FACT FILE: Ejection Systems
All combat aerospace craft, and most support craft, are equipped
with either ejection seats or ejection modules or "pods". These
allow for rapid emergency egress from the vehicle in case of danger. Linked
to dedicated high speed processors, automatic sensors can detect certain
types of danger and initiate an eject sequence automatically. This is especially
useful if the pilot has been rendered unconscious through a blackout or
other injury and the vehicle is in danger of crashing.
Seats or modules have self-righting mechanisms in their base to assure a correct orientation during landing. Landing is accomplished by a single use anti-grav module, smaller but similar to the ones used to drop Mecha from orbit. Free falling until they are 3 meters from the ground, the ejection seat/pod activates the AG module, which burns out as it lands the unit (relatively) gently.
Strategic aerospace craft use a sealed pod only, which remains pressurized with approximately 20 minutes of air, allowing a pilot time to completely seal his suit and activate his personal survival equipment. Once ready, the pilot has the option of discarding the pod by activating a manual release.
Material on this page ruthlessly plagerized from the SFMC's Aerospace Branch Manual by Matt Kelley and available from SFMC Academy.
WebPage designed & maintained by Kevin "MAC" Nulty
