US AIRCREWCOMBAT FLIGHT &

SURVIVAL GEAR

DedicationFor my brother Piet

AcknowledgementsI am grateful for the generous support of many people overthe years - and first. to the ALSE techs who issued andmaintained my flight gear in Vietnam and since; they are aprofessional little crew of unsung heroes, and I would like tothank them all. I would like to salute specifically two of theALSE congregation: Sgt.Debbie Gifford and Sgt.StevenRobertson from Company G, 140th Aviation Regiment (DeltaSchooners); they not only issue and maintain the gear fortheir extremely active National Guard unit, they are regularcrew members on my beloved old CH-47 Chinooks - stillflying after thirty years of service.

Rick Stewart at SOS Survival Life Support, a companysupplying survival equipment frequently used by militaryaircrew, provided excellent information and gave access tosome products for photography. Some of the equipment inthis book is available from that company: SOS Survival LifeSupport, N 3808 Sullivan Road Bldg.6, Spokane IndustrialPark, Spokane, Washington USA 99216, phone (509) 927­7006. George Hedges and Leo Unruh from th~ GentexCorporation also generously provided much informationabout their amazing product line and development program.

CaptJohn Cotter and MSgtJoseph De Simas III at the 144thFighter Wing provided tremendous help with many aspectsof the project, and John not only baby-sat us but modelledthe latest in USAF fashion. SgtTim Williams from the 129thAir National Guard took the initiative to ensure that thelegendary USAF para-rescue (Upy) crews, with their exoticmissions and gear, were part of the story. And a smallsquadron of advisors and models from the US Coast Guard'sAir Station San Francisco - Fred Fijn in particular ­demonstrated the Guard's versions of the gear. Finally,thanks to the USAF, US Army, US Coast Guard, and USMarine Corps for their hospitality on many occasions overthe past few years. They have permitted me - an elderly,decrepit relic of another era - to fly aboard (and sometimesoperate) a wide variety of military combat and transportaircraft.

Hans HalberstadtSan Jose

July 1995

Stock PhotographyMost of photographs in this book are available as stockimages through Arms Communications, 1517 Maurice Drive,Woodbridge, Virginia USA 22191, phone (703) 690-3338.

US AIRCREWCOMBAT FLIGHT &

SURVIVAL GEAR

Photographs by HANS & MIKE HALBERSfADT

Text by HANS HALBERSfADT

This edition first published in 1996 byMotorbooks International Publishers& Wholesalers, 729 Prospect Avenue,PO Box 1, Osceola, WI 54020 USA

© Hans & Mike Halberstadt

Previously published in Great Britain byWindrow & Greene Ltd.5 Gerrard Street, London W1 V 7U

All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting briefpassages for the purpose of review no part of thispublication may be reproduced without prior writtenpermission from the Publisher.

Motorbooks International is a certified trademark,registered with the United States Patent Office.

The information in this book is true and complete to thebest of our knowledge. All recommendations are madewithout any guarantee on the part of the author orpublisher. who also disclaim any liability incurred inconnection with the use of this data or specific details.

We recognize that some words, model names anddesignations. for example. mentioned herein are theproperty of the trademark holder. We use them foridentification purposes only. This is not an officialpublication.

Motorbooks International books are also available atdiscounts in bulk quantity for industrial or sales­promotional use. For details write to Special SalesManager at the Publisher's address.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataAvailable.

ISBN 0-7603-0267-7

Printed and bound in Hong Kong

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Basher Five Two 6

Chapter 2: All Dressed Up with Someplace to Go 19

Chapter 3: Power Pants and Brain Buckets 40

Chapter 4: Survival Kit 99

\ Chapter 5: Ejection Seats 113

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CHAPTER 1

Basher Five Two;riday 2 June 1995: "Basher" Flight - a pair of USAir Force F-16 Fighting Falcons - is patrolling at26,000 feet above the Bosnian province of what

had once been the federated Republic of Yugoslavia,and is now a chaotic jigsaw puzzle of enclaves andkilling zones contested by at least seven separateregular and irregular armies. So far combat aircrafthave played little part in the bloodletting; but therehave been isolated sneak attacks by elderly MiGs,retained by the Serbian and Croatian regimes onformer Yugoslav Air Force bases, and the UnitedNations have declared the skies over Bosnia­Herzogovina a "no-fly" zone in an attempt to limit,however slightly, the warring parties' potential forslaughter. Today the flight leader is Captain BobWright, his wingman Captain Scott O'Grady, both fromthe USAF's 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron operatingout of Aviano, Italy.

Suddenly the tedium of an uneventful patrol isbroken: the RAW (radar attack warning) scopes lightup in both aircraft. Somewhere below the unbroken

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(Above & left) An F-1 6Fighting Falcon in today'slow-visibility finish ofsubdued grays, in this casean aircraft of the 144thFighter Wing; and the144th's Lieutenant-ColonelBill Gore, wearing the "fastslacks" from the CombatEdge outfit over his CWU­27/P flight suit. andcarrying the Combat Edgehelmet.

Captain John Cotter,the 144th Fighter Wing'sgenial Executive SupportOfficer, models completebasic day wear for the well­dressed F-16 pilot: parachuteharness, over survival vest.over life preserver, over anti­G pants, over Nomex flightsuit His survival vest is set updifferently from those usedby Navy, Marine and Armyfliers - many "local" variationson the basic design will befound throughout thephotographs in this book.

(Left) If you have to eject inunfriendly territory, thenonce you're safely on theground and have shed your'chute harness, grab the twolittle rucksack-type packs ofthe ejection seat survival kitbefore you make a break forthe underbrush. These twobags are loaded with toolsand supplies which can saveyour hide under a widerange of conditions ­assuming you stayed awakeduring survival classes.

(Right) LTC Bill Goreinserting himself into thecockpit of his F-16; theparachute harness will beclipped to the 'chutestowage of his ejection seatand fastened before take-off.

(Right & overleaf) Down inthe weeds, and perhaps onthe run from unfriendlies,your best way home isthrough the trusty PRe-90radio. They usually give youtwo (one in the seat kit onein your survival vest), .presumably reasoning thatthe average aviator willinevitably manage to loseone of them in the processof departing from thecockpit - the only placewhere he can be trusted tofunction efficiently.

cloud cover - and much to the surprise of Basher Flightand the whole NATO air component - a pair of SerbianSA-6 mobile surface-to-air (SAM) missile launchersenergize their systems; track the F-1 6s; lock on - andlaunch. The missiles streak into the overcast sky,accelerating quickly to the speed of sound andbeyond, arcing upward in a trajectory calculated tointercept the targets four miles above the ground. Inthe cockpits of both fighters the RAW displays theprogress of the missiles; an ominous warning tone

sounds in the headsets of both pilots; but the cloudcover prevents either from seeing the missiles andevading effectively.

The first missile splits the difference between the twoF-16s; its warhead explodes between them withoutdamaging either of the fighters. But the second SAMhomes in relentlessly on Basher Five Two, streaking outof the top of the grey cloud to detonate squarelyunder CaptO'Grady's aircraft. All the flight leader seesis the flash from the warhead - then his wingman's

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airframe breaks in half just astern of the cockpit Thesleek F-16 disintegrates before his eyes, transformedinto a tumbling mass of flaming wreckage whichdisappears into the cloud. In a shockingly briefmoment Basher Flight leader finds himself alone in thesky.

Captain O'Grady has a different perspective: he feelsa jolt, hears a bang - then watches his warm, cosy littleworld come apart. Fire engulfs the cockpit. Theinstrument panel of the F-16 warps and shattersbefore his eyes. It is obviously time to depart theaircraft. This is a moment the crews of "fast-movers"think about often, and pray never comes; you train forit, try to condition your mind for this instant, try to beprepared for the simple, extreme performancerequired to eject from an airplane. And now it hasarrived for Scott O'Grady. He releases the uselessthrottle and control column, reaches down betweenhis thighs, grabs the bright yellow ring that will punchhim out of the aircraft, and pulls. A lot of thingshappen very quickly, seemingly all at once.

Inside the ejection seat a complicated series ofcarefully sequenced events play out automatically andalmost instantaneously: the pilot's feet are pulled backagainst the seat by cables, his shoulders are retractedfirmly against the seat back. Guillotine knives slicethrough electrical cables, separating the seat from therest of the aircraft. Small explosive charges detonate,blowing the canopy away from the tumblingwreckage of the airframe. Finally, a rocket motorunder the seat ignites; O'Grady and the seat are

(Above) The contents of thesurvival kit stored in theejection seat include theradio, smoke and flaresignals, flare gun andfoliage-penetrating rockets,light sticks, matches, thermalblanket, survival rations, etc.The kit will normally danglebelow you on a drop line,together with your life raft:.once your parachute opens.

blasted clear of the dirty cloud of cartwheeling metal,into the deafening, sub-zero, SOO-knot slipstream.

Although the ejection seat is designed to save yourlife, nobody guarantees you will enjoy the ride. Flailinjuries are common in ejections - arms and legsbroken by the fearsome wind blast If a pilot is foolishenough to eject with his visor up he can expect eyeand facial injuries; the visor and oxygen mask providegood protection as long as they stay in place, butnothing can protect the pilot from the wind and theamazing cold. On this occasion O'Grady lucks out: hesuffers no serious injuries, although his neck is burnedduring the ejection.

A pilot strapped to an ejection seat makes a poorairfoil. Both tumble momentarily, then a drogueparachute deploys, stabilizing the seat. If the seatworks properly it will be slowed to a safe and stablevelocity. The pilot will continue to breathe oxygen

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from a small emergency bottle in the seat assembly.O'Grady, a reasonable guy, quickly tires of thismodified free-fall through space while the ejectionseat altitude sensors wait for a lower level beforeautomatically deploying the main canopy. He elects toopen the parachute manually; a tug on a handle onthe side of the seat initiates the deployment sequence.The canopy assembly is popped from its container inthe seat back, and begins to inflate while the bondsthat lash the pilot to the seat itself are finally severed.At last the main canopy begins to deploy; the seatitself is finally cut loose from the pilot and falls awaytoward the ground, leaving O'Grady swinging in theharness.

Strapped to the parachute harness is a large survivalkit, loaded with tools and supplies for just about anycontingency and able to sustain a man for many daysin extreme conditions. 2 June has been a day ofextremes for Capt.O'Grady; while he has the bad luckto get hit by a missile, he has been fortunate to ejectwithout damage to his personal fuselage orempenage. His flight leader doesn't know it, butO'Grady is alive and well - about 10,000 feet abovethe overrated attractions of rural Bosnia, with a good'chute. While he sincerely congratulates himself onmere survival, it is not long before O'Grady also noticessome Serbian soldiers - perhaps from the same unitthat has just shot him down - gathering on the groundbelow him to watch his descent intently, and movingtoward the spot where he will land.

O'Grady is lucky again: he lands without injury, bY' nomeans a foregone conclusion in these situations.Popping the quick-release fittings on the harness, hediscards the parachute, dumps his helmet - and

abandons the seat pack survival kit.... No matter howthorough the training, nothing can truly prepare apilot for the disorienting effects of a real-life ejection athigh speed and altitude, and in the tension of themoment he does not always act rationally.

With the enemy converging on him there is only onething to do: run and hide. While he runs, O'Gradyconsiders his resources: one 9mm pistol, a PRC-90radio, a signal strobe, four tiny water bottles, a signalmirror, pencil flares, and not much more. His principalresource is the radio - and the training he received atthe US Air Force's Survival, Evasion, Resistance, andEscape (SERE) school at Fairchild Air Force Base,Washington.

O'Grady keeps running, putting distance betweenhimself and his pursuers. Finally, he finds a spot tohide and does his best to disappear into theundergrowth. He must have retained some of what hewas taught on the SERE course, because when theSerbs show up to collect their politically invaluableprize they can't find him anywhere. They comb thescrub, sometimes walking within five feet of the pilot,but never see him. This game of hide and seekcontinues for days. The pilot rations his four little

(Below) The Mylar survivalblanket can also be used asa water still; stretched over ahole in the ground with acontainer under its weightedcenter, it will collectcondensation during the coolof the night

1m

(Above) The SRU-21 /Psurvival vest worn by nearlyall combat aircrew containsabout seven to ten pounds ofsignalling and survival gear,including a radio and a pistol.This Marine Hornet pilot'svest includes a small bottle ofdrinking water, secured tothe vest with "dummy cord".

packets of water, but they are finally exhausted.There's more in the seat pack survival kit, plus foodand other necessities; but the Serbs have that now.O'Grady's one real hope is the PRC-90, a little radioabout the size of a small book. Similar models havebeen around for thirty years and have saved the livesof hundreds of pilots in combat zones around theworld. The "Prick-90" is a line-of-sight transceiver; ifyou can see a plane overhead you can probably talkto it, but the guy on the other side of the hill won't beable to hear you. It allows communication by Morsecode or voice, and it also transmits a "beacon" signalon a "guard" frequency monitored by all US militaryaircraft. Although the radio doesn't draw muchpower, its little battery is only good for fourteen hoursin beacon mode; O'Grady rations its use with extremecare.

Night falls. The pilot does what he was taught to do

on the SERE course: move carefully away from danger,don't panic, keep. up hope of rescue. He is cold,hungry, and afraid; later, he will say he was "like ascared little bunny rabbit, trying to hide." The Serbscontinue the search into the night, firing their rifles andeven rocket-propelled grenades into places wherethey think he may be hiding; the pilot continues toescape and evade, sleeping during the day, movingonly between midnight and four in the morning. Twocows and a cowherd wander over to his hiding place,one of the cows grazing at his feet. O'Grady smearsdirt on his face for camouflage, worms his way deeperinto the brush, and keeps his head down. The cowsamble off; O'Grady suppresses thoughts of hamburger,and waits. His chance comes on Day Four.

