Its almost an airplane

[knot4u]

Re: Its almost an airplane

If it was a normal fighter plane they save the pilots all the time at ground level. I think there have been some from carrier landings too. If the plane is upside down 200 ft in the air they eject and make a u turn up to deploy the chute. So why wouldn't it have?

First of all, an F-104 fuselage is not a "normal fighter plane". Ejection seats require a pretty specific profile for a successful outcome. A grass roots effort like this isn't going design, engineer, build, test and install one to suit their particular need. There's a reason you've never seen an unlimited air racer that had one. Second, I'm going to assume you have no idea who @Bigger Al is, I can assure you he probably has more knowledge regarding these sorts of things than you, no offense intended. Third, I've never seen any ejection seat do a "U-Turn", that sounds like some CGI thing you may have seen in a movie. Best Regards.


Edit to add: Trying to maintain those seats is difficult, they're rocket powered, and when you start to collect rockets the Feds tend to get involved. Working on or around them made me a bit nervous.

[Bigger Al]

Re: Its almost an airplane

If it was a normal fighter plane they save the pilots all the time at ground level. I think there have been some from carrier landings too. If the plane is upside down 200 ft in the air they eject and make a u turn up to deploy the chute. So why wouldn't it have?

I'm going to go on the assumption that you've never raced anything motorized. If I'm wrong, then I'll accept that. I road raced motorcycles for about 6 years in the early 2000's, and I can attest to the fact that when things go wrong, they go wrong in a big, violent hurry, leaving the rider, driver, or pilot assuming the role of spectator. I crashed at 80 MPH during a practice session on Sears Point Raceway, and I was down and tumbling before my mind could register what was going on. It happens that fast. I cannot imagine the forces at the speeds Ms. Combs was traveling. Simply put, there was most likely not enough time (milliseconds?) for her to recognize the need to get out, let alone the time to implement a plan. There was no luxury of altitude in that situation, which is something that gives pilots the option to punch out. It's simply a physics problem.
As knot4U said, the odds are low that there was even some sort of system in place to allow an egress at speed. I knew a guy some years back who still holds some land speed records in streamliner motorcycles, and his last run at Bonneville resulted in him pencil rolling at just shy of 300 MPH and spending a couple of weeks in a Salt Lake City ICU. When I asked him about it, he told me that there was no way for him to even deploy the drag chute to help slow things down, despite the fact that the handle was about 3 inches from his hand.

[IcePaq]

Re: Its almost an airplane

The reason Darryl Greenamyer didn't belly in that F104 when the gear stuck is because the f104 fuselage will roll.