UNIT 3: EVENTS
Recorder 6
My talk today is about ejecting from an aircraft. This sounds dangerous, but in fact it's very simple. You only have to pull one handle in order to eject. The ejection system does the rest. You can eject at airspeeds between zero and 1,400 kilometres per hour, and at altitudes between zero and 82,000 feet . You only eject from your aircraft if it 's going to crash, so first you must try to save your aircraft.If you know that you cannot control your aircraft, pull the ejection handle.
The ejection system operates in four stages. First, the canopy over the pilot is jettisoned. It rues away from the cockpit to the rear. At the same time, the aircraft services are disconnected, so radio contact is lost. However, the emergency oxygen supply for the pilot comes into operation, so it's still possible to breathe. Next, the ejector rocket fires . This ejects the pilot into the air, but the pilot is still restrained in his seat. So now we have the pilot, still strapped into his seat, in the air and starting to fall.
At this point, stage two begins, and the drogue is deployed. Now a drogue is rather like a parachute. Its purpose is to stabilise and slow the fall of the pilot, who is still in his seat. This continues down to a height of 8,000 feet , when the drogue is released.
We now come to the third stage of the ejection procedure, when severa1 things happen in quick succession one after the other. As the drogue falls away, an explosive charge separates the main parachute container. Also, the main hamess that attaches the pilot to his seat is released. Small sticker clips hold the pilot in his seat for a few seconds longer. Immediately after this, the main parachute is deployed. This slows the fall of the pilot and lifts him out of his seat, pulling away the small sticker clips that kept him in his seat up until now. The pilot's seat, which is heavier than the pilot, falls to the ground separately.
Now we come to stage four, the landing. The pilot is falling towards the ground at the rate of a normal parachute descent. At this point, his personal locator beacon is activated automatically and starts to send out a radio signal.
Recorder 7
abort engine
attitude-control engine
crew capsule
ejection system
jet fighter
jettison engine
launch abort system
oil rig