One of the NATO aircraft searching overhead picksup his beacon on the "guard channel", 243.0 MHz.The odd, "dipping" chirp of the PRC-90's beacontransmission is unmistakable - all military pilots knowthe sound and understand its significance. They don'tknow who is operating it, but they all know O'Grady ison the ground below - maybe dead, maybe a captive,maybe on the run. "Basher Five Two", he whispers intothe PRC-90. The AWACS crew call the pilot on theguard channel to authenticate the transmission:

"Basher Five Two, this is Basher One One on Alpha",the AWACS controller calls at 0208 hours (local), fromfar away and high in the night sky. O'Grady tries torespond, but the little radio's range for voice

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III

(left) Some units fine-tunethe contents of their survivalkits with special extras; pilotsof the 144th Fighter Wingget a flexible wire saw, afishing kit, a small bar ofsoap, and other supplies inthe seat pack.

(Right) The oxygen regulatorblock and the connection forthe mike and earphones inthe helmet attach directly tothe survival vest When youdepart from the cockpit inthe ejection seat you arethus far less likely to have thehose spring back and hit youin the face, as was oncecommon.

(left) These little four-ouncepackets of water sustainedCaptain O'Grady for severaldays. You can survive forliterally weeks without solidfood - O'Grady managedfour days on bugs andberries without seriouseffects - but only a few dayswithout water.

communication is fairly limited; the AWACS crew hearshim transmit but can't copy the message. "Say againthrough Basher One One", O'Grady hears on the PRC­90. The pilot whispers into the little, microphone, downin the Bosnian weeds; now the AWACS can hear him,but they aren't sure who they are talking to.

"Basher One One has you loud and clear! Who isthis?" More static this time. ''You're unreadable. I canbarely hear you. Say call sign."

"Basher Five Two! Basher Five Two!", O'Grady replies,as loud as he dares.

"Okay", says AWACS, "understand you are Basher FiveTwo."

"I'm alive, I'm alive!" O'Grady says."Copy thatl" But AWACS knows anybody with a little

information from a captured pilot and a PRC-90 can lurea rescue force into disaster. The drill now is toauthenticate the identity of the pilot

"What was your squadron in Korea?" "Juvat, Juvat!"O'Grady responds. That's the right answer.

"Copy that! You are alive! It's good to hear yourvoice!"

A special US Marine Corps TRAP (tactical recovery ofaircraft personnel) unit from the 24th MarineExpeditionary Unit (MEU) aboard the assault helicoptercarrier USS Kearsarge has been waiting for the call. Itcomes almost immediately: "Execute."

The first helicopter lifts off at 0508, just at sunrise; thenthe rescue mission launches in two waves at 0550hours aboard two big CH-53 helicopters, supported by apair of AV-8B Harrier jump-jets and another pair ofCobra attack helicopters. The rescue flight forms up,

orbits the carrier, then drops down to low altitude andblasts to the north. It takes ten minutes to cross thebeach; "feet dry!" calls the lead pilot

The flight hears O'Grady's beacon at 0612 hours andadjusts course to home on the chirping on 243.0. Onlyas the flight clears the last ridge does anybody actuallytalk to the pilot on the ground. Just as he was trained,O'Grady has selected a good landing zone (LZ) for thechoppers; he describes it to the Cobras, then uses theMk 13 combination flare/smoke signalling device tomark the spot Dash One, the lead CH-53, eases into theLZ, aft cargo door open. Twenty heavily armed Marineinfantrymen pour out of the aircraft and set up perimetersecurity for the extraction, ready to fire at the first sign ofopposition from any hostile force. O'Grady materializesfrom the treeline, pistol in hand, and runs for the secondhelicopter, Dash Two. Within a few seconds he hasbeen dragged through the door and strapped in a seat,wrapped in a blanket "I'm ready to get the hell out ofhere!" O'Grady yells over the noise. "Get that pistol awayfrom him!", Col. Marty Berndt, the mission commander,yells back. They both got their wish.

The ride back out to the Kearsarge is brief, buteventful. Two shoulder-launched SAMs are fired at thehelicopters, but both miss. Serbian troops fire machine­guns at the choppers as they blast by overhead, at 175knots and 150 feet off the deck, skimming the trees;they score hits in the fuselage, the tail rotor - and onebullet punctures a sergeant's canteen. But flight leadcalls "feet wet" at 0715 hours as the package headsback across the beach. Fifteen minutes later O'Grady isaboard the carrier, safe and sound.

(left) USAF Sergeant TroyArce is in the Combat Searchand Rescue business. Theknee pads are necessarybecause he spends a lot ofhis time kneeling to peerover the door sill of ahelicopter; the special armorvest and the pistol arenecessary in case heencounters locals who don'twant US aircrew rescued.

(Above & right) SgtDebbieGifford and SSgtStevenRobertson belong to GolfCompany, 140th AviationRegiment a US ArmyNational Guard CH-47Chinook unit Although"weekend warriors" oncehad the reputation for a kindof "country club" style andlow-stress operations, this isno longer trUe. Theyfrequently conduct "realworld" rescues, and are oftencalled in to help save livesduring floods and forest fires.As well as being crewmembers on flight status,both these NCOs are unitAviation Life SupportEquipment (ALSE) technicians.

They wear here aninnovative survival vestdesigned and manufacturedfor the specializedrequirements of helicoptercrews; the "gunners belt"normally worn by the crewchief interfered with theconventional vest so GolfCompany ALSEs inventedthis more compatible model.This kind of initiative istypical of ALSE shops in allthe services, but particularlyso among the Armyspecialists who, unlike theirAir Force counterparts,actually get to fly in theaircraft as well asmaintaining the flight kit

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(Left) The AN/URT-33 is anautomatic beacon whichactivates when the pilotseparates from the ejectionseat transmitting a signaladvertising the position andplight of the guy at the otherend of its little tether.

(Top) Some seat survivalpacks include items likethese heavy mitts forprotection against cold, if theunit operates in areas of highaltitude terrain or extremesof climate.

CHAPTER 2

All DressedUp WithSomeplaceToGoC

aptain O'Grady could not have survived hismission on 2 June 1995 without the help ofsome very specialized and extremely interesting

personal equipment and clothing. Military aviation isstill as dangerous a business as it has been since theFirst World War; and in response to all the naturalhazards and human malice faced by combat aircrew awide range of helmets. flight suits, boots, underwear,anti-G clothing, gloves. and survival gear have beendeveloped to protect them as far as possible. Virtuallyeverything O'Grady wore or carried that day was

designed to help him survive - and they all worked.While the aircraft themselves generally get the

attention and the glory, these items of aviator kit aresometimes just as important to the success of acombat mission as a fighter's turning radius or anattack helicopter's weapon systems. A properly fittedG-suit can prevent GLOC - the high gravity load­induced loss-of-consciousness which is as potentiallylethal to a multi-million dollar aircraft as a heat-seekingAAM; and specialized helmets like the AH-64 Apache'sIHADSS integrate the pilot into the airframe in waysthat allow him to designate and engage targets merelyby looking at them.

It has been quite a long time since I drew my firstissue of flight gear from Supply at the 8thTransportation Helicopter Company at Qui Nhon,Republic of Vietnam; I was eighteen years old, and abrand new helicopter door gunner in what was then anew war. We each got a helmet, body armor, flightsuits, leather flight gloves, a knife (which I still own), aPRC-6 rescue radio, and a little syrette of morphine. Igot to know that gear well, and to appreciate itsexcellence; it was obvious that a lot of thought andtesting had gone into every little detail. The helmets,armor, flight suits, gloves, and radios issued today aresimilar in design and intent, but even better thanks tosuperior materials like the Nomex fire-resistant fabricsused in the gloves and flight suits.Although I am old enough to be the father of most of

The Chamber Card and Swim TestNobody gets to strap on the helmet "power pants",survival vest and associated gear required for a ride ina "fast mover" without a lot of training - and somerather rigorous testing. There are similar training

today's combat fliers, I recently had a chance to gothrough the training and qualification process to fly inUS Marine Corps fighters; it was a fascinatingexperience, and apart from other insights it underlinedfor me the differences in the physical challengebetween my kind of flying thirty years ago and theworking environment of today's "fast movers". Here'ssome of what you have to do before you can strap ahigh-performance military aircraft to your backside andgo for a ride.

(Above) Major Fredric"Lance" Olson, executiveofficer of the Marines'VMFA(AW)-225 "Vikings", anF/ A-18 squadron, fastens hisgear preparatory to baby­sitting the author for anhour-and-a-half aloft in aHornet from EI Toro air

station in 1992. Note theBDU camouflage materialmade into a cover for thehelmet. a not uncommonsight among ground attackcrews and other aviatorswhose missions may takethem low over scenery withhostile inhabitants.

sessions and tests for helicopter crews, too. And youdon't go through this gruelling process just once, butevery three years or sO,just to make sure you haven'tbecome too feeble in body or mind in the interim.

There is good reason for this challenging program.Routine flight in military aircraft is fairly stressful; duringan emergency this stress goes right off the scale. Everycrash and major incident is investigated; and nearly allinvestigations reveal that pilots and crew members ofcombat aircraft, despite all their training, often doapparently stupid things when the normal routine isdisrupted by an ejection or even by lower-leveldisasters.

The Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy all conducttraining to try to prepare fliers to deal with theseemergencies, and all have roughly similar programs. Irecently attended the USAF's Flight Physiology course atEdwards Air Force Base, California, as a prerequisite toflying with the US Marine Corps' VMFA-225, a F/A-18Hornet outfit You don't fly without a "chamber card",an orange certificate (unsuitable for framing) from oneof the programs authorized to provide this training,plus another form (a NATOPS document for the USNavy and Marine Corps) attesting that your "quais" onsurvival gear are current Both involve c1asswork, tests,and some rigorous physical evaluation.

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(Left) Captain Dave Bonner,an AV-8B Harrier II pilot ofthe Marines' VMA-231"Aces", checks the fit of hisoxygen mask before a flightfrom MCAS Cherry Point in1991.CaptBonnerflewaround 40 missions duringthe Gulf War, but did nothave to practice his escape­and-evasion skills.

(Below) The visible lowerpart of the model of lifepreserver issued to US Navyand Marine fliers. A solidtug on the beads - moreeasily locatable by touchalone than the rings ortapes used on a previousgeneration of "Mae Wests" ­will inflate the device. This isto be avoided while still inthe cockpit..

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/

Classes deal with the effects of hypoxia or oxygendeprivation - a sneaky, scary condition that happenswhen the pressurization system in your aircraft quitsworking. These failures sometimes creep up on yougradually, and sometimes grab you with dramaticsuddenness. The instructors at Edwards AFB tell thestory of the F-14 Tomcat crew cruising along over thePacific who decided to unstrap from their ejection seats- and "moon" their wingmen! Their flight mates

(Left) The US Air Force lifepreserver, the LPU-9/P, withits slightly more visible "horsecollar" bladder stowage.

(Above) To a pilot's eyes, anugly sight even during atraining session in a calm,sunlit pool: Major Ryan Oriandemonstrates what happensduring one of the flier'sspecial. claustrophobicnightmares - when thedeployed parachute canopycomes down on top of youafter a jump into the openocean. In "real world"emergencies this can kill you;aircrew need training toavoid panic and find theirway safely out from under.

alongside observed this performance in astonishment,which tLJrned to real alarm as they watched the jetdrop away. Frantic radio transmissions failed to rousethe crew from their irrational state; and the aircraftcrashed with the loss of both men. That's the kind ofthing that people do when they aren't getting enough

.oxygen. The warning signs are subtle, progressive, andquite individual, and aircrew are trained to watch outfor them in themselves and in others. That trainingbegins with a day and a half of lectures, followed bythe infamous "chamber ride".

The chamber is a large steel tank with seating forabout ten people. Once everybody is inside, withoxygen masks fitted and operating, the hatch issecured and a large compressor starts pumping the airout of the chamber. The effect replicates a ride in anunpressurized aircraft to over 30,000 feet, but withoutthe cold temperatures; some bloating and a few rudenoises are quite normal, but the instructors watchcarefully for people who may not be using the maskcorrectly, or who begin to panic, or otherwise developphysiological problems.

Once "up at altitude" you are instructed to unmask,and thereafter to pay special attention to the color ofyour fingertips, your ability to converse, and your

(Left) Major Danny Cerna ofthe 144th Fighter Wingtraining with the LPU-9T. Allvariants of the life preserverare designed to do the samebasic job - not just to keepyou afloat but also to keepyour face out of the water,even if you are unconsciousand your head is stillweighted down by your.helmet

(Below) Safely escaped fromthe clammy and potentiallylethal embrace of his canopy,Major Orian prepares toclamber aboard the littleone-man life raft. The trick isto start at the small end,submerge it and slide itbeneath you. The raft will befull of water - but it will be

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full of you, too, and the watercan be bailed out later. In acalm swimming pool it's nota hard knack to master; infreezing darkness, withchoppy waves slapping youaround, it can be a differentstory.

(Right) A whole militaryprofession keeps the "brainbuckets" and "speed jeans" .neat clean and well­maintained: the Aviation LifeSupport Equipmentspecialists, like this MarineALSE technician serving withVMFA-225 "Vikings" at ElTaro. Few ever get to fly withthe gear which they lookafter, but even so they are adedicated band.

reasoning ability. You are instructed to do simplemathematics problems, and to respond to orders fromthe instructor. Everybody is' expected to experiencehypoxia to some verifiable degree. I noticed myfingertips turn blue, and I started to have troublegetting simple words down on paper. One guy on thesame ride became loud and somewhat argumentative,and a woman started to giggle uncontrollably. Theeffect was somewhat like having too much to drink,but without warning signs. After a while ouraggressively hypoxic companion was ordered toremask; he could not do it - would not do it. Hebabbled on while the instructors yelled at him, overand over again, to put on his mask; finally, one of theinstructors had to do it for him. His recovery was quiterapid, but afterwards he didn't remember any of hisodd behaviour. It was quite an object lesson in thehazards of hypoxia.

Finally, before they let you out of the chamber, youget a demonstration of the effects of explosivedecompression - the rapid loss of cabin pressurizationthat happens when the skin of the aircraft is puncturedat altitude. This is demonstrated with the studentsseated in a smaller, sealed portion of the chamber,with oxygen masks off and regulators in the "off"position. When one of the instructors pops the valve,most of the air is sucked right out of the chamber witha bang. A cloud of vapour makes visibility difficult.You are quite suddenly at about 30,000 feet, and ifyou fail to mask up properly and turn your regulator

on correctly you will begin to feel the effects of hypoxiain a very short time.

