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Yankee seat extraction system


72modeler

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A good friend of mine who flew Spads in SEA (A-1E and A-1H) sent me this video that shows the testing and use of the Yankee seat extraction system, like the one fitted to Skyraiders; he stated that he witnessed several of his squadron mates' lives being saved by its use. (He was involved in several 'Sandy' sorties during his tour.) Went on to fly big weenie cookers, including his favorite- the F-101. I had no clue how this system really worked until I saw this video. I hope you will find it as interesting and informative as I did. Wonder if @Old Viper Tester has any first-hand knowledge of its use?

Mike

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yw8g1Soigk

 

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I've never worked with it. But very familiar with the Skyraider Yankee extraction configuration.

 

A test pilot friend of mine had a variation of the extraction system installed in a Lear Fan prototype when they were doing high angle of attack testing. All sounded a bit crazy to me, but he actually briefed the workings of it at a Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium in the early '80s. His description went something like this:

 

Lear had taken two Yankee extraction rockets and mounted them in the doorway of the Lear Fan biz-jet (biz-prop?), for high alpha testing. The crew wore harnesses with an attachment point for the extraction cable that was connected to the rocket. The procedure was for the crew to leave their flight station, stand near the door, hook up the cables to their harnesses, blow the door, and be pulled clear of the aircraft by the extraction rockets. Whether the rockets automatically fired when the door was blown or they had to fire them manually, I don't recall. What amazes me more is that they are supposed to be doing all this while the aircraft is out of control. My other concern was, the doorway being rather small, someone was going to get a face full of rocket blast if this was ever used in anger.

 

While he briefed this like there were going to be a pilot and co-pilot aboard for the testing, I would have expected that for something that the USAF would have classified as "high-risk" testing, that only one crewman would have been on board. If nothing else, if there were two people the risk of collision or entanglement of the extracted crew would have been another added risk.

 

Wonder if they ever actually tested this rig? Stranger than truth?

 

Sven

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23 minutes ago, Old Viper Tester said:

Wonder if they ever actually tested this rig? Stranger than truth?

What I was wondering, after reading your post, Sven, was how much money they had to offer the poor guinea pigs to actually try this out?

Mike

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2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I believe these were also installed in the PA-48 Enforcer prototypes.

I forgot about the Enforcers, yes they had them, too.

 

I did an inspection visit to Piper to observe their flight test program in January 1984, when I took these images. You can see the extraction rocket standing up behind the headrest, canted slightly forward and the two exhaust nozzles at the top pointed slightly outward and clockwise when viewed from above.

N481PE piper PA-48 KLAL 19840124 23cr

 

N482PE piper PA-48 KLAL 19840124 29cr

 

I don't think any one makes a Yankee escape system in any scale. Haven't a clue if you can get one or copy one from a 1/48th Skyraider kit. I know the Hasegawa 1/72 kit doesn't have any of this detail. 

 

Sven

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