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I will never cease to be amazed by stories like these of the SR-71, even though the essence of this one is benign in the grand scheme of aircraft stories: an im

by jjallen 11y ago

I will never cease to be amazed by stories like these of the SR-71, even though the essence of this one is benign in the grand scheme of aircraft stories: an important, sensitive plane had to emergency land in a foreign country. But perhaps the most amazing part for me was the last paragraph, stating how two pilots ejected from an SR-71 after losing engine power! Can you imagine ejecting from an SR-71? I would guess you needed to sit there for at least a minute or two, just sort of flying through space until it slowed down to some speed that wouldn't immediately render you unconscious once ejecting. Will have to find out more about that. EDIT: I'll add that I still can't imagine ejecting at even 100 MPH, a fraction of the speed the pilots probably ejected at.

mirimir 11y ago
> April 18, Capt. Brian Udell, an F-15E fighter pilot from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, will acknowledge the second anniversary of that fateful day. There will be no celebration, because he lost a friend and coworker - weapons systems officer Capt. Dennis White. Yet on that bitter-sweet night, Udell miraculously survived one of the fastest known ejections in history at more than 780 mph. http://www.ejectionsite.com/insaddle/insaddle.htm http://www.ejectionsite.com/insaddle/insaddle.htm
tropo 11y ago
The SR-71 flight manual kind of describes it. Pyro devices fire, yanking your boots backward onto a metal plate. (so that your feet will come with you) The canopy is blasted off. A rocket launches you out. Very briefly, you experience heat like a hot oven caused by the air being compressed in front of you. It's about 500 F. The suit mostly protects you. A drouge chute gets you going feet first, head last. More pyro devices fire, cutting some straps and then pulling a seat liner tight. This tosses you out of the seat. I think more pyro devices... there were a lot. You end up with a survival kit dangling a few dozen feet below you and of course with a parachute above. You get some dye, a gun, a raft, etc.

by jjallen 11y ago

mirimir 11y ago

> April 18, Capt. Brian Udell, an F-15E fighter pilot from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, will acknowledge the second anniversary of that fateful day. There will be no celebration, because he lost a friend and coworker - weapons systems officer Capt. Dennis White. Yet on that bitter-sweet night, Udell miraculously survived one of the fastest known ejections in history at more than 780 mph. http://www.ejectionsite.com/insaddle/insaddle.htm http://www.ejectionsite.com/insaddle/insaddle.htm

tropo 11y ago

The SR-71 flight manual kind of describes it. Pyro devices fire, yanking your boots backward onto a metal plate. (so that your feet will come with you) The canopy is blasted off. A rocket launches you out. Very briefly, you experience heat like a hot oven caused by the air being compressed in front of you. It's about 500 F. The suit mostly protects you. A drouge chute gets you going feet first, head last. More pyro devices fire, cutting some straps and then pulling a seat liner tight. This tosses you out of the seat. I think more pyro devices... there were a lot. You end up with a survival kit dangling a few dozen feet below you and of course with a parachute above. You get some dye, a gun, a raft, etc.