Martin Baker Rides at Farnborough

[Buster11]

Mods please feel free to move elsewhere if thought appropriate. However, I suspect some senior PPRuNers will have recollections of the following.
At SBAC shows at Farnborough in the ‘50s I recall that Martin Baker had a rig consisting of one of their seats on a lattice tower maybe 30 feet high. The punters were queuing up to be strapped in and fired up the tower, before being winched down to ground level. I don’t recall people being carted off with minor injuries, nor do I recall any smoke or much of a bang.
What was going on here? Was this purely a MB PR device for public entertainment or was it something they also used for a serious purpose? Would ‘de-tuned’ pyrotechnics have been involved? Can anybody shed light on the rather dim memories of a teenaged Farnborough attendee?

[tristar 500]

Ejector seat rides

One of our chaps on the Vanguard at Brooklands has just produced a personal film of the Farnborough Airshow from 1957 to 1966 which he took with a cini camera.

The event you talk about is on there, he even remembers the chap he has filmed having a go.

tristar 500

[Canadian Break]

MB Rig

Buster
I recall undergoing a similar experience at North Luffenham with a single charge in a Mk 3 seat in the early 80s just prior to the start of BFT at Linton. So, perhaps it was something they had produced for u/t pilots to use and had taken it along to an air show for the puiblic to have a go? CB

[Fareastdriver]

They had a rig at South Cerney in the early sixties. Everybody had to have a go. It was quite peculiar; one sat in it and pulled the blind and you were then nearly at the top of the tower with little or no sense of acceleration. One of our Malaysian students, five foot nothing, hit the stop at the top.

No bell, unfortunately.

[D120A]

It was also at the Battle of Britain displays at RAF Biggin Hill in the mid 1950s. I saw one or two punters have a go on it, and to a 12 year-old it make a heck of a bang. I have often wondered since if it caused any spine damage. Health and Safety nowadays would have a fit.

Ditto I seem to remember the parachute school tower, where punters were encouraged to jump off the top with only a minimum of instruction on how to land. And the stock butts, where you could fire the guns of a Meteor 8 while having your photograph taken...

Those were the days, folks.

[Pontius Navigator]

FED, indeed you are right. The other thing was removing the face blind at the top and looking over the hangar roof.

I was watching 'Officer and a Gentleman' the other day with the cadets using a dunker. They were strapped in, dropped into the water, then pitched upside down.

At first I thought that was a bit extreme, then I got to remember our training undergone with fortitude, dunked in the freezing channel, dragged behind 4-ton trucks, swimming 150 yards, made hypoxic, banged to 56,000 feet, para training, jungle survival etc etc. Bear Grylls eat your heart out.

One 'benefit' of the V-force was we were too precious to to anything really dangerous so our annual survival exercise consisted of erecting a paratepe at Folkingham airfield using the same rock, same lanyard, same tree and same tent pegs as the year before and getting a coke fire going using the same radio crate and coke stached from the year before. The DS couldn't work out how we had a shelter erected and a brew up withing 10 minutes of arriving on location.

[Q-RTF-X]

Hazy memories of a day out at Farnborough in 1958 as a Boy Entrant and seeing the rig in action, cannot remember what Mk of seat, might have been a Mk 3 but could have been a Mk 2, not sure. Anyhow, I quickly joined the queue and in no time at all was briefed, strapped in, and after a final posture check up I went. I was told that a reduced charge cartridge was used for these demos and there would have been no secondary cartridge(s) used, so all in all quite a step below the real thing. Nevertheless, it was quite a sprightly trip up the rig accompanied by a small noise and a small wisp of blue smoke. The team operating it was a couple of uniformed RAF guys and the rig, if I remember correctly, all folded away into a converted “Queen Mary”. I was lead to understand the unit toured around various stations and other locations as a demo and familiarization for ejection seats, and occasionally as a draw to recruiting stands. I cannot though recall ever seeing the unit again, anywhere. The team running the rig were very professional and their input along with the reduced charge made for quite an interesting experience with little or no discomfort; they had a well practiced routine and a pretty nippy turnaround.

