The F-111's ejecting cockpit
- Thread starter Alexrey
- Start date
Todjaeger
Potstirrer
Not necessarily. By having an ejecting cockpit, as opposed to just ejecting seats, the system becomes larger, heavier, and altogether more complicated. Having spoken at length to a retired aeronautics/avionics engineer who has worked on the F-111 and the B-1 (both of which had ejecting cockpits) the initial cockpit design of the F-111 did not always eject properly. There were apparently a few occasions when the cockpit began to tumble during chute deployment, which then became wrapped around the cockpit. As a result, the cockpit then proceeded to have the aerodynamic properties of a falling rock, which the next of kin of the aircrew found distressing. AFAIK, with the subsequent upgrades the the B-1 series, the cockpit ejection system was removed and it was returned to normal ejection seats. This would seem to indicate that the advantages to an aircrew for operating in a "shirtsleeves" pressurized environment are outweighed by the technical requirements to safely achieve that capability.
-Cheers
Weight mostly. While trying to turn the F-111 into a carrier plane they had 2 weight loss programs, the Super Weight Loss Improvement Program and the Colossal Weight Improvement Program and one of the first things they ditched was the cockpit pod. Why carry the weight if you don't need to?