It takes more than the chamber card to fly with theMarines, and one df the other required qualifications isthe "swim test". No special training is given before thetest you just show up at the pool at the appointed time,then suit up in full kit - flight suit boots, survival vesthelmet speed jeans. Then you jump in for a ten minutedrown-proofing session, followed by a couple of laps ofthe pool, still in your full kit It sounds worse than itactually is, although if you have your vest adjusted toosnugly breathing becomes extremely difficult But the"speed jeans" hold a little air, and that provides a degreeof buoyancy. The hard part is maintaining good form forthe instructor while wearing all that stuff.

If you survive a trip to the far end of the pool andback there is only one final challenge to overcome: thelife raft You must manoeuver yourself aboard a littleone-man raft - again, not too difficult even with thehelmet and boots. Essentially, all you have to do issubmerge one end of the raft and slide it beneath youfrom the back, then slither backwards aboard. Onceyou've proved you can wrestle successfully with abobbing dinghy, congratulations - you're "good to go".

In the Ready RoomThe "bone domes", "speed jeans" and other assortedequipment is so complex and important that everyaviation unit includes several personnel whose full-timejob it is to care for flight gear. These Aviation Life

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Support Equipment (ALSE) specialists can spend anentire career managing and maintaining theequipment - and never once get a ride in the aircraft(that is especially true with fighter units, less so withhelicopter outfits). You will find them constantlycleaning oxygen masks, testing regulators, inspectingsurvival gear, and mending all kinds of kit They willissue your equipment and make sure it is properlyfitted. Be nice to them - your survival may be in theirhands.

How and where you dress for a flight will depend alot on what you're flying. Helicopter crews tend toamble out to the aircraft in just their flight suits, carryinghelmet bags and survival gear, and putting these ononce they get out to the flight line. Fighter crews suitup at the ready room lockers, and wear everythingexcept the helmet out to the aircraft. Regardless, thefoundations tend to be identical for both. If you getinvited for a ride in a US combat aircraft, cotton orNomex underwear and socks are mandatory, not an

(left) Ready room, VMFA­225, MCAS EI Toro,California: this F/ A-18DHornet pilot or "wizzo"(Weapons System Officer) isone of the many aircrewwho like to decorate theirhelmet bags with thepatches of all their previousunits.

(Below) US Air ForceMSgUoseph De Simas IIIpresides over the 144thFighter Wing's parachute loft,where he is seen repackinga 'chute from the F-16'sACES II ejection seat

option: the synthetics found in many fabrics today willmelt when exposed to fire, sticking to your body andcausing aggravated burn injuries - cotton will not

Over their underwear most US military fliers then pullon the one-piece coverall flight suit designated CWU­27/P (or -28). The flight suit comes in two colors, sagegreen or orange, but nearly all fashionable fliers go forthe sage green version, particularly for flights overenemy territory. Sizes from 36S to 48R willaccommodate anybody from midget to monster.

The suit zips up the front and Velcro tapes adjust thewaist There are pockets just about everywhere: twobreast pockets, one on the sleeve designed for pensand pencils (and as handy for cigarettes), pockets onthe thighs and on the lower legs. There is even acurious little pocket on the inside of the left thigh,complete with lanyard, designed to accommodate theMC-1 pocket knife. This knife is supposed to bestowed with the lanyard wrapped around and hookedblade extended for emergency use, particularly forcutting parachute shroud lines. (I have never yet seenthis pocket used for its designed function, however;and actually having a knife in the knife pocket will costyou a round of drinks in the squadron bar at someunits.) In one of the breast pockets many pilots willstow a couple of brown paper "barf bags" - evenfighter pilots and weapons officers get airsick, and ifyou are ever going to get nauseous it will certainly beduring air combat manoeuvers.

This coverall is made of Nomex, a remarkable fabricthat has prevented many of the severe burn injuriesthat were once all too common among military

aircrew. It is a statistical fact of life that some aircraftwill catch fire every month, and some crew memberswill be exposed to burning fuel. Nomex won't melt orburn under these conditions; it will char if it gets hotenough (about 700 degrees Fahrenheit), but it won'tstick to the skin. Nomex has multiple virtues and isused extensively for aviator clothing and other militaryapplications. It is light in weight. resists abrasion, andhas the non-absorbent qualities of nylon. You canchuck the Nomex flight suit in the washing machine orsend it to the cleaners - but hold the starch. Despitemovies like "Top Gun," the flight suit wasn't designedto make you look cool, but to keep you cool in a fire.The sleeves have even been intentionally designed somost people can't even roll them up; this keeps yourarms covered - important when the aircraft catches fire.

You will also be issued a pair of GS/FRP-2 flight

(Above) Virtually all ALSEspecialists are skilled tailors.The garments they match upto their customers'requirements are moreexpensive than a Savile Rowsuit, fit better, and are worn

to some of the mostinteresting and exclusive"affairs" in the world....MSgtDe Simas working ona flight suit for one of the144th's fighter jocks.

gloves; these get stowed in one of the pockets untilyou're in the aircraft, but they are an importantadditional protection ~gainst fire. The palms are madeof a thin, soft cabretta leather. Properly fitted, thesegloves are extremely comfortable, and they are popularwith people throughout the armed forces; you'll oftensee them worn by Army Green Berets. Navy SEALs,Recon Marines, and anybody else who knows whereto pilfer them or is willing to shell out $35 for a pair.

Heavy boots are required, even though the walk tothe flight line is short If you eject or crash land bootswill protect your feet during the event; and if you haveto walk out from the crash site your boots will quicklymean the difference between mobility and injury in thekind of remote, broken terrain falling aircraft seem toprefer as impact points. Naturally, pilots are not alwayscontent with the standard issue, tried and true, leatherboots. While you can buy your own pair, the Army OnAR 95-1) and most other services require that they beleather.

As an example of why the armed forces require thetraditional material, consider the case of one seniorArmy pilot whose nylon boots were exposed to fireduring a crash; the nylon began to melt and shrink,tightening around the feet and transferring heat to theskin. A severe injury resulted, and the pilot was takenoff flight status for a long recuperation. A leather boot

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would have prevented the injury entirely; anotherArmy pilot, wearing a pair of the "Matterhorn"mountain boots popular with Rangers, actually ranthrough a pool of burning JP-4 fuel to escape from acrash. Although the nylon laces and some of thestitching melted, along with a portion of the sole ofthe boot, the pilot's foot was well insulated and hisfeet were uninjured.

If you're scheduled for a hop in a "fast mover", now isthe time to put on your "speed jeans" or "powerpants" - the anti-G suit This is an inflatable bladdercut much like a cowboy's chaps. The ALSE specialists

will have checked and fitted your pair; they zip up theside, with the inlet hose dangling from the left side.The survival vest comes next; then you strap on theharness that will clip on to the parachute stowed inthe ejection seat. Your helmet and oxygen mask goin the helmet bag, along with your knee board,charts, notebook, and a spare "barf bag".

And now that you cut a suitably dashing andintrepid figure, it is time to waddle awkwardly downthe hall to one of the briefing rooms where ourfearless leader will give us the bad news abouttoday's excursion...

(Above left & right) Aircrewthe world over cannot resistdecorating their coverallsand jackets with patches ­the gaudier the better. Theinvention of Velcro, thatinvaluable material, hassaved an awful lot ofsewing, apart from makingcomfortable size adjustmentof flight suits a great deal

quicker and easier. HereCaptRoland Aguilar, in 1992an F-lll Aardvark pilot withthe 524th Tactical FighterTraining Squadron, 27thTactical Fighter Wing atCannon AFB, New Mexico,models the CWU-27 flightsuit from the right. and LtCraig Hunnicutt from the left.Conventionally, rank is worn

on the shoulders, thesquadron patch on the rightsleeve, the patch of the wingor other higher formation onthe left sleeve, that of thecommand on the right chest.and the wings/name patchon the left chest

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(Left) February 1992: anF-111 Ardvark crew of the522nd TFS, 27th TFW suit upby their individual lockers atCannon AFB, New Mexico. Itcan be cold in the desert atthis time of year, and theywear over their coveralls theCWU-45/P winter flightjacket Made of fireproofNomex like the suit it canwithstand temperatures upto 350 degrees Centigrade.

(Below) Combat Edgehelmets and flight gearhanging ready at the 144thFighter Wing. While someunits provide individuallockers for the gear, manyothers use shelves andhooks in a common area sothat ALSE techs can haveaccess at all times forroutine maintenance.

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(Previous page, above& oppositeImmediately after receivingtheir brief for a practicemission, "Vikings" of VMFA­225 gird their loins in theready room. Marine and Navypilots have this big snap-linkattached to the rightshoulder of their parachuteharness to make rescuehoisting to a helicopterreasonably quick and safe; AirForce pilots need a "horsecollar" or alternative systemfitted on the hoist cable towinch them out of harm'sway.

(Right) Major Danny Cerna,an F-16 pilot of the 144thFighter Wing, removes his"power pants" after a flight,undoing the third zipper.The anti-gravity pants arecarefully fitted to each pilotby the squadron ALSEtechnicians; thereafter, aslong as the pilot hasn'tbeen hitting the pasta toohard, getting into them isfairly quick and easy. Firstyou wrap the upper portionaround your midsection,attaching it with two hooksand then fastening thiszipper on the right side; theleft leg is then positionedand zipped up, followed bythe right leg.

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(Left) The importance of agood, solid pair of leatherboots will instantly becomeclear to any aircrew whoseship catches fire. Seriousfootwear is modelled hereby USAF (-21 pilotsLieutenants Greg Short andJolin Barriere at Naval AirStation Fallon, Texas. (PhotoRobert Genat)

(Below) The standard issueGS/FRP-2 flight glovesmade from Nomex andcabretta leather are anextremely popular design;comfortable, flexible, andproviding good protectionagainst fire, they will alsobe seen in use by variousSpecial Forces personnel,and many other servicepeople who can "organise"themselves a pair "throughchannels", or are willing toshell out $35. They areworn here by the Armypilot of a 3rd HelicopterBrigade (Attack) AH-64Apache at Fort Hood, Texas.

(Left) USAF F-15E StrikeEagle crewman of the 336thTFS, 4th TFW carrying helmetbags out to the flight linewith, typically, his parachuteharness left unfastened untilthe last moment Then thestraps hanging on his buttwill be unfastened andpulled forward between thelegs, passing outwards overthe hips to re-engage theseD-rings and snap-hooks. Tofunction safely in anemergency the harness hasto grip so tightly thatcomfortable walking isimpossible once it has beenfastened.

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(Far left) A Tomcat crewfrom VF-202 head out tothe flight line under theTexan sun at US Naval AirStation Fallon, 1990. Notethe Navy fliers' HGU-33helmet, the life preserverdetails, and the leg restraintstraps. (Photo Robert Genat)

(left & below) Two angleson the pilot and WSO of aUSAF F-4G Phantom II "WildWeasel" ofthe 561 stTFSphotographed in 1991.Note the slightly differentset-up of the survival vest ascompared with the Navycrew opposite.

Another F-14 Tomcat crewfrom Navy Reserve squadronVF-202 (their suit sleevesadorned with their squadronpatch and the flag of thestate ofTexas) climb in andstrap in, with help from theircrew chief. Again, notedetails of USN helmets andlife preserver, ejection seatand parachute harnessattached to risers ofthe'chute stowed in the seat(Photos Robert Genat)

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(left) An EA-6B crewmanfrom USN Reserve Air Wing30 at NAS Fallon, 1991,strides purposefully out toexercise his calling. Justwhat is it about this guy'soutline that brings to mindthe phrase "I am the law..."?(Photo Robert Genal:)

CHAPTER 3

Power Pants and Brain Buckets:Fashionable Attire Aloft

Jt ust about everything issued by the ALSE specialistsI has been developed and manufactured by the

",,/;: Gentex Corporation, headquartered in Carbondale,Pennsylvania, in close co-operation with the USAF'sArmstrong Laboratory at Brooks Air Force Base inTexas. Gentex has been designing and makinghelmets for aviators almost since Wilbur and Orvilleslipped the surly bonds of earth back at the beginningof the century. They currently make every helmet inthis book, plus the oxygen mask, speed jeans, andnew Combat Edge "speed tuxedo" used in the F-15and F-16. Gentex actually developed a lot of thesedesigns, under contract to the Department of Defense.They make the fabric, bond the laminates and moldthe masks, pretty much "in-house". This interestingoutfit is unknown to most people outside the military;but when it comes to aviator kit, Gentex is acombined Lockheed/ McDonnell-Douglas/ Boeing/

(left) Lieutenants Ray Tothand Dan Holmes, a US AirForce F-15E crew from the336th Fighter Squadron("Rocketeers") at SeymourJohnson AFB in 1991, modelthe flight suit anti-G pants,Nomex gloves, regulationboots, survival vest (noteslight differences in pocketplacement even betweenthis WSO and his pilot), andHGU-55 helmet; lifepreservers are not wornhere.

(Above & overleaf) Purenostalgic self-indulgence forthe author: a couple of shotsfrom inside a T-28 Trojan ­the type in which, during agun-and-rocket run overVietnam, he first felt multiplegravities squishing hisinternal organs down into hisboots. The helmets here areHGU-33s. (Photos RobertGenat)

Bell-Textron kind of place, where new systems areimagined, designed, perfected, and put into service.

Until you've actually strapped an F-16 or F/ A-18 toyour rear end and gone aloft over the tactical trainingra'nges north of Nellis AFB in Nevada, or out over thePacific near EI Toro Marine Air Station, you really can'tappreciate the value and virtue of all the kit Gentexmakes and the US' Government issues. In fact if youridea of flying a fighter comes from movies like "TopGun" or similar fantasies, you may have a shockcoming. In the movies fighter pilots wear really coolsunglasses and let their oxygen masks dangleunclipped, so we can see their wry grins and shinyteeth. Tom Cruise gets a kind of mild ride throughspace; it looks like fun. Well, as neophyte fighter pilotcandidates learn on their first flight at the Air ForceAcademy, it isn't always fun - and for some people theexperience is pure hell. Modern fighters are designedto be agile, to twist and turn, hard. Even groundattack aircraft load up on the Gs during pull-outs fromcannon and rocket runs. The human body isdesigned to operate at optimum levels of comfort andefficiency at one dull, basic, earthbound G; when firstexposed to multiple gravities it reacts in ways itstenant will find quite memorable.

