On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 21:23:20 -0400, Buff5200 wrote:






Why do you suppose ejection seats are not permitted on civilian airplanes?
They would be life-saving, too.

I think I read somewhere that the entire ejection seat assembly
including supports, rails, explosive hatch,
ect weighs about 1,000lb each. Do you want to be a passenger in a
non-ejection seat when the
PIC has one? We would need 4 ejection seats in a 172. Let's see now, 172
usable weight limit
minus 4,000lb is ....

Kind of eats into the gross weight limits of small GA aircraft...

Not to mention that ejection seats are used in jets because of their high
speed and design, which often make manual ejection impossible. If WWII
pilots can manually jump, while shot and being shot at, from a 400+MPH
plane, I think people could do it at a more common 120-300mph range, while
uninjured.

Of course, I think you'll have a hard time convincing your passengers that
you're a good pilot while you're wearing that chute on your back.
"No...seriously...it's just a fashion statement."