Question re A-6 Intruder ejection seats

[polybebber]

At what time were the GRU-5 seats replaced with the GRU-7s? The pictures of the GRU-5 I found on my web search show a seat which looks quite different from what Trumpeter packed in their 32nd kit. The Trumpeter seats look more like GRU-7s to me. I checked the World Airpower Journal article on the Intruder for answers, but it only mentions: "These seats (GRU-5s) were replaced on late production Intruders with MB GRU-7 seats". Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Lothar

[lyonkubb]

One of my mechanics here at work was a EA-6B Prowler mechanic / crew chief for 20 some years. When asked the question, he says he recalls the change happening in the early 90's. But he was stumped why a modeller would care....He says he believes the modification from GRU-5 to GRU-7 was the addition of the command eject feature which would sequence the crew correctly upon initiation from any of the four seats in an effort to prevent fatal collisions btween any of the four crew or seats. Says the Inturder is the same. The modifications are only visible in the form of an additional sequencing box at the back of the seat and it's corresponding safety pin. 14 pins instead of 13?

Also...be careful you are referencing photos of Intruder seats and not seats from other applications (F-14's for example) because they have different features on the basic seat (i.e. two rings vs. one on the overhead pull).

Hope this helps....

[toadwbg]

I did a bit of research on this recently for a commision build and I know there is one or two other threads out there on this forum. IIRC, the GRU-5 to 7 transition occurred in the early 70s. However that is where it started and some airframes may have transitioned later.

EDIT: Just do a serach in the Jets forum for GRU-5 and you will get several good results. Here is one thread:

http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=258162&st=0&p=2448309&hl=gru-5&fromsearch=1entry2448309

Edited August 7, 2013 by toadwbg

[ziggyfoos]

One of my mechanics here at work was a EA-6B Prowler mechanic / crew chief for 20 some years. When asked the question, he says he recalls the change happening in the early 90's.

1990's seems really late! I didn't think the EA-6B ever even used the GRU-5 seats.

[Gary F]

I can speak only for the squadron I was in (VA-196) but we started receiving the -7 seats at the same time we got our first early A-6E's and that was early summer of '75.

The -7 seemed noticeably different to me at the time. The seat and back cushions were ribbed on the -7 and green, while on the -5 they were smooth with small pinholes, and orange. The area under the knee seemed larger and more supportive , better padded on the -7. The sidewall of the seat (-7) seemed to extend further forward which I assumed was to help contain the knees during ejection. The headrest on the -7 also seemed larger or more pronounced ... These were the things that stood out to me from a modeler's perspective at the time.

And you're right, those aren't the -5 seats in the Trumpeter kit ... hopefully we'll see some resin ones. Otherwise the big kit seems quite nice.

Just to be clear, I wasn't a seat guy. I was electrical and spent plenty of time sitting in the cockpit working ... the -7 were a lot more comfortable, too.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Gary F

[Spongebob]

How long before someone steps up and tells Gary he's wrong? Bets?

[Darren Roberts]

Gary doesn't know what the heck he's talking about. He is so wrong! I saw a picture once and from the tiny details of the seat I could unequivocally determine what block number the A-6 was. I wish those guys who worked on them would get their facts straight. What? He's correct? Umm....ummm..... :D

[Gary F]

Sponge and Darren ... you guys are too funny! : )

So Darren, are you going to do the big scale Intruder? Maybe resin for a tanker or even a B mod? Or dare I say it .. a set of -5 seats??

[polybebber]

How long before someone steps up and tells Gary he's wrong? Bets?

Gary doesn't know what the heck he's talking about. He is so wrong! I saw a picture once and from the tiny details of the seat I could unequivocally determine what block number the A-6 was. I wish those guys who worked on them would get their facts straight. What? He's correct? Umm....ummm..... :D/>/>

Yeah, I was afraid he didn't know what he was talking about B)/> didn't make any sense at all B)/> . Thank you Gary, thank you toadwbg, your information was what I was hoping for.

Lothar

[Darren Roberts]

Sponge and Darren ... you guys are too funny! : )

So Darren, are you going to do the big scale Intruder? Maybe resin for a tanker or even a B mod? Or dare I say it .. a set of -5 seats??

I'm going to do a set of resin exhaust plugs and I'd like to do a KA-6D conversion. What do I have to do for a B mod?

[Yuri61]

The EA-6B was only fitted with GRU-7 seats when in service. The A-6 was the only aircraft to use the GRU-5 seat. The GRU-5 seat is an entirely different seat than the GRU-7 seat. They had a a different parachute pack, softpacks and the seat frame wrapped around the parachute similar to the early F-4 seats,seat container was also different than the GRU-7 as were the harness assemblies etc, etc. The GRU-7 Seat in the A-6E was fitted on the production line in around 1972-3 and has a different headbox as it is slightly more narrow than the GRU-7's fitted to the F-14 and has only a single loop firing handle fitted to the headbox. I know this as I worked on GRU-7's in both the A-6 and F-14 and the NACES seat program for the F-14D.The GRU-7 seat in the A-6 if you look closely has reinforced ribs on the side of the heardbox towards the back and small canopy piecers for ejection through the canopy where the F-14 GRU-7 does not.The pilots GRU-7 in the A-6E also had an recline switch so you could recline the seat back somewhat! Other than that GRU-7 seats are identical. At Alemeda NARF in the early ninties we were still fitting the green ribbed/padded cushions to the GRU-7 A-6E seats as they came through for rework. These were made of Cotton/Nomex where the very first ones from Martin Baker were nylon/nomex as you can some time see in very early photos of GRU-7 seats as they look shiny.The original cushions had air circulated through them from a two hoses attached to the seat bucket.

HTH

Edited August 11, 2013 by Yuri61