Any real fighter jocks in the audience will probablythink the following anecdote about my own firstfighter ride is pretty funny; the G-Ioads were light, andthe "fighter" was a little T-28 prop-trainer. On theother hand, unlike today's pros, my first fighter hopwas on a combat mission in a combat zone. Virtuallyevery fighter pilot learns the business in a careful,progressive way. There are months of screening,testing and classroom studies; then a lot of hours in a

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(Previous page) "Speedjeans aren't really designedto make you fly better ",claims one aircrew; "theymake your tummy look smalland your manly bits lookespecially manly".Nevertheless, even the crewsof prop-driven US MarineCorps observation aircraft ­like these OV-1 0 Broncoriders from VMO-2 - wearthem to help control theoxygen supply to the brainduring sharp low-altitudeturns and pull-outs. Notetypical USMc/USN lifepreserver, survival vest and'chute harness set-up. (PhotoRobert Genat)

(left) "Jeez, you aren't reallygoing to make us do thatdumb 'thumbs up' thing, areyou?" Well, yes, actually weare. Brightly decoratedhelmets, like the HGU-33/Psworn by these two Navyaviators, used to be highfashion; many even featuredadded reflective tape. In duecourse somebody decidedthat while they might bespiffy, they could also beseen - and perhaps shot at ­from a long way off. Puritangray is nowadays the norm.(Photo Robert Genat)

(Opposite top left) Reardetail of USAF parachuteharness assembly, showingpersonal lowering device.

(Opposite top right) USAFF-16 pilot Captain TandyBozeman, 144th FW, wearspart of the new CombatEdge assembly now issuedto F-15 and F-16 pilots,complete with life preserver

primary trainer and intermediate trainers; then finallythe real thing - check-out and more training in F-15sor F/ A-18s. After a great deal more training our herowill possibly get shipped off to a combat zone, yearsafter entering the pipeline. But not everybody comesto this experience as the peak of such a leisurelyescalation.

As mentioned earlier, I spent part of my dissoluteyouth as a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam. Sincenot all crews participated in every operation, we weresometimes left on the ground while most of the 8thTrans conducted an assault. On one of theseoccasions I hitched a ride with a Vietnamese Air Forcepilot flying combat support for the assault The T-28sshared our field, and normally flew with the back seatempty. A request to one of the pilots was granted ­as long as I brought along my own parachute. A seatpack 'chute was "borrowed" from another unit on thefield; and off we went, right after the helicopterslaunched, just after dawn. The VNAF captain made thetake-off, sucked the wheels up, trimmed the T-28 forclimb out, and called, ''You've got it." I climbed up, intothe cool air over the Central Highlands toward thelittle village and dirt strip at a place called Ahn Khewhere the helicopters loaded the infantry. We orbitedoverhead while they took off again, formed up, andheaded for the landing zones. Since I had very littletime in any kind of aircraft my formation flying abilitieswere somewhat limited, but I did manage to keep

within a thousand feet or so of the assigned altitude ­with the wingman keeping a noticeably respectfuldistance. .

When the helos were about ten minutes out fromthe LZ the VNAF captain took the controls back,pushed the throttle full forward, and got busy armingthe .50 cal. machine guns and rocket pods attachedto the pylons. With the choppers just a couple ofminutes out and clearly in sight, we pushed over fromabout 10,000 feet The old T-28 was never supposedto be more than a trainer for more capable aircraft,but - as it has proved in many different nationalliveries - it was just about perfect for this kind ofground-attack mission. We roared down out of thesky at full power, nearly vertical. Big fireballs appearedin front of the wing as the machine guns laid downsuppressive fire on targets around the LZ. Then thecaptain hauled back on the stick.

It was only a four-or five-G manoeuver, but I feltinvisible forces dragging me down toward the floor ofthe cockpit - it was a sickening sensation. Soon wewere back at altitude again, but the captain was notthrough yet. He pushed over and we repeated thewhole performance, this time launching the rockets ina long, rippling, fiery salvo.

If you think the pull-out at the bottom of a gun run(even in a T-28) is fun and games for aninexperienced pilot, you're mistaken. During thelengthy training which is conventional for people in

this line of work you learn to anticipate and managethe effect of the Gs; and those were lessons I hadn'tbeen taught. My head was forced down by a giantinvisible hand until all I could see was the floor. Icould feel my blood draining toward my boots. I reallycouldn't understand how the guy up front wasfunctioning with such apparently matter-of-fact easewhile I was having such difficulty just trying to figureout where my internal organs were heading. It wasextremely uncomfortable and disorienting, and mygreatest satisfaction from the flight was that I didn'tactually throw up.

The G-forces that are an inherent part of air combatmanoeuvering (even in a T-28) are a physical stresson the human body that needs to be managed andcontrolled. You can develop a tolerance for them, butonly by enduring them over and over again. You canlearn how to brace yourself in the seat, how tobreathe, how to tense the abdominal muscles, gruntand still function. Anybody who wants to fly c1ose­quarter combat in a fighter needs to be able totolerate up to nine positive Gs - a load that willrender most people quite unconscious in just a fewseconds. Indeed, many experienced pilots claim thatpositive G forces can become almost fun (thoughnobody I know likes negative G forces, the kind thatforce blood into your head rather than away from it).

Combat pilots were trained to counter these effectseven before World War II. To raise positive Gtolerance their instructors told them to tense the

muscles of the abdomen, arms and legs; to strainagainst the seat belt and harness; and to push againstthe rudder pedals. It was well known, then as now,that short, stocky pilots generally tolerated G-Ioadsbetter than tall, skinny ones; and that lack of sleep,lack of oxygen, and overindulgence in booze ortobacco all increased the negative effects of G-Ioadson a pilot.

"Speed jeans", and the new Combat Edge "speedtuxedo", help prevent the flow of blood from the headduring air combat manoeuvers at over four Gs. Thiskeeps the pilot's brain functional while trying toacquire or evade a lock-on. A good fighter pilot cankeep his head up and "check six" even at nine G;beginners have a hard time functioning at half thatlevel. The simple fact is that aircraft design hasprogressed enormously, and the puking pink body inthe cockpit has not. The structure of modern fighterswill tolerate a great deal more gravity than a humanbody can; Mikoyan claims that the MiG-29 will handlea lot more than eleven sustained Gs withoutproblems, and American and British designs canprobably perform just as well. Few, if any pilots canfunction for long at these loads, however. The pilotsof American F-15 and F-16 fighters now have a newflight ensemble, designed and developed by Gentex,that allows them to pull more Gs and pull themlonger than before.

"Speed jeans", "power pants" or "fast slacks" havebeen around in one version or another for fifty years,

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C5U-1 7/P Combat EdgeThe latest ensemble, called "Combat Edge" by Gentexand the Air Force, uses a combination of "speedjeans", a kind of "speed vest", and a pressurebreathing system which postpones the onset of GLOC.The system includes five major components: the

since World War II. This garment is a fairly simple itemcontaining five inflatable bladders (one for each calfand thigh, plus one around the midsection), linked toa control unit in the aircraft. During high-Gmanoeuvers the control unit sends pressurized air tothe bladders, inflating them; the result is a kind of half­body hug for the pilot, constricting major bloodvessels and restricting the tendency of the pilot'sblood to pool in the lower extremities. That keepssome blood, and therefore oxygen, available to thepilot's skull, where it is needed to keep his brainfunctional. Versions of this system have been usedby generations of combat pilots in Korea, Vietnam,and numerous lesser encounters, and have performedwell enough. But the trend in air combat tactics hasbeen toward extremes of agility and away from purespeed; agility in air combat manoeuvering meansextremely rapid and violent onset of G-Ioads, and newsystems are always under development to provide thepilot with improved tolerance of the effects.

(Opposite) Detail, attachmentand adjustment point onharness for upper part of"horse collar" life preserver.

(Below) Detail, parachuteharness: chest strap buckleassembly.

helmet, oxygen mask, pressure vest, oxygen terminalblock, and "speed jeans". While the latter are thesame standard issue CSU-13 anti-G suit worn by otherfighter and attack aircrew, the other four componentsare the latest state-of-the-art designs, each designedto help a pilot or weapons officer function duringmanoeuvers up to nine positive Gs.

Combat Edge Helmet - HGU-55The HGU-55 resembles conventional US Air Forcehelmets, but close inspection reveals severaldifferences. The basic shell is the same lightweight,close-fitting design as the earlier HGU-33, but the frontopening is slightly wider for improved peripheralvision. Unlike the HGU-33, the Combat Edge modelincorporates a black rubber tube running from theoxygen mask to the rear of the helmet; this tubeprovides automatic tensioning of the mask during thehigh-onset manoeuvers that would previously pull amask away from the pilot's face, breaking the maskseal and reducing the supply of oxygen. One of thegreat virtues of the HGU-55 is its centre of gravity,closely matching that of the head inside it. This ismore important than you might think, even thoughthe helmet only weighs a pound and a half. The lightweight is another virtue - a surprising one consideringthat the whole package includes noise-attenuatingearphones, a visor assembly (clear for night missions,dark neutral gray for day use), the liner, plus thebayonet-receivers for the mask.

Each helmet is custom-fitted to the individual pilot,

who will keep it as permanent issue for as long as he(or, now, she) is on flight status. The ALSE techniciansfit the new helmet to the pilot by removing thethermoplastic liner and heating it in an oven, thenreplacing it in the helmet; the pilot jams his head inthis assembly, buckles the mask and chin strap on,and waits for the liner to cool. When it does it willretain a perfect fit to the individual skull, assumingthat the nape strap and chin strap are adjustedproperly. The shell itself is made of Kevlar, that

(Above) Even in the cockpitof a "fast mover" themodern warrior cannotescape paperwork; elasticstraps are provided for it onthe anti-gravity pants.

(left) Detail, parachuteharness: right attachmentpoint for the ejection seatparachute riser.

revolutionary material with a thousand usesthroughout the military and other strenuous pastimes.It comes in three sizes - Medium, Large, and ExtraLarge - to fit just about anybody the USAF will allownear an airplane. Gentex makes these, along withmuch of the product line, in their big factory atCarbondale, Pennsylvania.

Combat Edge Oxygen Mask - MBU-20/PProper fit and functioning of the mask is another

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Helmets For Every OccasionThe very first Mk 1 "brain bucket" must have beenissued to a spearman somewhere in the MiddleEast about four thousand years ago. The basic ideawas the same then as now - to prevent impactfractures of the brittle bone box enclosing the softstuff that does the thinking; and the constructionand design were not really that different fromtoday, although the materials were. (Different doesnot mean worse, however: leather - a commonmaterial in helmet construction over the wholeperiod since the dawn of recorded history - is stillone of the best materials for impact protection, andactually rivals Kevlar under some specificcircumstances. You won't find leather used inmilitary helmets today, but it is interesting to notethat it is making a comeback in head protection forfirefighters in the USA.)

essential for combat aircrew, improved by theCombat Edge design designated MBU-20. Themask provides pressurized breathing oxygen to thepilot automatically through a system that kicks in ata predetermined G load - normally +4G. The maskincorporates the standard M-169A/AICmicrophone for voice communication, and separateinlet and exhaust valves for lower respirationresistance. Silicone rubber is used for fabrication ofmost of the mask, although a composite hard-shellhas been added to the traditional design to supportthe breathing hose, valves, and mike assembly.

You don the mask after the helmet is on andadjusted: the three-pin connector at the lower endof the breathing hose attaches to the regulatorterminal block on the vest, the communicationscord and plug assembly are fitted to the matingconnectors on the aircraft, then the little blackrubber PBG hose quick-disconnect attaches at theback of the helmet. The mask bayonet catchesslide into the fittings on each side of the helmet.You can't breathe until you turn on the oxygencontrol panel in the cockpit. Wearing an oxygenmask for a long time can be .rather uncomfortable,even with the best designs. There is a littleresistance to each breath, even at 1G. They get hotand clammy, and the rubber sticks to your faceafter a while. Many pilots unmask below 10,000feet, where the use of supplemental oxygen is notrequired, but this is not always such a good idea.The mask provides protection during an ejection; ifit isn't being worn, it won't help when the wingfalls off unexpectedly and you have a fewmicroseconds to punch out of the cockpit.

in California's Mojave Desertthe sergeant - whose outfitHMM-166, was normallyattached to the USSOkinawa (LPH-3) - stillroutinely carries a HEEDbottle of emergency air inthe big front left pocket

(Right) This US Marine CH-46Sea Knight crew chief wearsan SPH-4 helmet and thebulky survival vest commonamong USMC helo crews.Although on this occasion in1991 the helicopter wasoperating over the aridranges of Twentynine Palms

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(lett. above & right> CaptainBob 'Tinker" Bell, an F/A-18Hornet pilot with VMFA-225,poses in full USMC flightensemble in tasteful shadesof green, green, gray. greenand green....Nate the

parachute harness leg strapsfastened ready to emplane;the HGU-55/P helmet theoxygen mask with regulatorattached directly to thesurvival vest; and the bellyfaste8ing of the life preserver.

Acco rd i ng to the the Army's Aeromedica IResearch Laboratory Biodynamics ResearchDivision, the human head can tolerate an impactof about 30G on the nose, and a force ofbetween 100 and 200G per square inch on thefrontal bone of the skull, before somethingimportant (rather than merely cosmetic) breaks ­and even more, if the impact is spread over alarger area. The helmet is designed to spreadthat impact out, and it works when the "brainbucket" is properly sized and fitted, with all thestraps adjusted and secured.

About one crew member in five will lose his orher helmet in a crash. This normally occurs (twotimes out of three) when the chinstrap fails;other losses occur due to poorly adjustedsuspensions or badly sized pads. The idea is forthe chin strap and nape strap to form a tight ringat the base of the skull - the tighter the ring, themore likely the helmet is to stay put where itbelongs.

There are many variants of two basic designs,one for helicopter flight and the other for crewsin fast jets. While the designs for fighter crewsare radically different from those of the past, thebasic helicopter model is nearly identical to thehelmet of thirty years ago and more.