[foxvc10]

The Americans where doing it at one of the Alconbury shows early 80's. Never had a go myself...

[teeteringhead]

Also did it as a baby pilot - before they ever let me near a real one! As already remarked, it was used at Town Shows and similar, and was very popular with Joe Public.....

...... was also rumoured to be popular with Josephine Public for a different reason ...... 'twas alleged - how shall I put this - that the acceleration had been known to .... err ... speed the arrival of a welcome guest who was unaccountably late that month Don't know the truth of that one, but was certainly strongly rumoured at the time.... maybe why they stopped it. ISTR similar arguments being used against the use of female FJ aircrew ....

And Pontius - you don't have to be American to be "dunked"!

[Ali Barber]

It used to be part of the Av Med course at North Luffenham prior to BFTS. Supposedly 1/3 or 1/2 charge, but with a long delay from pulling the seat handle to firing, which was to encourage you to not look down. Inevitably, one of our course looked down, at which point it fired. He damaged his back and lost his bang seat cat before he'd ever sat on a real one. I understand it stopped being used soon after that.

[chevvron]

I think there is still a 100ft test rig on the Qinetiq site. It used to be situated close to the runway centreline on short final for 25 (now 24) until 1982 when the Director RAE at the time, Tom Kerr, himself an ex TP, told the 'boffins' it had to be derigged when not in use. I never saw it used in 34 years, and they moved it to Pyestock in order to keep it elevated 'just in case' they needed to use it.

[foldingwings]

They had a rig at South Cerney in the early sixties.

From where it moved to the Aircrew Officer Training School at Church Fenton where I rode it (along with all the other would-be aircrew) in 1969!

Foldie

[SLLC]

Why train for it?

Can anyone recollect having done the training and then used the real thing? It's just I can't imagine what use the training would have been given that the whole process even then was largely automatic once the handle was pulled (notwithstanding the various failure over-rides etc). I doubt withdrawal of the training had much impact (no pun intended) on any subsequent ejection experiences - would be interested to hear otherwise though.

[Chris Kebab]

Agreed SLLC, having done both I defy anybody to claim the rig had any real value apart from helping to shift any residual Ruddles gas blockages. As I recall it was a slack session at North Luff which was a hoot at the time but of zero real training value.

Concur with Ali - it was probably early 80s when somebody was injured and I think it all ceased soon after.

[Fareastdriver]

The rig only had a half or a third charge in. In the 60s there is now way it could prepare you for a Mk 3 seat with three cartridges accelerating you from zero to eighty feet/second in eight feet.
The wimps have it easy now with stabilised rocket seats.

[Chris Kebab]

..a slight nerdy aside but does anybody else remember that massive crane that could be seen from the OM thirty odd years ago - seem to recall it was the biggest in Europe at the time, if not the world.

[bowly]

Ejection Seat Rig

The rig was still being used in the early 1990's at North Luffenham as I used it on my pre-BFTS AV Med course. Great Fun but glad I never had to use one for real. I think it was stopped with the demise of the JP as the JP was probably the only cartridge seat left, with the exception of the maybe the Canberra. Might be wrong though...

[ACW418]

I used the rig as an Officer Cadet at South Cerney in 1962. My memory is of a very long pause between pulling the face blind and the bang but it was actually just the usual one second delay to allow the canopy to go. As for its training value I never felt concerned about using an ejection seat after having experienced the rig but I never had much imagination so it may just have been useful to me! It was definately mounted on a Queen Mary.

ACW

[Max Reheat]

Chaps...

I've got a picture of it from when I did the initial avmed induction at Luffenham, but I am a numbnuts and cant get it onto here. Any techies prepared to give me a clue?

I'm using a Mac. Pprune keeps asking for a URL but it's just in my iPhotos library.

[henry crun]

Max Reheat: This link tells you how to post pics.

http://www.pprune.org/spectators-bal...une-guide.html