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How NOT to Surprise Your Boss

Vaughn McMillan

Vaughn McMillan

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A jet fighter ride and a parachute drop all in the same day. That's getting a little too zealous with the bucket list if you ask me, lol.

www.cnn.com

A 64-year-old man accidentally ejected himself from a fighter jet at 2,500 feet

A surprise company outing to an air base caused a 64-year-old French man so much stress that he flung himself from a fighter jet in mid-air, grabbing the ejector button in a panic and tumbling through the skies above France before landing in a field.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
A jet fighter ride and a parachute drop all in the same day. That's getting a little too zealous with the bucket list if you ask me, lol.

www.cnn.com

A 64-year-old man accidentally ejected himself from a fighter jet at 2,500 feet

A surprise company outing to an air base caused a 64-year-old French man so much stress that he flung himself from a fighter jet in mid-air, grabbing the ejector button in a panic and tumbling through the skies above France before landing in a field.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
Click to expand...

I have been in meetings where I wished I had an ejector button.
 
When I was flying I gave a lot of incentive rides like this - never for someone that age. I always made sure that the passenger knew what I was going to do and was comfortable with it. I also made sure that the ejection control was set so I could eject him but he could not eject me, just for this reason. Not everyone wants to go on a ride like this but for some it's the thrill of a lifetime and those were the fun guys to fly.
 
I can't help but picture what that experience would do to my 64 year old body. All ego aside, I do not bounce nearly as well as I did when I was 50. I'm getting older, fighting it ever step of the way but, not letting my mouth write checks my aging body can't cash ;-)
 
Jay Caughron said:
I read that on AVWEB this morning FUNNY good thing it faulted or the pilot would have been automatically eject too.
Click to expand...
I used to work on the Gru6 Martin Baker ejection seat system I think most systems work the same meaning either single self ejection or command ejection where the pilot can select to eject for all seats to eject in a preselected rotation in the Ea6b if I remember rite the order would be the seat behind the pilot the right rear & then the right front seat & then the piolt. In any case the occupant is free to eject themselves I belive even if the pilot select command ejection if the system fails or something should happen to the piiot.
 
Never rode in a jet fighter or even a prop fighter. Did jump a bunch of times out of Chinooks, Herky Birds, and even a C5A. Repelled outa Chinooks and Hueys. Never saw no 64 year olds there. In fact, I really can't remember any 50 year olds back when I did all of that. I'm willing to bet ya that 64 year old would not have taken off in the back seat of a Tomcat or F18 taking off of a carrier. I did fly in the back of what they called a "trash hauler" off the Enterprise, both landing and takeoff. AWK!!!
 
Jay Caughron said:
I read that on AVWEB this morning FUNNY good thing it faulted or the pilot would have been automatically eject too.
Click to expand...

Bart Leetch said:
I used to work on the Gru6 Martin Baker ejection seat system I think most systems work the same meaning either single self ejection or command ejection where the pilot can select to eject for all seats to eject in a preselected rotation in the Ea6b if I remember rite the order would be the seat behind the pilot the right rear & then the right front seat & then the piolt. In any case the occupant is free to eject themselves I belive even if the pilot select command ejection if the system fails or something should happen to the piiot.
Click to expand...

I was a USAF avionics technician for 12 of my 20+ years, so I sat in the F-4D/E flavors of the MB ejector seat for many an hour...mostly the back seat. I don't know anything about the Rafale but I imagine ejection systems are pretty similar in setup. In the F-4s I worked on, there's a Command Selector Valve control in the rear cockpit. It's usually set to "Single" so if the WSO (Weapons System Operator) ejects, it'll only be him steppin' out for a smoke. Pulling the D-ring or face curtain with it set to "Dual" would light off both buckets.
 
After I read this article, I decided to check and see what kind of seat the Rafale had. Sure enough it's a Martin-Baker. I spent most of my time sitting on an ACES-II seat so I had to look up the MB seat. Between the occupant's legs is the ejection handle. It looks like the upper handles with the face curtain common on older MB seats has been eliminated in this one. I have a feeling this guy just grabbed onto something to hold onto and that's what he found first. Here's a link so you can get a look at it: http://martin-baker.com/products/mk16-ejection-seat-for-rafale/

I flew A-7s that the AF got from the Navy early in my career. I always wanted to do just one Cat Shot. Didn't want to make a habit of it.
 
Never flew in a war plane, never wanted to fly in a war plane... the idea of jumping or ejecting from a war plane give me a pucker I can't mention here....

I never liked to fly anyway, even though I worked for a major airlines for 11 years as ramp loader, cargo agent, and load master on both cargo and passenger flights... I was load master on a cargo plane that didn't make it off the end of the runway... he had over 100,000 lbs of cargo, about 60,000 lbs of fuel and the plane itself weighed about 300,000 lbs.... it blew a tire on rotation and ingested the rubber through one engine... not enough lift on 3 engines to clear the runway and went into the drink at the end.... the crew dropped a raft in the water, paddled ashore and didn't even get their feet wet.
 
Heh. I was actually at England AFB in 1969 ... as a 7-year-old dependent. That was the year I started 2nd grade in Florida, did about 2 months in Louisiana, and finished up in Las Vegas, NV.
 
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