"Absolutely extraordinary."
Those are the words being bandied about in the British Defense
Ministry after a software goof-up grounded half of the Queen's
Chinook helicopters.
Safety A Big Concern In Maintaining Ejection Seats
It takes less than a second.
In that time, quicker than a heartbeat, the rocket-powered seat in
a military jet can exit at a speed from zero to 160 mph. Think of
it as something akin to being kicked in the rear by a speeding
bullet train – like Superman speed. The force of this
explosion is designed to carry a crewmember safely – a
relative term here – but quickly out of the cockpit of a
doomed aircraft. There’s really very little about an ejection
that is safe, but it beats the daylights out of the
alternative.
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