Originally Posted by Astro14
Never heard that cartridge story. I know we changed out cartridges every 270 days for new ones (I think that's the number).
Ejection seats have saved thousands of lives. There have also been hundreds who didn't survive ejection. Seats of that era (and mine, newer ones are better) were hard on the human body. Spinal compression, for example, or spinal fracture. A friend's father ejected from an F-4 in Vietnam, lost an inch and a half in height once the fracture healed. Break your back in the ejection, end up in the water with a few other broken bones, and you're in trouble. Can't work the radio. Can't board the raft. The life vest is auto-inflated, but the parachute is all around you. Modest sea currents can drag you under if you don't get free of it...hard to do with a broken arm, or two and a broken back...
Pulling the handle beats imminent death from a crash, but it's not something you do lightly...
Its been 30+ years since I heard him tell the story about the bacteria-fouled cartridges, and the story usually came up at parties with coworkers, and was laced with chemical and weapons terms that made no sense to me at the time. According to him, figuring out the problem was difficult, but devising the solution was much easier. The next hurdle was proving and testing the solution, and then getting them manufactured. The family story is that he disappeared for about a month, then came back home with a bunch of souvenirs from Saigon and Tokyo. Worked furiously for another month jumping around from place to place in Maryland, Norfolk, Florida and back to Maryland. Then disappeared back to Tokyo for a bit but took my mom with him this time. That is about all I know- anything else would be speculation. He did say that if you took the propellent and put it under a microscope, and you knew what you were looking for, then you could tell if a sample was contaminated. Stick the sample in a petri dish and you could cultivate the bugs.
Never heard that cartridge story. I know we changed out cartridges every 270 days for new ones (I think that's the number).
Ejection seats have saved thousands of lives. There have also been hundreds who didn't survive ejection. Seats of that era (and mine, newer ones are better) were hard on the human body. Spinal compression, for example, or spinal fracture. A friend's father ejected from an F-4 in Vietnam, lost an inch and a half in height once the fracture healed. Break your back in the ejection, end up in the water with a few other broken bones, and you're in trouble. Can't work the radio. Can't board the raft. The life vest is auto-inflated, but the parachute is all around you. Modest sea currents can drag you under if you don't get free of it...hard to do with a broken arm, or two and a broken back...
Pulling the handle beats imminent death from a crash, but it's not something you do lightly...
Its been 30+ years since I heard him tell the story about the bacteria-fouled cartridges, and the story usually came up at parties with coworkers, and was laced with chemical and weapons terms that made no sense to me at the time. According to him, figuring out the problem was difficult, but devising the solution was much easier. The next hurdle was proving and testing the solution, and then getting them manufactured. The family story is that he disappeared for about a month, then came back home with a bunch of souvenirs from Saigon and Tokyo. Worked furiously for another month jumping around from place to place in Maryland, Norfolk, Florida and back to Maryland. Then disappeared back to Tokyo for a bit but took my mom with him this time. That is about all I know- anything else would be speculation. He did say that if you took the propellent and put it under a microscope, and you knew what you were looking for, then you could tell if a sample was contaminated. Stick the sample in a petri dish and you could cultivate the bugs.