Commercial Ejection Seats on homebuilts?

[David Findlay]

Has anyone bought a commercial ejection seat for use on their homebuilt
aircraft? Is this even feasible? Thanks,

David

[Cam]

I heard on Discovery channel they cost around 1M a pop, so I'd imagine they
would be out of the homebuilt market.

Cheers cam

"David Findlay" > wrote in message
u...
> Has anyone bought a commercial ejection seat for use on their homebuilt
> aircraft? Is this even feasible? Thanks,
>
> David

[EDR]

In article >, David
Findlay > wrote:

> Has anyone bought a commercial ejection seat for use on their homebuilt
> aircraft? Is this even feasible? Thanks,

How much weight are you willing to add to the Empty Weight of your
aircraft?

[BllFs6]

> Has anyone bought a commercial ejection seat for use on their homebuilt
>> aircraft? Is this even feasible? Thanks,

Well

you could buy one of those emergency ballistic chutes that they make to recover
the WHOLE plane under a parachute....a BRS i think they are called?

they only cost a few thousand dollars and weigh 10s of pounds....

It would take some research/engineering to the following but it seems
possible...

make it so when the chute is ejected/deployed by the rocket the force of the
inflated chute drag is enough to rip out a safety cage/reinforced cabin area
and the rest of plane plumets to the ground...

those chute deploy on the order of a second or so...


take care

Blll

[C.D.Damron]

I think there is a civil model marketed at $200K.

"Cam" > wrote in message
...
> I heard on Discovery channel they cost around 1M a pop, so I'd imagine
they
> would be out of the homebuilt market.
>
> Cheers cam
>
> "David Findlay" > wrote in message
> u...
> > Has anyone bought a commercial ejection seat for use on their homebuilt
> > aircraft? Is this even feasible? Thanks,
> >
> > David
>
>

[DJFawcett26]

>I think there is a civil model marketed at $200K.
>

Actually, you can buy a Russian seat, the KSS-42 manufactured by Zvezda for
approximately $70 K. It is an exceptional seat capable of 0/0 with 900 km/hr
max velocity. Best part is that it only weighs 45 kgs. compared to 200 lb.
plus for the Martin Bakers which cost mega bucks.

[James R. Freeman]

David:
Ejection seats come up for sale all the time on the G.S.A. auction site
under aircraft parts. The minimum bid is $3000 USD if Remember correctly. I
think weight would be the problem.

"David Findlay" > wrote in message
u...
> Has anyone bought a commercial ejection seat for use on their homebuilt
> aircraft? Is this even feasible? Thanks,
>
> David

[Getstuffed]

"James R. Freeman" > wrote in message
...
> David:
> Ejection seats come up for sale all the time on the G.S.A. auction
site
> under aircraft parts. The minimum bid is $3000 USD if Remember correctly.
I
> think weight would be the problem.

The power of the charge that expels the pilot from a crippled aircraft is
far more than a homebuilt or GA aircraft could bear. The structure would
simply fail. Your best best is a recovery chute save yourself and the plane.

[Steve Beaver]

The Sukhoi Su26/29/31 can be ordred with an SKS-94 ejection system. See here
for a picture of it in use:

http://www.aafo.com/racing/tech/seats/part2c.htm

A google seach for SKS-94 turns up several references.

"David Findlay" > wrote in message
u...
> Has anyone bought a commercial ejection seat for use on their homebuilt
> aircraft? Is this even feasible? Thanks,
>
> David

[RR Urban]

"Getstuffed" > wrote:

>The power of the charge that expels the pilot from a crippled aircraft is
>far more than a homebuilt or GA aircraft could bear. The structure would
>simply fail. Your best best is a recovery chute save yourself and the plane.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Forget the recovery chute for most homebuilts, too.
The majority of airframes are not designed for an
aftermarket recovery chute attach point, the shock
loads or even safe deployment without rigorous,
tedious and expensive R&R. Then there is the
trade off issues of weight reducing the payload,
range and performance.

Rarely does a major airframe package fail.
Wings seldom fall off without provocation.
So, in most cases, 'tis far more practical and
do-able to just GUIDE the aircraft to a safe TD...
even in treetops.

Most failures are... plain old fuel starvation with
CFIT ranking quite high, as well. Bang for the
buck would dictate that efforts be expanded in
schooling pilots in these failures before attempting
a costly idiot proof airplane of marginal performance.

Neither screw up calls for a pricey parachute with
the problems associated with attaching and then
perfecting the package for an 'iffy' deployment.

If all else fails, WEAR a parachute. It has not the
high tech flavor that some here would embrace,
but damn.... it is simple, cheap and it works!


Barnyard BOb - powered flight is a gas, er, requires gas

[Peter Dohm]

RR Urban wrote:
>
> "Getstuffed" > wrote:
>
> >The power of the charge that expels the pilot from a crippled aircraft is
> >far more than a homebuilt or GA aircraft could bear. The structure would
> >simply fail. Your best best is a recovery chute save yourself and the plane.
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Forget the recovery chute for most homebuilts, too.
> The majority of airframes are not designed for an
> aftermarket recovery chute attach point, the shock
> loads or even safe deployment without rigorous,
> tedious and expensive R&R. Then there is the
> trade off issues of weight reducing the payload,
> range and performance.
>
> Rarely does a major airframe package fail.
> Wings seldom fall off without provocation.
> So, in most cases, 'tis far more practical and
> do-able to just GUIDE the aircraft to a safe TD...
> even in treetops.
>
> Most failures are... plain old fuel starvation with
> CFIT ranking quite high, as well. Bang for the
> buck would dictate that efforts be expanded in
> schooling pilots in these failures before attempting
> a costly idiot proof airplane of marginal performance.
>
> Neither screw up calls for a pricey parachute with
> the problems associated with attaching and then
> perfecting the package for an 'iffy' deployment.
>
> If all else fails, WEAR a parachute. It has not the
> high tech flavor that some here would embrace,
> but damn.... it is simple, cheap and it works!
>
> Barnyard BOb - powered flight is a gas, er, requires gas

I agree completely!

Peter

[Corrie]

Interesting site . Maybe I missed it, but what about the harness? If
the system blows the seat and pilot up through the canopy on a pole,
fires a rocket to deploy the chute, and the filled chute yanks the
pilot off the seat, what's happened to the five-point harness?

"Steve Beaver" > wrote in message >...
> The Sukhoi Su26/29/31 can be ordred with an SKS-94 ejection system. See here
> for a picture of it in use:
>
> http://www.aafo.com/racing/tech/seats/part2c.htm
>
>