SPH-4The SPH-4 is a design that has been aroundpractically since the Crusades. The current Bmodel is almost identical to the version lots of ushelicopter crew wore in Vietnam with manysmall. incremental improvements. The visorhousing now accommodates a bracket for nightvision goggles, and the shell is now made fromKevlar, with a thermoplastic liner instead of thefoam rubber pads of the old version. Thehelmet hasn't changed much because its missionhasn't changed over the years. A helicopteraircrew helmet still has to provide protection forthe skull against impact, for the eyes againstdebris and fragmentation spall, and for the earsagainst the tremendous noise inside anyhelicopter. The helmet provides support forcommunications through the boom microphoneand the earphones, plus their associated wiring.New versions of the helicopter aircrew helmet(like the HGU-56/P) add a little extra protectionagainst impact and noise, plus visors that fendoff laser radiation - the new battlefield threat ofdirected energy weapons, already in use bysome threat nations.

The SPH-4 is issued in two sizes, Regular andExtra Large. With all the communications gearand dual visors installed it weighs about threeand a half pounds. That might not seem likemuch, but after a long day flying combat supportmissions in a Chinook your neck will begin to feelas if it's supporting a ton, and the earcups willleave odd-looking imprints on the side of yourhead. A small amount of discomfort is a lowprice to pay, however, for the helmet's superbprotection from a very hostile environment.

SPH-5CGGentex developed a version of the basic militaryhelicopter helmet for the US Coast Guard, theSPH-55CG. More than any other service, the littleUSCG has a real-world mission that keeps itscrews hopping - often far off shore on dark andstormy nights. The Coast Guard version ismetallic blue in color, fabricated from Graphloncomposite, and features a bracket for the ANVIS­6 night vision goggle used by USCG aircrew.

IHADSSThe Army's Apache helicopter pilots are eachissued a $10,000 helmet with a built-in televisionscreen - a piece of kit which proves that todaylooks can kill, and which for old science fictionbuffs recalls Robert Heinlein's classic StarshipTroopers. This model is called IHADSS - theIntegrated Helmet and Display Sight Subsystem.This large, exotic helmet allows the pilot to enjoysome of the same "head up" advantages as jetfighter pilots - the ability to receive weapons andnavigation information without having to lookdown at his instruments. While the "fast mover"drivers get their data from a Head Up Display(HUD) of green figures and symbols createdbetween the pilot's face and the windshield, theApache pilot's similar display is projected on asmall disk in front of his right eye; the visualdisplay of selectable data is superimposed overanything the pilot looks at. Sensors on thebulkhead behind the helmet determine helmetand head orientation, and allow the pilot to"slave" the helicopter's cannon to the helmet:the pilot can aim the gun just by turning towardthe target.

(Right) Marine AV-8B Harrier"jump jet" pilot Captain DaveBonner wears essentiallyidentical flight gear toCaptain Bell. The helmets'white shells are nowadaysnormally "subdued" with afabric cover or drab tape; butit is still typical that asquadron badge is displayedon the protective cover ofthe HGU-55's externallymounted visor. Apart fromtheir oxygen mask controlsystem, in Navy and MarineCorps service the HGU-55'scommunications wiringdiffers slightly from the USAFformat

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(Left) The US Coast Guard isAmerica's smallest leastappreciated armed force ­with a set of big,challenging missions thatdemand high performancefrom aircraft and crews. ThisHH-65A helicopter pilotready to launch from theUSCG's San Francisco airstation wears the specialSPH-5CG helmet developedfor the Coast Guard, withthe insulated flight suit wornby crews flying over thefrigid North Pacific, and acombination lifepreserver/survival vest

Two carbon dioxidecartridges inflate the CoastGuard life preserver at thetug of a lanyard, but thereare oral inflation tubes asback-up.

(Left) Female aircrewmember serving with theHH-65A Dolphin unitwearing the Coast Guard'sblue flight suit

(Right) Fred Fijn is a CoastGuard rescue swimmer, ajob with "real world" hazardswhich include jumping intothe bone-numbingly coldNorth Pacific to save lives.Unlike most US militaryaviation attire, Fred's flightgear is designed for highvisibility.

(Left) Fred Fijn's buoyancycompensator, with thecontents of the pouchon top; the PRC-90 iswaterproof, and allows therescue swimmer to keep incontact with the helicopterhovering overhead.

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(left, below & opposite)USAF SgtBey is an ALSEspecialist with an F-111Aardvark squadron of the27th Tactical Fighter Wing atCannon AFB, New Mexico.The HGU-55/P CombatEdge helmets are inspectedand cleaned after eachflight and periodicallydisassembled and inspectedin more detail.

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(Above) HGU-55/P helmetswith MBU-12/P oxygenmasks, freshly inspected andcertified by the ALSE shop,wait to be returned to therightful owners to whoseskulls their liners have beenindividually moulded.

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(Right) USAF Captain DanHolmes, at his place ofbusiness. Note the moreupright position of theejection seat in the F-15EStrike Eagle as comparedwith that in the F-16; andnote also the parachuterisers attached from the seat'chute stowage to CaptHolmes's harness.

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(Aove) At Seymour JohnsonAFB, 1991, Captain Ray Tothof the 336th TFS, 4th TFWdemonstrates the proper fitof the MBU-S/P oxygenmask: tight enough toprevent leakage. The maskmay be hot, sticky, heavy anduncomfortable; but it

provides essential oxygen ina hostile environment,houses the microphonewhich is your only link withthe rest of the human race,and protects your lower faceif you have to punch out intoSOO-knot wind blast

(Right) TSgtTroy Arce of the129th Rescue Group wears arecycled and heavilymodified HGU-SS helmetpreViously issued to a USAFfighter pilot The visorassembly has been removed,and the microphone andcommunications wiringnormally used on helicopter

helmets have been installed.The low profile, originallyintended to reduce air loadson a pilot's head duringejection, makes for lessresistance when TSgtArcesticks his head out of thehelicopter door into theslipstream to observeground-conditions.

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(left & below) In the cockpitof his F-16 LTC Bill Gore ofthe 144th FW prepares fortake-off; the slightly recliningangle of the ACES II ejectionseat somewhat reduces theeffects of high positive G­loads as compared with theseat installation in otherfighters. Note, at the left sideof his HGU-55/P(CE) helmetthe hose connecting to abladder in the nape sectionof the helmet The bladder isautomatically pressurizedduring high-G manoeuvers,tensioning the mask againstthe face to prevent leakage.

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(Previous pages) us NavyF-14 Tomcat pilots flying outof NAS Fallon show offvariously decorated HGU-33helmets - distinguishable bythe internal attachment ofthe visors, with a central slotand knob - in the gaudy

days of the early 1990s.(Photos Robert Genat)

(Below) A Navy A-6 Intrudercrew from CV-64 wearingHGU-33s.

(Right)This Navy F/ A-18Hornet crew with VFA-305,photographed in 1992 atNAS Point Mugu, show off apopular post-"Desert Storm"fashion in camouflagedhelmet covers.(Photo Robert Genat)

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(Far left) US Marine OV-1 0Bronco crewmen from VMO­2 strike the corniest "f1yboy"pose in the book. Onceagain, note the full anti­gravity wardrobe andsurvival kit worn by theseprop-jockeys, who may findthemselves twisting andturning just above theweeds to avoid ground fire;for the same reason, helmetcovers in BDU materialare popular.(Photo Robert Genat)

(left) This AH-1 Cobra attackhelicopter pilot from the USArmy's 7th Infantry Divisionwears a modified SPH-4helmet with brackets fornight vision goggles and asighting system for the20mm cannon.

(Below) What's wrong withthis picture? Well, for onething the observer on theleft is wearing an SPH-4helicopter crew helmet for aflight in an OV-2 Mohawk,an aircraft equipped withejection seats. Note that theSPH-4 has receivers for anoxygen mask - and a boommike. If you can talk on aboom mike while wearingan oxygen mask, you musthave a REAL loud voice.

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(left top) Profile view of theANVIS-6 NVG (night visiongoggles), mounted on themodified SPH-4 helmet ofan Army OV-58D pilot.When the NVG wereintroduced to the helicoptercommunity theyrevolutionized the conductof operations - even thoughthey gave pilots a realheadache. The weightdistribution was one serious

problem. the security of themount another; both havebeen largely solved withcurrent helmet and bracketdesigns.

(left bottom) SPH-4 withNVG fitted; this and theprofile view show theclearance between thenight vision goggles andthe pilot's face. The gogglesare only for looking out of

the cockpit; the pilot has toglance down under them tosee his instruments andcharts. While it took a whileto work out the bugs, NVGtechnology has nowimproved to the pointwhere US Army aviators cansteam along at full throttlejust above the treetops onthe darkest and stormiestnights - and almost neverhit anything.

(Below) A Cobra from the7th Infantry Division prowlsthe training area of Fort Ord,California. The linkage for thegunner's helmet targetdesignation system is visibleat the top of the canopy.

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(Above) No, this Cobragunner hasn't taken aserious hit during an attackrun against a hostile countryclub; the tennis ball is upthere to prevent the bracketon his helmet fromdamaging the canopy beforethe linkage is attached.

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(Right) LTC Rick Rifecommands a US Army AH­64 Apache attack helicopterbattalion in Korea; duringthe Gulf War he led anApache unit in combat Hishuge, heavy helmet - uniqueto the Apache - is theextraordinary-lookingIHADSS, which offers him thesame kind of "head-updisplay" of navigation andweapons information asenjoyed by jet fighter pilots.The helmet's "slaving"system also allows Col.Rife toaim the Apache's 30mmcannon simply by turning hishead to look at the target

Integrated HelmetAnd Display Sight Subsystem

(Below left & right) C1ose­ups of Col.Rife's IHADSS. Themonocle in front of the righteye is the screen on which"head-up" information isprojected via the opticalrelay tube by his cheek, sothat he does not have tolook down at hisinstruments during combatmanoeuvers. This tubeassembly is a real hazard ina crash, and some Apachepilots have suffered severefacial injuries on impact

(Right) CW04 John Cooney,a Vietnam combat veteranstill serving and still flying,photographed in his place ofwork. The Apache crews'IHADSS has to be treatedwith some care, as itscomponents are fairly fragileand easily damaged; thewiring loom for the opticalrelay tube alone costs $4500.

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(Above) The huge size ofthe IHADSS helps distributethe extra weight of theoptical relay tube on the

right side; but it undeniablygives the Apache pilot aweird, "Star Wars alien"appearance.

US Coast Guard

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..(Above) The pilot of a USCoast Guard HH-65ADolphin chopper (the FrenchAerospatiale SA.365N) straps

in; he wears the standardSPH-4 helmet and theUSCG's trim blue flight suit(Photo Robert Genat)

(Far left) USCG flight suit,and a helmet adorned witha patriotic - and strictly non­regulation - visor covermotif. (Photo Robert Genat)

(Left) Gentex developed thisSPH-SCG helmet speciallyfor the Coast Guard; theANVIS-6 night visiongoggles get plenty of useduring the Guard's over­water missions after dark,whether they are searchingfor mariners in distress or formore sinister trade.

(Below) Profile view of theANVIS-6 NVG mounted onthe SPH-SCG helmet Thehelmet has dual visors ­clear and dark gray ­mounted on a compositeshell with an energy­absorbing polystyrene liner;the M87 boom microphonehas a little "lip light"attached.

(Top) Detail of the batterypack for the ANVlS-6attached to the SPH-5CG.

NASA ER-2 Pilot Protective Assembly

(Below) The latestmanifestation of thelegendary U-2 ultra-longrange, ultra-high altitudereconnaissance aircraft isNASA's ER-2 (though thisvenerable design is still inmilitary use, and one wasrecently lost in a tragic take-

off accident while operatingfrom Great Britain overBosnia). NASA pilot DoyleKrumery will be imprisonedin the Pilot ProtectiveAssembly and GNS-1031helmet for another four orfive hours.

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(Above & right) You don'texactly buy a PPA off therack, even if you are aMedium/Regular; each rig iscustom-fitted to theindividual pilot by a team ofsupport specialists.

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(Top right) Although theGNS-1031 helmet will besealed during the flightDoyle will still be able toenjoy a light lunch and sip alittle water through tubesinserted into a small port inthe side of the helmet This islunch - apple sauce. Looksinviting, doesn't it?

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(Previous page, below left& right) The ER-2 pilot'sparachute harness includesan accessory garmentunique to the high altitudemission - the TorsoRetention Assembly withFlotation and Harness.Quick-release fittings poke

through from the harnessworn underneath; a flotationdevice is stowed just belowthe buckles.

(Bottom, & opposite) Inplace of "speed jeans", forflights at the threshold ofspace these ER-2 pilots weara full pressure suit; hereDoyle Krumery's PilotProtective Assembly is beingcarefully checked for leaksbefore his mission.

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(left & right) With about halfan hour to go before launch,Krumery heads out to theflight line accompanied by histrusty attendant JamesSokolik. Sokolik carries theportable system whichprovides cooling for the suit ­without it the pilot wouldqUickly overheat

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(Previol,ls two pages)Strapped in, powered up,his suit pressurized, DoyleKrumery is ready to fire upand launch the ER-2.Average mission length isfour hours - a long time in afull pressure suit almostidentical to the space suitsworn by astronauts - andsome can be considerablylonger.

(Right & below) Very fewpilots qualify to fly the ER-2,so these are rare prizes forthe patch collectors. Eventhe life support crew havetheir own patch; the skunkin the suit is a tribute to theER-2's heritage as a productof Kelly Johnson's legendary"Skunk Works" in theLockheed facility at Burbank,California.

"PJs"

(Right) Master Sergeant TimWilliams, a veteran "PJ" ­parachute rescue jumper ­assigned to the 129thRescue Group, suits up in thelocker room before a flightApart from five jumps intothe North Pacific Ocean inthe course of serious off-

shore rescue missions, Timhas participated in over 75"real world" land rescues inthe USA and UnitedKingdom Oncluding many inWales, a rugged land ofblack rocks. treelessmountains and incessantrain).

(left) The kit used by militaryaircrews varies considerably.This locker containsparachutes and otherequipment issued to the129th Rescue Group, an AirForce CSAR outfit

(left & below) Assisted byTSgtTroy Arce, MSgtWillamsdons the MTIX free-fallparachute. This is a highperformance ram-air canopysystem providing the rescuejumper with tremendouscontrol and a long glide ratio.Normal jump altitude is13,000 feet; PJs use thiscanopy with surface winds upto 17 miles per hour.

