Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Question about B-58 Hustler and XB-70 Valkyrie escape capsule ejection sequence?

On the Convair B-58 Hustler and North American XB-70 these Bombers were equipped with individual crew escape capsules. My question is how many seconds did the Pilot, Co-Pilot, Weapons Officer on the B-58 Hustler and the Pilot and Co-Pilot on the Valkyrie; have to get their hands and feet inside the Ejection Capsule after the ejection initiation sequence was made? And what would happen if they didn't get their hands or feet inside the capsule in time? I read that the Pilot of the XB-70A#2 dislocated his shoulder after his hand almost got stuck in the clam shell during the ejection sequence of the Stricken XB-70A#2 during a test flight. And since I am asking about ejection capsules; Why was the ejection capsule on the B-1B dropped in favor of individual ejection seats? And how does individual ejection take place on a plane were the crew are side by side or front to back? Who is ejected first since you are sitting on a small rocket, wouldn't one of the crew get burnt from the rocket? And other than the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark are there any other planes in operation world wide that use an ejecting crew capsule? If not, is it because this system was seen as to complex or cost to much to build or weight of such a system?

No comments:

Post a Comment