A further pull on the ejection handle would release the upper catapult attach point, allowing the seat to fall free of the aircraft. If the catapult failed to fire, the seat could be released with the aid of gravity by manually jettisoning the hatch cover, which would prepare the seat for gravity release. On firing the catapult, the seat began to move downward and mechanically unlocked the escape hatch under the seat forcing it into the windstream for removal.Īs the leg guards reach the fully deployed position, the right side one fires a M3 initiator to fire the catapult. Additionally, the aircraft control stick is unlocked and pulled forward out of the pilot's ejection path by means of a spring mechanism, while the cabin pressure is dumped by a valve on the cockpit bulkhead. This sequence used a ballistic thruster under the seat to rotate the thigh guards up to the front position, tighten the pelvic restraint straps, close the ankle clamps by releasing a pin restraining them, lock the inertia reel. Firing the seat involved first pulling the legs back so that the feet and ankles would arm the clamps which were then actuated as part of the pre-ejection sequence started by pulling the triangular shaped ring on the front of the seat pan. It included in its features a leg restraint system based on a set of ankle clamps. For a personal story of one man's ejection, click here. This seat was used successfully at altitude.
Manually place his feet into prior to ejection. Mechanisms for the pilot's legs or arms, merely a set of foot guards that the pilot had to This version of the seat did not have any retract This seat was fitted to the early prototypes and the first twenty-six F-104A aircraft. Of the F-104, Lockheed turned to Stanley Aviation Corp. Sub-contracted to other companies that were more experienced in the industry. Have the seats upgraded, and eventually decided to have the seats replaced with a seat ofĪlthough the aircraft manufacturer was tasked with seat development, it was often Luftwaffe, which used the F-104G as a low level attack plane. This was a particular problem to the German These seats served well in USAF service, but were still not considered suitable forĮxtreme low level ejections with high sink rates. Later the seats were replaced with an upward firing seat, once capable catapults wereĪvailable. It also effected the windblast on the pilot. Including the vertical fin at higher speeds. This allowed for the best capability of clearing aircraft structure, In the early days of the XF-104 program, it was decidedĭue to the limitations of the available ejection seat catapults, the ejection seat shouldįire downwards.
Specifications would include such items as minimum/maximum altitude and In those days, the USAF would specify to the aircraft The F-104 ejection seat story is a classic story of the evolution of egress systems over The Ejection Site: F-104 Ejection Seats The Ejection Site The Ejection Seats of the F-104
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