(Right) Since his job is tojump out of airplanes,MSgtWilliams carries justabout the biggest survival kitaround. The rucksackcontains drugs, surgical toolsand medical supplies; Timwill be the first, and maybethe only rescuer to reach acasualty for some timebefore they can be extracted.and he is qualified toperform many kinds of life­saving medical procedures.

(Above) Detail of one ofthetwo ripcord D-handles onthe MTlX rig - the backpackcontains both the maincanopy and the reserve.

(left) The dive knife is notstandard issue, but isacquired by virtually all AirForce and Coast Guardrescue swimmers.

CHAPTER 4

Survival KitThe immediate business of escaping from a

crippled airframe and falling safely to earthnaturally occupies the pilot's full attention; but it is

only the first step in survival. The difficulty ofovercoming the challenges which confront downedaircrew from the moment when they roll over andstand up is encapsulated by the following account(reprinted from Flightfax, September 1994:)

/t was a routine night recon into the mountains, andthe accident crew was Chalk 3 in a flight of four AH­64s flying in staggered-right formation. They had beenairborne for 32 minutes when they encounteredunforecasted snow showers. The air missioncommander announced that he was starting a 180­degree left turn to return to station. As Chalk 3 turnedleft to exit the weather, it crashed at the top of a7,OOO-foot mountain. The following is an account byCW4 Franklin C. Harrison and CW2 Daniel R.Smee,Company A, 2d Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment,[operating out of JFort Rucker, AI... of what happenedafter the crash, and the crew members' actions untilthey were rescued more than two and a half very coldhours later.CW4 Harrison's account:"/'m alive" was my first thought when the aircraftstopped rocking from side to side. I tried to call Dan,my front seat pilot. No answer. During the crashsequence his helmet mike cord had come unplugged.He was trying to call me, I was trying to call him, andneither of us could hear the other. Obviously, somevery unpleasant thoughts about each other's conditionflashed through our minds in those first few seconds.

J immediately shut down the engines. As / was exitingthe aircraft / saw Dan. When the aircraft startedvibrating and rocking from side to side, Dan had

ducked down as low as he could in the seat to avoidany rotor blades that might come through the cockpitHe could hear the fuel escaping from the rupturedauxiliary tank that had been mounted on the rightwing, and he climbed out through the opening wherehis left canopy had been broken away.

Much relieved to see each other, we quickly movedabout 25 feet away from the aircraft and did a quickappraisal of our physical condition. / thought / hadbroken my left arm on the armor seat during theimpact. However, on examination we found that itwasn't broken, just banged up pretty good. Dan had asmall cut on his right cheek and scratches on his rightarm. All in all, we were in great shape consideringwhat had just happened.

I was told when / started flying helicopters in 1968that "if it's not on you at the time of a crash, chancesare you won't get it out of the aircraft" We were lucky.There was no postcrash fire, and we were able toreturn to the aircraft and retrieve our Gore-Tex parkasand sleeping bags from the wreckage. By then it wassnowing very hard on the mountaintop and the windwas blowing at 20 knots or more. We heard anaircraft circling to our south dear of the snow shower.It was our lead aircraft - the company commander. /attempted to contact them on my PRC-90 survivalradio to let them know we were down safe but theaircraft was destroyed. I got no reply, so / changedover to the beCKon mode. Still no reply.

We assessed our situation, and realized that due toweather conditions on the mountain it was going tobe difficult for a rescue aircraft to get to us. Knowingthat we would not be rescued where we were untilhours later when the weather cleared, we decided toclimb down to the valley floor about 700 feet belowto better our chances of being picked up sooner. Wedid a quick inventory of what we had and decided totake our sleeping. bags and wear our survival vestsunder our Gore-Tex parkas. / had two flashlights andDan had one. / was wearing my Nomex gloves; Danhad a pair of inserts he could pull on over his Nomexgloves. Prior to flight school, Dan had been an ArmyRanger School instructor with extensive mountain

(left) The little signal mirroris found in virtually allsurvival kits, normallyattached to a short length of"dummy cord" to preventloss. Although it is just aboutthe most "low tech" item ofgear you can carry. it hassaved members of thisofficer's unit when the PRC­90 and smoke signals didnot work.

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light twice if they could hear our emergencytransmission. They responded with two flashes of lightthat were about the prettiest sight we had ever seen.We used my two flashlights to mark our position. Bythe time we were extracted, it had been more thantwo and a half hours since our aircraft went down ­two and a half of the coldest and wettest hours wehad ever known.

In retrospect I know we made the right decisionwhen we decided to move down the mountain. Thecrew of the rescue aircraft (and this crew was trainedand prepared for mountain rescue operations) told usthat they had twice tried to make it to the top of themountain to find us but were forced to turn back dueto the low ceilings and snow. It was during their thirdattempt that they had spotted the spark as we weretrying to light a fire. In addition to learning the benefitof doing everything possible to enhance your chancesof being rescued, we also learned the importance of:* Having a thorough understanding of the weather.What you get in the weather briefing may not bewhat you encounter.* Pre-flighting your survival vest and knowing thelocation of all components. It's helpful to find them inthe dark.* Taking the right equipment - food, water, clothes ­with you when operating in diverse environmental

training. He led out I felt that if anyone could get usdown that mountain, he was the guy who could do it

As we started down the going was very slow due tothe steepness of the terrain. It was still snowing, andwe were soon soaking wet As we moved, Dan wouldthrow his sleeping bag down the path about 20 feetand I would keep my flashlight on his path. He wouldstop, I would throw my sleeping bag down to him,and he would keep his light on me until I caught upwith him. We knew that just one misstep could meana broken ankle or worse and it might be all over. Thecold was really starting to take its toll on me by thetime we got to the halfway point I could no longerfeel my fingertips or toes. I would take my wet glovesoff, wring the water out of them, place my handsinside my parka until the feeling returned, and then Iwould put my gloves back on.

At each stop we would try both of our PRe-90s. Westill got no reply. Then we came to a drop-off of about25 feet It was like a kick in the chest I just didn't thinkwe could make it back up the mountain, and it lookedlike we couldn't continue down. The terrain was toosteep to even allow us to set up our sleeping bags.Things were looking pretty grim. Just as I was thinkingthat I was going to die on that mountain aftersurviving the crash, Dan casually asked if I had everseen the movie "Alive", in which the survivors of anairplane crash had been forced to resort tocannibalism to survive. That got me moving.

Dan surveyed our location and found that if wemoved laterally about 15 feet we could hang from aledge and drop only seven feet and continue down.Before we had a chance to talk ourselves out of itDan's sleeping bag was over the edge. We werecommitted. Dan reached his bag with no problems,then it was my turn. I threw my bag to Dan andstarted. It took only a couple of minutes, but it seemedmore like an hour. I was physically drained.Fortunately, the terrain shallowed out and wewandered into a small streambed and followed it tothe valley floor. It had been two hours since we starteddown. It was still snowing, the wind was still blowingas hard as ever, and we were soaking wet and cold.This was it; we weren't going any farther. We wouldset up camp and wait for rescue.

Our first priority was to get a fire going. As Dansurveyed the area for possible landing sites for rescueaircraft, I gathered sagebrush to build a fire. We knewwe had matches in our vests because the vests hadbeen inspected before our deployment The problemwas locating them and getting them out of the vests.My hands were so cold it took both of us to operatethe zipper on my parka. Using paper I had torn frommy kneeboard, we tried every match in both vests ­none ignited. Next we tried the emergency fire starterkit; it ignited, but the wood and paper were too wet toburn. Next Dan tried the magnesium fire starter, usinghis survival knife to shave it and to strike the sparker ­too windy. About that time, I would have given a heftyprice for a cigarette lighter. Bad timing: I had stoppedsmoking just three months before.

Luckily for us, an Air Force UH-60 search-and-rescuebird had seen the flash from our attempt to start a fireand headed our way. When we heard the aircraft, wecalled them and asked them to flash their landing

(Above) You can aim themirror using anyone ofseveral techniques, all easyto learn, sighting on thetarget through the smallwindow in the centre. Whilethe PRe-gO has a range of

perhaps 30 miles, underperfect conditions the mirrorhas been spotted from outto as far as 100 miles - andit doesn't have batteries towear out either.

(Above) A whistle and amatch case are tied into oneof the front vest pockets.The ALSE technicians checkand replace the matchesfrequently.

(Above) This excellentcompass is tied into anotherpocket of the vest If youmanage to retain any ofyour charts during theerection process, or if you

have an escape-and­evasion map somewhere inyour kit the compass canbe a Godsend.

conditions, so that if you end up on the ground forwhatever reason - crash or precautionary landing ­you can survive.* Preparing for the environment you are operating in. Itmay be hot when you depart, but it can get awfullycold in mountainous terrain at night* Co-ordinating with your ATC personnel to test yoursurvival radios at some distance, not just in the benchtest set Following the accident we checked ten of ourunit's survival radios, and all ten were good only for aone-mile range.* Having good batteries and carrying spares for yourflashlight and liplight During those first few minutesfollowing the crash the liplight on our helmets was theonly source of light we had to help us find ourflashlights, parkas, and sleeping bags stored in thecargo bay.* Testing the matches in your survival kit* Making sure your copilot ;s a mountain rangerinstructor - you might need those skills before you getback to station.

CW2 Smee's account:When I realized we were going to crash, myimmediate thought was very simple: the aRT [OpticalRelay Tube, mounting the data screen in front of thepilot's eye] is going to cause pain. I was right During

the crash sequence my head was thrown forward, andthat was where I elected to keep it until the engineswound down and the blades had finished beatingthemselves to death. The aRT hurt, but I thanked Godfor giving McDonnell Douglas the talent to make theAH-64 a crashworthy machine. That was my religiousexperience during the crash.

You can only imagine the jumble of simultaneousthoughts racing through my mind. Because of this"chicken" position I was in, my ICS cord had comeundone and I was unable to communicate with Frank.Since Frank and I had crewed together for just short ofa month, we had been working together on ourcommunication and our teamwork even during ourspare time. Frank is an experienced aviator with nearly7,900 rotary wing hours. I was new to the unit and stilllearning stateside flying, having been previouslystationed in Germany. In my opinion, I couldn't havehad a better teacher than Frank. Yet with all themission planning and all the rehearsals, there I wascrawling out through a huge hole where the canopyused to be of what just moments before was aperfectly good aircraft.

As I was climbing out of the aircraft I saw the glowof Frank's liplight and I knew he was at leastconscious. My adrenaline was pumping like crazy. Iwalked around the aircraft and saw Frank's door

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bad, and we were not sure if it would permit a pickup thatnight or not In my survival training I had never had a hardtime starting a fire when needed. Not now. First the radiohadn't worked, although we had just checked it a fewdays prior, and now the matches in our survival vests wereinop. Our luck seemed to be running kind of thin.Magnesium firestarter was the next weapon of choice. Myfingers were pretty cold from the climb down, and wewere both wet to the bone. A fire was sure going to feelgood, just as soon as I could get one going. Well, themagnesium didn't work either. No matter how hard wetried to build a windbreak, the wind was too strong for itto contain the shavings.

open, and out he climbed. We walked away from theaircraft and assessed our physical damage. Outside of acouple ofscratches and bumps, we were basically intact

We could hear an aircraft circling to the south and triedto reach them on our PRe-90s, but were unable toestablish voice communication. Frank went to beacon. Stillno luck. We were fortunate to have brought our Gore-Texparkas and our sleeping bags with us, because we knewhow cold it could get in the desert at night We gatheredour gear and secured our helmets and kneeboards alongwith the rest of our gear in our bags and placed themaway from the aircraft, because we knew the accidentboard was going to need them. Still unable to raise voicewith the other aircraft, we then decided to proceed downthe hill.

The climb down was interesting, to say the least I hadbeen in snow before, but never on top of a mountain inthe middle of the night I knew that this was going to begood. Our objective was to make our way down to wherethe weather was better and the terrain conducive to saferescue. For an "old guy" Frank surprised me: he really didn'thave any serious problems keeping up on the descentThe going was slow and the distance down to the nextdrop was hard to judge due to the darkness and thesnow. We would drop our sleeping bags from one level tothe next and use them as a reference to judge distance.Slow, but it worked extremely well.

When we reached a streambed we followed it to thevalley floor; and then we decided to build a fire and waitthere for someone to pick us up. The weather was still

(Above) Major Ryan Oriangets his bearings; thecompass is luminous andcan be used night or day.When flying over knownhostile territory, aircrew arebriefed on the position andappearance of landmarkswhich are givencodenames. The idea is notthat downed pilots shouldtry to make their waytowards these, but ratherthat they should use themas reference points fordistances and directions

when they succeed inmaking radio contact withCSAR aircraft.

(Right) Close-up of the snaplink, for attaching to a rescuehoist, normally fitted to theharness worn by Navy andMarine aircrews. The angle­head flashlight is used by allthe services; with its red lens,it is useful in the cockpitwhen a chart or kneeboardneeds to be consulted afterdark without ruining thepilot's night vision.

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Finally our luck began to change: an Air Force search­and-rescue aircraft had seen the sparks of the firestarter,and was able to visually home in on our position. Whenwe heard them we were able to establish contact withthem for pickup, although we still didn't have two-waycommunication.

These events took place in a period of two and a halfhours; two and a half long, miserable hours, and plenty oftime to think about [the importance of] pre-missionplanning... /f we had not brought our parkas and oursleeping bags it is very likely that we could have beencold-weather casualties to some degree. As it turned outthe SAR aircraft had made two previous attempts to reachthe crash scene and had been forced to turn back. Ontheir third attempt they had spotted the spark of light aswe were desperately trying to get a fire started.

Frank and / both have a better appreciation for thesurvival vest than we did before the accident / know that ifI'm going to have to wear it I'm going to ensure thatthings work as advertised. Regardless of current inspectiondates and the presence of matches and other requireditems, if they don't work or you don't know how to usethem, they can't be of much help to you when you reallyneed them. From now on, I'll check everything.

