Martin Baker Mk8AV Seats

[AnonymousDFB1]

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the direction of specs for the above? I used my normal web search techniques but can only come up with people selling resin seats

The reason I ask is i will be building a what If TSR.2 and I'm wondering if at some point the seat might have been upgraded? Or would the Mk8AV been suitable to last through to it's demise in 2000's (In my world )

Thanks

[AnonymousFO98]

hi Mish

is a Mk8 close enough

[AnonymousDFB1]

hi Mish

is a Mk8 close enough

Nope, sorry its a totally different seat (at least visually)

[DamienB]

The Mk.8VA was specific to the TSR2 - the current Mk.8 is unrelated and just uses a 'vacant' Mk number - it's actually a lightweight Mk.10.

The Mk.8VA was a good seat - very advanced for the time and many of the concepts went into the Mk.9 (Jaguar & Harrier), which has seen little noticeable tinkering since its intro to service, so I wouldn't bother tinkering with the Mk.8VA for a whiffer, other than perhaps painting it black instead of the unpainted alloy finish of the early seats on the TSR2 development batch aircraft.

[Julien]

This one?

from www.ejectorseats.co.uk

The Mk8 seat was a part of the design process for the T.S.R.2 aircraft. With cancellation of the aircraft project, the need for a seat specific to that design was no longer present. Since it had been designed without the restraint of retrofitting an existing airframe, the designers had had a free hand in the development process. The seat was undoubtedly the most advanced aircrew escape system produced to that date. Not only did it look different from previous seats, it included new systems which are still designed into current seats. This produced some innovations that were incorporated into later seat designs. One of the more obvious is the incorporation of the main parachute in the head rest, this being the first Martin Baker seat to use this system. The drogue gun was incorporated into the top of the left hand guide tube and the Barostatic Time Release incorporated into the top of the right hand side guide tube, the standard beam mounting system was not used. The only firing handle was between the pilots knees, tests having shown that this handle was quicker to operate in all flight modes than a face blind option. Modern helmets and visors had made the need for face protection obsolete.

This mark of seat was not fitted to any other type of aircraft.

There were approximately only a maximum of some 60 of these seats made (including development models) and therefore it would be fair to say that this mark is one of the rarest seats and therefore is a highly desired collectors item. Some would say that this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing seats to look at. There are some (dare I say it) good photos of an "8" on the photos page showing these innovations.

The Mark 8 series seats are generally considered to be the first Third generation Seats.

Julien

[AnonymousDFB1]

Thanks guys, that is exactly what I wanted to know.

Well done the knowledge on BM never fails to amaze me.

Thanks