Martin Baker

[coxyhog]

On 30 May 1949, Royal Air Force test pilot Squadron Leader John Oliver “Jo” Lancaster became the first pilot to save his life using a Martin-Baker ejection seat during an actual in flight emergency.

Lancaster was test flying an Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52 flying wing over England when the aircraft developed severe uncontrollable oscillations while in a 320mph dive. Fearing the aircraft would disintegrate, Lancaster activated the Martin-Baker Mk-1 seat and was successfully thrown clear before parachuting safely to the ground.

The Martin-Baker Aircraft Company, founded by Sir James Martin and Captain Valentine Baker, began serious work on ejection systems after Baker was killed in a 1942 crash while testing the Martin-Baker MB.3 fighter prototype. Sir James Martin became determined to create a reliable emergency escape system that could save aircrew from similar fates.

Through extensive experimentation during the 1940s, including live tests from Gloster Meteor aircraft, Martin-Baker refined explosive powered seats capable of propelling pilots safely clear of their aircraft. Lancaster’s successful ejection in May 1949 provided the first real proof under emergency conditions that the concept worked.

Martin-Baker ejection seats quickly became the standard escape system for Western combat aircraft and were adopted by dozens of air forces around the world. Continuous improvements eventually produced “zero-zero” seats capable of saving pilots even at zero altitude and zero airspeed. Martin-Baker seats have since been installed in aircraft ranging from the English Electric Lightning to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

The company’s “Ejection Tie Club,” formed to honor those whose lives were saved by the seats, has grown steadily over the decades. According to Martin-Baker’s published figures, more than 7,820 lives have been saved by its ejection seats.

Baker had an interesting life:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_Baker_(pilot)

Edited Thursday at 07:40 AM by coxyhog