Tools for SurvivalAs "war stories" like this one show, when things go bad ona military flight they go bad in a big way. One of the thingsearly aviators learned through sad experience is that theonly survival tools you are likely to have in a realemergency are the ones you are wearing when the wingsstart to fall off the aircraft.

(left:) Standard equipmentfor virtually all militaryaircrew in all the services isthe SDU-5E strobe, usuallytied securely into a pocketon the right front of the vestThe batteries last for abouteight hours.

(Right) The Coast Guard hasplenty of use for the SDU-5E,especially when rescueswimmers like Fred Fijn haveto jump into the PacificOcean, day or night Thestrobe usually has Velcroattached to one side so thatit can be fixed to a matingpatch on the helmet leavingthe swimmer's hands free.

The specific items of gear vary with the branch of service,the aircraft type, the particular unit, and even with theindividual aircrew member. You won't find a HEED bottlein the vest contents of very many US Army UH-60helicopter crew members, for example, but virtually everyUS Navy crew flying the SH-60 (the naval equivalent of theUH-60) will have one stowed neatly in the front of thesurvival vest, ready for a trip to the surface when thehelicopter submerges.

Vest, SRU-21 /PSurvival vests have been wom by US Army aviators at leastsince World War II; my father, a navigator on B-24Uberators, wore one quite similar to those still issued today,fifty years later. It a concept that hasn't needed a lot ofimprovement; the original idea was that, in an emergency,

you don't have time to collect the things you may need toescape, evade and survive. -A bail-out is a "come as youare" event If you are wearing the essentials when theorder to abandon the aircraft comes, you'll have them onthe ground - otherwise you are out of luck

The current US Army survival vest design is designatedSRU-21/P, and comes in two sizes, Large and Small. It ismade from "raschel" knit nylon, with laces in back to adjustthe fit, and a zippered front Those laces can be reallyimportant - the vest can be worn with body armor, aparachute harness and a life-preserver, but not withoutsome adjustments. Fully loaded, with pistol and knife andother items, it weighs about seven and a half pounds. Thatmight not sound like much, but it will feel more like 70pounds after you've worn the vest, the armor, a helmetand a pistol for a long mission.

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(Above) One obscure anddull-looking item stowed inthe vest can make thedifference between life anddeath in a hurry - atourniquet strap.

(Right) This stainless steelpocket knife can be found injust about every sUNival kitlarge or small; it is usuallysecured by a lanyard.

(Far right) Typical of themany varieties of issue orpersonally acquired survivalknives carried by virtually allmilitary aircrew.

The correct way to get the vest on is to first put on yourbody armor; then the LPU-10/P life-preserver, if that'srequired for an over-water flight; your mission commanderwill indicate during the mission briefing if you need to wearthe armor or the life-preserver. Once both are fitted, pull onthe survival vest - it will be much more comfortable if youpull the bladders through the openings for your arms, asintended by the designers. Finally, if you need one, theparachute goes on over all this. If you can adjust theparachute hamess to fit both snugly and comfortably overall that stuff, it will be a military miracle.

Pockets on the vest accommodate a wide range ofsurvival tools and supplies, some standard issue and someoptional. One of the best is the little radio mentionedseveral times already in this text

Rescue Radio PRe-90If anybody ever asks you that dumb, age-old question,"what one thing would you like to have if you weremarooned on a desert island?", answer "a PRC-90!" Thislittle radio, in all its permutations, has saved large numbersof US military aviators - it is a combat-proven device, andwhen life tums sour on you there is a good likelihood thatit will. .." get your ass out of Dodge City.

It is about the size of a paperback book, about as heavy

as a pistol. If you do find yourself marooned on that desertisland, pull the radio out of its pocket in your vest on theleft side right in front The telescopic antenna extends justlike the one on portable stereo radios; pull it all the wayout before turning the radio on. If you are shot downbehind enemy lines, trying to evade the bad guys, a littleearphone will keep the radio from advertising yourlocation.

A rotary switch in the middle of the radio is clearlymarked with four positions: OFF, Voice 282.8, Voice MON243.0, and BCN 243.0. The battery is good for only 14hours of operation, and reception and transmission ispretty much limited to line-of-sight so conserve the batteryby leaving the radio switched off unless you see an aircraftoverhead or are pretty sure one is in the area - sometimesyou can hear a plane without being able to see it

When you're ready to call for help, tum the switch to BCN;hold the antenna vertically for best signal propagation (donot point it at the aircraft), and say your prayers. Thebeacon signal will be picked up by nearly every airplane inrange, and its whooping sound will be understood inevery cockpit as a call for help. There is a good chancethat an aircraft which hears the signal will divert from itscourse, home on the signal, and orbit your position. Besure to leave the beacon on if you think aircraft are in

range and trying to home on you; the direction-findingnavigation systems in the plane will depend on acontinuous signal to provide an accurate heading. Onceyou have company overhead you can switch from thebeacon position to two-way voice on 243.0 or 282.8 MHz.

This procedure will work most of the time - you willprobably have company when your aircraft goes down inflames, and your mates will probably know you're on theground and will be looking for you. Sometimes, as inO'Grady's case, irs not that quick and simple; then you'vegot to ration the battery or you won't have any juice leftwhen you need it The SOP for battery conservation is asfollows:*Limit your transmissions to daylight for better signalpropagation.*Best range will typically be achieved at sunrise and sunset*Send a "mayday" or SOS once at sunrise, once at noon,once at sunset*For each of these three transmission periods, transmit fortwo minutes, then switch off for one minute; on for threeminutes, then off for three minutes; then on for tenminutes.*You will get the best range and reception from thehighest terrain, so find a safe and secure hilltop if one ishandy. The beacon setting uses the least power.

And what do you say when the SAR chopper materializesover the hill? There are two options. The first is what youare supposed to say: "CO, RESCUE CRAFT, CO, CO, CO.OVER" They are supposed to call back: "ROGER, ROGER,ROGER, READ YOU FIVE BY FIVE," or more likely," READ YOUBROKEN AND INTERMITTENT." In a combat environmentyou will certainly be required to authenticate yourself,probably with a call sign, a code word, or some personalinformation like your previous squadron.You call back, "ROGER, ROGER CREW STATUS FOllOWS... ";

then you report on physical status, missing crew members,any emergency logistical requirements (like water, food, ormedical supplies), concluding, "ROGER, OUT." Although thisis the way it is supposed to go, real life emotions tend toget in the way and actual transmissions tend to be morechaotic, particularly when the bad guys are closing in; "GETME OUT OF HERE!" is a recurring theme. Just remember,don't shout .. and don't beg (although plenty of people do).

HEED 3 Oxygen BottleA dl,Jrable can of "spare air" that automatically starts whenremoved from the vest the HEED 3 can be used upsidedown as well as right side up (unlike its predecessor theESAS.) Also unlike the ESAS, it has a indicator to show ifthere is any air left in the tank

A vivid example of the value of the HEED bottle wasrecounted (in Approach Magazine, August 1994, underthe title "My Submarine Seasprite Ride") by Navy helicoptercrewman Lieutenant E.Reed of squadron VT-27:

My HAC and I were retuming from a flawless torp-dropexercise at the Pacific Missile Test Facilities off Kauai; therange monitor had commended us for one of the bestASW runs he had seen in months. We had eaten,debriefed, preflighted and were now headed for home.The SH-2F has an auto-blade track system that basicallyhelps to maintain a smooth rotor track However, as soonas we took off we began experiencing what is commonlycalled a one-vibration-per-revo/ution, or "one-per'.

The HAC in the left seat decided to manually track theblades in flight which is a common practice since theauto-tracking system occasionally gets squirrelly. Unable toget a smooth track like the one we 'had before leaving therange, we decided to give the auto system another shotNo sooner had we engaged the system than our worstnightmare began. The servo flap on one of the main rotorblades departed its main member, and the aircraft startedvibrating violently - vertically and laterally. The vibrationswere so bad that we were afraid the rotors would fail.Although we were only 1.5 miles from a paved airfield, theseverity of the vibrations forced us to ditch. We autorotated,entering the water with zero ground speed.

As soon as we hit the seats bottomed out and the frontcockpit windows exploded. The helo immediately rolledright; I was under water, out of breath and inverted beforeI could realize this was the real thing. A SEAL chief taughtme in "stupid swim" that "panic in the water is anirreversible process." I tried to maintain my composure asbest I could with no air in my lungs and strapped to apiece of metal that had me upside down and sinking fast

Our survival is a testament to the effectiveness of theNavy's water survival and emergency procedures training. Idon't remember why, but the first thing I did was reach formy HEED bottle in my SV-2. After a couple of breaths, I feltcompletely at ease. I then quickly disconnected my cordsand hamess, and evacuated the aircraft As I rose to the

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(Above) Scraping amagnesium fire-starter withthe survival knife willsometimes get the kindlinggoing when matches havefailed. With all the thought,expense and effort that havegone into providing aircrewwith the most ingenious andsophisticated aids, the oldestwilderness imperative of all ­starting a fire - can stillsometimes make thedifference between survivaland a wretched, needlessdeath.

(Left) An older, "plain vanilla"version of the PRC-90 withMorse code capability on243.0 Mhz - the "MCW"position on the selectorswitch. It has now beendecided that so fewpersonnel still know Morsethat the capability is obsolete,and has been omitted fromthe current issue PRC-90-2(see photos in Chapter One).

surface I was concerned about getting an air embolism, soI let my HEED bottle fall from my mouth, stroking andkicking my way upward for what seemed like an etemity.The subsequent rescue was quick and uneventful. TheHEED bottle saved my life. I might not have been able toexit the aircraft without it HEED gave me a second chance.

Mk 79 Pencil Flare LauncherThere are seven flares in a bandoleer, each of which lastsabout four and a half seconds. The flare goes from 400 to600 feet in the air, and can be seen from quite a distance.

Mk 13 Mod 0 Hand Held Signal FlareThe Mk 13 flare has a night end (identifiable by touch by itsraised cap) which emits a brilliant red light; and a day endwhich puts out orange smoke. Each end lasts about 20seconds.

SDU-SE Strobe Marker'This is the best survival item in the vest" says Fred Fijn ofthe US Coast Guard. "It has already saved lives in themilitary. It cuts through fog really well - it's a very highpowered light It's also used by the rescue swimmer tosignal to the helicopter that he's in trouble." The strobe iscarried by virtually all aircrew, sometimes in the vest with asecond one on a hamess or elsewhere. Navy, Marine andCoast Guard pilots and crew use the SDU-SE a littledifferently from members of services who are less likely

to fly over water. The former often Velcro the strobe sothat it can be attached to the helmet or to the shoulderwhile swimming, leaving the hands free (it is notunknown for Army personnel to do the same, to leavetheir hands free for handling weapons.)

As we learned in Vietnam, getting the rescue chopperinto your vicinity was sometimes the easy part of theproblem. In many kinds of terrain, particularly in thejungle, a person is often virtually invisible from the air.Several devices were invented during the 1960s toremedy this problem, and one of the best is the StrobeMarker. You will find the SDU-5E in its own pocket,typically on the right front of the vest

The strobe is totally waterproof and will function evenunder water. Flip the switch on the side of the strobe,and a very bright flash every five seconds will advertiseyour position to anybody with line-of-sight on you up tofive miles away.

Of course, this is not always such a hot idea. The SDU­5 has two modifications to make it more helpful in acombat zone: the lens cover is now blue to keep theflash from looking like the muzzle flash from a weapon;and a little foam sleeve can be used to cover part of thelens to let you aim the flash up toward the rescueaircraft - they can see it, but the bad guys in theneighborhood can't

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(Above) These little cartridges,of which seven are providedstowed neatly in this plasticbandoleer, fit the M-201 flaregun - a miniature launcher thatlooks like a small flashlightWhen fired the little rocketsoars up to about 1,1 00 feettrailing red fire, before burstingwith a flash that should bevisible for several miles(assuming anyone is looking inthe right direction, of course...)

(left:) The Mk 13 combinationsmoke/flare signal, of whichseveral are typically stowed inthe seat pack survival kit isdesigned for both day andnight use. The bumps on thecover cap allow you to identifythe flare end by touch on thedarkest night Pop the cap off toexpose a metal pull-ring, andyank it to initiate the device. Theresult will be a bright red flare,visible for several miles at nightThe opposite end works in thesame way but produces brightorange smoke for daytimesignalling. After the multipleshocks to the mind and bodysuffered during a high-speedejection and a parachutedescent and landing, asurprising number of peoplehave difficulty handling thisdevice correctly, and waste theflare by day or the smoke bynight

Signal Kit, Foliage Penetrating M-201An alternative method of marking your position iswith the little flare gun; in the Army version of thevest this kit goes in a pocket at the back on theright side. The launcher and seven red flarecartridges fit together in a little kit. If you need touse it, attach one of the cartridges to the launcher,point the device straight up, pull the spring-loadedknob down, then release it quickly. The gun willfire, shooting the flare up (through three layers ofjungle canopy, if necessary) to an altitude of 1,100

(left) PRe-gO in use. Theearphone is an importantelement of the system undercombat conditions, wheneven the sound of thesidetone static coming fromthe earpiece of the radiocan give away your positionto hostile searchers.

(Below) This little can of"spare air" is the HelicopterEmergency Egress Device ­the legendary HEED bottle.When your helicopter lands

in the drink. rolls over, andthrashes itself to deathwhile sinking rapidly intothe freezing black depths,you are supposed toremove this from your vest,rotate the knob, and stuff itin your mouth whileunstrapping yourself.finding your way out thedoor, and making a breakfor the surface. As unlikelyas it sounds, the HEEDbottle works, and has savedmany lives.

feet. With a burn time of about nine seconds, theflare is visible for about three miles during the dayand ten miles at night.

Mirror, Mk 3Another indispensable item in the well-dressedaviator's formal attire is the signal mirror Mk 3 or oneof its variants - several models are issued, and somefliers buy one of the excellent commercial modelsavailable on the market The mirror may have somelimitations; but the batteries never run out you can'tuse up its ammunition, and anybody can use one. Allof the signal mirrors have some kind of window in themiddle of the silvered surface.

