The Martin-Baker Mk.1 is a British

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an exp ...

designed and built by

Martin-Baker Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited is a British manufacturer of ejection seats and safety-related equipment for aviation. The company was originally an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection seats. The comp ...

. Developed in the late 1940s it was the first in the line of production Martin-Baker seats for military aircraft. Ground and air testing of earlier designs resulted in the first successful test ejection of a company employee in July 1946. A seat type designed for the

Saunders-Roe Saunders-Roe Limited, also known as Saro, was a British aerospace and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works, East Cowes, Isle of Wight. History The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliott Verdon Roe (see Avro) and John Lord took ...

company was known as the Pre-Mk.1.

History

The death of Valentine Baker in an aircraft accident in 1942 prompted James Martin to investigate new methods for aircrew escape and survival. Martin had previous experience of aircraft survival systems and had designed a quick-release canopy system during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

, a very successful device that was later fitted as standard to all Spitfires during manufacture. In 1944 Martin was approached by the Air Staff after a fatal accident with the jet-powered Gloster F.9/40 (Gloster Meteor prototype). They asked for an escape system that forcibly ejected the pilot from an aircraft and was powerful enough to clear the tail surfaces at high airspeeds. German and Swedish engineers were investigating the same problem, but Martin was unaware of this.Philpott 1989, p. 23. Martin initially investigated systems that could be retro-fitted to existing fighter aircraft types that were in service at the time. His first design, a spring-powered swinging arm, hinged near the base of the fin, was not pursued although a Boulton Paul Defiant aircraft had been loaned to the Martin-Baker company for modification and testing. A method using explosive charges to clear the seat from an aircraft was investigated next. As no information was available on what effect the

g-force The g-force or gravitational force equivalent is a Specific force, mass-specific force (force per unit mass), expressed in Unit of measurement, units of standard gravity (symbol ''g'' or ''g''0, not to be confused with "g", the symbol for ...

s might have on the human body a test rig was constructed at Denham for readings to be taken. On 20 January 1945 a dummy was test fired on the rig. Four days later a company fitter, Bernard Lynch volunteered to test the system and was fired to a height of just under with no ill effects felt. The size of the explosive charge was progressively increased until Lynch reached a height of ft and declared that he was experiencing pain. News of the test quickly reached the aviation press; a journalist from '' The Aeroplane'' was hospitalised with crushed

vertebrae Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...

after trying out the rig for himself. James Martin was very concerned by this development and worked hard to reduce the peak acceleration loads felt by the occupant. The solution was to use a second charge firing in sequence and alterations to the seat to provide a posture that would protect the

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Spinal column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoology), ...

. Foot rests and a face blind firing handle were added. Almost 200 tests were completed on the rig when testing transferred to a new rig, Bernard Lynch again being the first to use it on 17 August 1945, reaching a height of just over . The need for airborne testing was apparent; the Defiant loaned for testing had its rear turret removed and a loaded seat had been fired from it whilst stationary on the ground on 10 May 1945. The next day the test was repeated in the air, and a further five tests up to

indicated airspeed Indicated airspeed (IAS) is the airspeed of an aircraft as measured by its pitot-static system and displayed by the airspeed indicator (ASI). This is the pilots' primary airspeed reference. This value is not corrected for installation error, ...

s of were successful. On 12 September 1945 the Martin-Baker company was awarded a contract to design and produce two seats for high-speed testing. A

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

aircraft was modified for testing. The first airborne test with this aircraft took place over Chalgrove airfield in June 1946. Using a dummy the parachute failed when it opened prematurely at a speed of . A time-delay release mechanism was developed and initially suffered from problems. After many more tests it was felt that the system was safe enough for a manned live test. The volunteer was again Bernard Lynch, firing himself from the rear cockpit of the Meteor at over Chalgrove on 24 July 1946; the system worked perfectly. Many more tests followed at ever increasing

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

s and airspeeds, some live and some with dummies. By 1948 the design had been refined enough to enter production for use in

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

aircraft. Prior to this order the

company requested a seat to be used in its SR.A/1 jet-powered flying boat. This seat was known as the 'Pre-Mk.1' and did not feature all the refinements built into the production Mk.1 seats. The first prototype Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52, ''TS363'', crashed on 30 May 1949. The pilot, J.O. Lancaster, used the pre-Mk.1 ejection seat to save his life, making it the first occasion of an emergency ejection by a British pilot.

Operation sequence

Operating the face blind firing handle initiated firing of the main gun located at the rear of the seat, the main gun being a telescopic tube with two explosive charges that fired in sequence. As the seat moved up its guide rails an emergency oxygen supply was activated.Martin-Baker Mk.1 fact sheets
www.martin-baker.com Retrieved: 16 December 2011

As the seat moved further up and out of the aircraft a

lanyard A lanyard is a length of cord, webbing, or strap that may serve any of various functions, which include a means of attachment, restraint, retrieval, activation, and deactivation. A lanyard is also a piece of rigging used to secure or lowe ...

attached to the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

floor fired a steel rod, known as the drogue gun, this extracted two small parachutes to stabilise the seat's descent path. The occupant then released themselves from the seat harness and operated the main parachute manually by pulling a ripcord.

Applications

At some stage in their development examples of these aircraft were fitted with Martin-Baker Mk.1 ejection seats. ;Test aircraft: * Boulton Paul Defiant *

;Pre Mk.1 * Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52 * Saunders-Roe SR.A/1 ;Mk.1 *

Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to ...

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havilla ...

* FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II *

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...

* Hawker Sea Hawk * Supermarine Attacker * Supermarine Swift * Westland Wyvern

Seats on display

*A Martin-Baker Pre-Mk.1 is on static display at the Solent Sky museum in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. *A Martin-Baker Mk.1C is on display at the Royal Air Force Museum London.Royal Air Force Museum London - Martin-Baker Mk.1C
navigator.rafmuseum.org Retrieved: 16 December 2011

Specifications (Mk.1)

*Maximum operating height: Not known *Minimum operating height: Not known *Minimum operating speed: Not known *Maximum operating speed: 400+

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot or knots may also refer to: Other common meanings * Knot (unit), of speed * Knot (wood), a timber imperfection Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Knots'' (film), a 2004 film * ''Kn ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Philpott, Bryan. ''Eject!! Eject!!''. Shepperton, Surrey. Ian Allan Ltd., 1989.

External links

"Getting Away With It"
a 1954 ''Flight'' article {{Martin-Baker ejection seats Martin-Baker ejection seats