the "how", but also the "when", the "where" and the "why".

Military aircraft are pretty expensive bits of kit, so it's easy for me to believe that the training in ejection seat usage would be very thorough. I'm not aware of any civil syllabus to equal it.

Ahhh... I can se it now :- Civil Pilot Bloggs gets into some difficulty over the top of downtown London (or insert any other major city of your choice). He "bangs out" and all goes exactly as advertised and he lands safely clear of the aircraft, with perhaps only some minor back pain from the force of the ejection. Meanwhile, his now pilotless aeroplane has chosen its own point of impact ... somewhere in the middle of the commercial district.

Remember too that the force of the ejection can be considerable and that the Military blokes/blokesses have all sorts of protective clobber to wear, to help minimise bodily damage. I could probably say a fair bit more, but that should be enough to prove my ignorance of the subject and allow more informed comments to appear.

[BOAC]

jimgriff - you'll do better on Tech or Flight Test?

[jimgriff]

Tried the other two forums.
My enquiry is raised in response to the increasing number of ex mil a/c now being owned and operated in the civvy market. No hidden agenda as the above answer seems to think.
In the UK the CAA does not issue any guidance (as far as I know) as to the safe operation and use of bang seats in the civvie market with regard to servicing and use. New Zealand on the other hand has issued guidance. Most warbird flying co's do have safety talks and instruction on seat use before pleasure flights in ejection seat equipped a/c.
I just wondered what other countries did to address this growing phenomenomememememe!!(sp)