If you hold the mirror in one hand and manoeuverthe device a bit you will quickly discover the brightspot of light reflected by the sun; now, peep throughthe little window until you can see the bright reflectedsun spot. You can now slowly adjust the mirror'sangle to aim the reflection across a wide portion ofthe sky. While it only works in daylight and is evenmore "Iine-of-sight" than the PRC-90, its flash is visibleto an aircraft at 10,000 feet up to 30 miles away.

Knife, FoldingNearly all survival kits contain the standard US-issuepocket knife, a simple five-bladed model madeentirely from stainless steel with a large and a smallknife blade, a can opener, a screwdriver, and an awl.''This is a basic survival item," one Coast Guard rescueswimmer told me. "You REALLY don't want to havethis kicking around in your life raft out in the ocean,so one person will collect all the knives andanything else that can puncture the raft, and he willmaintain custody of those knives as long as we are inthe raft"

PistolThere may be a few old .38 caliber revolvers still beingissued by some units, but nearly every Americanaviator flying combat missions will carry the Beretta9mm semi-automatic pistol in a holster on the left rearof the vest. A spare magazine, sometimes loadedwith tracer ammunition for signalling, is sometimesstowed in one of the pockets of the vest

The pistol is a much-maligned weapon, particularlyamong aircrew who very seldom have serious needfor one. In fact it is a lot more accurate and effectivethan it usually gets credit for - in trained hands. It canbe used for hunting as well as for protection. ManyUS fliers used their pistols to ward off capture in thejungles of Vietnam. But there are hazards attached tothe pistol, too: once you start shooting, the other guyswill know where you are. They are usually moreheavily armed, better trained marksmen, and - if youshoot at them - much less likely to treat you in arelaxed manner when they close in on your lair.Capt.Scott O'Grady didn't even bother to load hispistol until just before his rescue. At least one USAFaviator, safe and sound on the ground after beingforced to eject during a training flight over awilderness area, became so panicked and depressedby his plight that he used his M1911 .45 pistol toblow his brains out - shortly before the rescue partyfound him.

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(Above) The USAF searchand rescue crews have acombat mission, and dressaccordingly, complete with apistol in their vests for thoseoccasions when they mayencounter unfriendlies onthe surface at close quarters.The 9mm Beretta is standardissue these days; this "PJ"

prefers a stainless steel .45Colt, locked and loaded.Most combat aircrew willcarry pistols in their survivalvests; but there are escape­and-evasion situations whenthey are best advised toleave it there - its value issometimes morepsychological than practical.

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explosion, mid-air break-up or the paralysingcentrifugal effect of a spin reduced their chances ofsurvival to nil. It was tragically rare for all ten'chutes to be seen blossoming in the wake of afalling Fortress or Liberator.)

If given the necessary time and altitude, the pilotsof even 300-knot-plus fighters like the P-51Mustang could usually slow down their wreckedships sufficiently to make it possible to climb overthe side - or at least to pop the canopy off, rollinverted, release their lap belt and helmet leads,and simply fall out, praying that they would missthe tailplane. But not always, even then; and asspeeds increased, air-loads on crew climbing outinto the slipstream began to prevent egress. Then,with the advent of jets and their much higherairspeeds, conventional bail-outs began to beimpractical or impossible.

CHAPTER 5

Ejection SeatsI1's hard to imagine now, but the concept of

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., •.,.1 permitting aircrew to abandon a sinking airship: was once a matter of some debate. During

World War I American aviators flew into combatwithout pa rach utes, pa rtly beca use so mecommanders believed pilots would chose to bailout at the first sign of damage rather than fly arecoverable aircraft back to base. The result of thispolicy was that lots of pilots went down with theship, in flames. Not until 1920 were US militaryaviators required to carry and, if necessary, useparachutes.

Up to and during World War II a flier could hopeto depart a multi-seat airplane by climbing out of ahatch or through the bomb bay. Always assumingthat the crewman was not seriously injured, andthat the aircraft was not spinning or falling in anextreme attitude, the relatively leisurely pace of thebombers of the era made such escapes at leasttheoretically practical. (Under combat conditions, ofcourse, stricken aircraft seldom flew straight andlevel for long enough for the large crews of thosedays to make it out the hatches before fire,

(Below) The ejection seat forthe Lockheed ER-2 is acustom model unique tothat aircraft, but shares manycomponents and systemswith other fast movers fromthe Skunk Works. This viewshows the right hand side;

note the lap belt attachment,oxygen systrm components,yellow emergency seatrelease handle, andfiberglass pack beneathcontaining survival items andemergency oxygen.

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(Above) ER-2 seat riserattachments and D-handlefor the parachute.

Right after the war Army Air Force technicianscollected examples of ejection seats already inservice - the J-21 seat from Sweden, and theHeinkel He 162 seat used in German highperformance aircraft. Both patterns, along withmuch captured data, formed the foundation for thefirst US design. It was tested on 17 August 1946,with First Sergeant Lawrence Lambert in the hotseat; he has the dubious honour of being the firstAmerican to eject from an aircraft in flight. Afterfurther refinement the design entered service. Thefirst emergency use occurred on 8 August 1949when a US Navy pilot punched out of a dyingMcDonnell F2H-1 Banshee fighter. Just three weekslater the US Air Force christened the seat when aNorth American F-86 Sabrejet went out of controland the pilot ejected.

Surviving an EjectionModern ejection seats will save a pilot in most, butnot all, emergencies. Survival depends largely onhaving enough time for the seat's parachute systemto deploy completely - and often that time simplyisn't available. Many emergencies happen on"short final" or take-off, or during low altitudemanoeuvering, often when the aircraft is near

stalling speed. Sometimes pilots have to punch outof aircraft sitting dead still on a taxyway, or (asfamous Russian test pilot Anatoly Kvotcher did atthe Paris Air Show in 1989) from a jet almostinverted, with no forward airspeed, a couple ofhundred feet off the deck.

Proper seat function depends on three factors:altitude, airspeed, and attitude. When the pilotstarts the ejection sequence there must be enoughaltitude (and time) for the canopy to separate, forthe seat to fire, and for the guidance system (if any)in the seat to correct the seat flight path away fromthe ground. If you happen to be inverted and 50feet above the ground when the engine quits,don't pull that yellow ring just yet - you'll berocketed into the terrain by the seat. Use whateverairspeed may be left to roll right side up, thendepart. Sensors in the seat control when andwhere the parachute deploys.

Most problems with ejections happen downclose to the deck, at low or very low altitude. Justwhat constitutes low altitude depends on theaircraft; if you happen to be in an F-16 at Mach 2and pointed straight down, "low altitude" mightmean 10,000 feet above ground level (AGL). "Verylow altitude" is any ejection at or below 500 feetAGL. In either case, modern seats incorporateautomatic systems to minimize the risks.

A "zero-delay lanyard" attaches to the O-ring usedto manually deploy the parachute. With thissystem, when the pilot separates from the seat(whether or not he is conscious) the parachute isautomatically activated, bypassing the normal andmuch slower opening mechanisms. The SOP for

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seats equipped with this feature is to attach thelanyard before take-off and disconnect it afterpassing through 10,000 AGL; the lanyard is re­attached at the same altitude during descent.

Another problem with ejections, particularly atlow level, used to be entanglement of thedeploying parachute with "the seat. Nowadays acable attached to the aircraft pays out as the seat'srocket motor blasts the pilot away from the cockpit;at about 200 feet from the aircraft this cable's travelruns out, and tension is briefly applied to the seatbefore it separates. This "snubber" system has theeffect of stabilizing the seat's attitude andpreventing some of the tumbling that wouldotherwise occur.

A lot of ejection problems at low altitude turn outto be related to the separation of the pilot from theseat assembly, an event that happens relativelyslowly above 10,000 feet AGL but which mustobviously take place much faster close to theground. A one-second-delay connector on thepilot's lap belt activates below 10,000 feet - thenyou're forcefully booted from the seat by anothersystem attached to the take-up reel. At just aboutthe time when the seat reaches the end of itstether, when the buckle on the lap belt pops andyou're watching the ground rushing up at you,another life-saving device actuates: the drogue gun.This system fires a small, heavy projectile whichpulls the parachute canopy from its container,extends the suspension lines, and accelerates theopening process. Once the canopy is out of thecontainer yet another system - the canopy spreader- fires several more weights, these being attached

(Above) Pressure gauges forboth oxygen bottles in theER-2 seat show readings inthe green.

to the skirt of the canopy. Shortly after this systemfires you should feel the welcome tug of the riserson your harness; look up and inspect the canopyfor burn holes or lines that have tangled, then lookdown at your likely landing spot. You have, as theysay, cheated death again.

Even when everything works properly you can stillbe injured in an ejection. The opening shock isusually awful: eleven Gs are typical at 14,000 feet,but over thirty Gs are possible when the canopydeploys at Flight Level 400 (40,000 feet). You willbe lucky to survive 30G; your helmet and bootsmay be stripped away, limbs broken, and otherinjuries sustained. Subsystems within the seat aredesigned to automatically reduce this hazard, someby allowing the seat and pilot to fall to a loweraltitude before the parachute deploys, others byslowing the deployment sequence of the canopyand allowing a gradual deceleration.

If you survive the ejection and the 600-knot windblast, and then the opening shock, you still risk aparachute malfunction. These are rare, but they dohappen; panels sometimes blowout, leaving ahole; occasionally a shroud line will cross over thecanopy during deployment, partially collapsing it;either of these mishaps will increase your rate of

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descent. The canopy design used for USAFemergency rigs is flat and circular - and subject tooscillation caused by air spilling first out of oneside, then the other. You can counteract thisproblem by hauling down on the high-side risers,or by using the four-line release available on someparachute models. This is activated by tugging thetwo red nylon loops attached to the inside of therear risers; four suspension lines release, a pairfrom each of the rear risers, creating a lobe on thecanopy which allows a little air to escape andslowing oscillation.

All in all, blasting your way out of a fast jet is athrill you can profitably live without; there is awealth of real accumulated wisdom in thattraditional aviator's phrase about the foolishness ofleaving "a perfectly good airplane".

(Top right) The parachute isactivated by the cable withinthis housing; the red coverprotects the coupling whenthe parachute is removedfrom the seat assembly forinspection and maintenance.

(Right) Detail of part of theER-2 seat parachutecontainer - still activated, likethe backpacks of 50 yearsago, by hooks, eyes andelastic bands. If it works,leave it alone.

(left) Shoulder strapattachment points, ER-2 seat

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(Above) Part of the pre-startchecklist for the ER-2 pilotinvolves strapping on thesestirrups, which will pull hisfeet back against the seat inthe event of ejection toprevent flail injuries.

(left) These two fittingsattach to the Pilot ProtectiveAssembly, supplyingoxygen from the aircraft. Inthe event of a failure in theprimary supply a tug on thegreen "apple" will activate areserve supply.

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(left & below) Navytechnicians work on astripped-down seat from anF-14 Tomcat(Photos RobertGenat)

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The McDonnell Douglas ACES II (Advanced ConceptEjection Seat), chosen by the USAF as standard for theF-15, F-16, A-l 0, B-1 Band T-46, is an extremelysophisticated device. Multiple operating modes optimizeits performance depending upon the aircraft and theparticular escape conditions, by means of self-containedsensors and precision-timed electronic sequencing. Agyro-controlled vernier rocket with 700lbs of vectoredthrust corrects the seat attitude for high or low centre ofgravity and for the particular aero forces encountered.

The typical timing sequence for ejection from an F-15or F-16 is as follows: Rocket catapult fires; (0.1 7 seconds)drogue deploys; (0.18 seconds) stabilizing rocket ignites;

(Opposite) Aces II seat installed inthe cockpit of an F-15E.

ACES IIKey:(1) Pitot head(2) Drogue deployment unit(3) Parachute deployment rocket(4) Electronic sequencer(5) Parachute container(6) Harness retraction unit(7) Seat bucket(8) Personal survival pack(9) Rocket motor(10) Main beam structure(11) Start switch, rocket initiatorand lower bridle release unit(12) Barostatic back-up unit(13) Catapult (14) Guide rails.(Courtesy McDonnell Douglas)

(1.17 seconds) parachute deploys; (1.32 seconds) droguereleases from seat; (1.42 seconds) seat releases fromcrewman; (2.8 seconds) parachute inflates; (6.3 seconds)survival pack and liferaft deploy to hang below crewmanon line. This sequence can be adjusted - for instance, thetiming is set up differently for A-l 0 pilots, who willtypically be operating at lower altitude and speed; andwill be automatically interrupted if the self-containedsensors so dictate, to avoid the parachute opening toohigh and too quickly. A survival rate of 80 per cent isclaimed for the ACES during emergency ejections; bycontrast the survival rate for aircrew who stay with theiraircraft under such circumstances is around 15 per cent

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(Above) The ejection seathandles in the F-15E StrikeEagle are outboard of thepilot's knees, rather thanbetween them as in someearlier aircraft. On the flightline they are carefullysecured with guards, pinsand warning flags.

(left) Ejection seat handle inan F-16 Fighting Falcon,between pilot's knees.

(Top, above & right) TheF-111 Aardvark is the onlymilitary fixed-wing aircraft inthe current USAF inventorythat does not employ ejectionseats. When the crew pull thehandle the entire cockpitseparates from the rest of the

airframe and descends toearth as a capsule under abig 70-foot parachute. Alarge air bladder inflatesbeneath it to cushion the finalimpact somewhat, beingdesigned to rupture in acontrolled way.

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(Right) It is hard to mistakethis handle, painted like abarber's pole, for the landinggear lever - and that's theidea. The placing of the twoF-111 ejection handlesbetween the seats shouldensure that even during aleft or right spin one orother ofthe crew should beable to get a hand onto one,and squeeze...

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( left) The F-111 crew'ssurvival supplies are packedin the triangular metal casestowed behind the rightseat; it is a sad sign of thetimes that the label has towarn off thieves by declaringthat the kit does not containfirearms or drugs.

(left & below) The crew ofan F-111 of the 522nd TFS"FIREBALLS", 27th TFW carryout their preflight checks.Because the cockpit canopyis not jettisoned to provide apathway for individualejection, but has to protectthe crew during the descentof their capsule, theclamshell hatches are moremassively constructed andlatched than the "bubbles"of other current types.Punching out of an Aardvarkmay be different from otherejections in many respects;but it is still painful,hazardous, disorienting, anda ride with no guaranteedhappy ending.

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