1950s Navy parachutes

[chriss7606]

There is one thing that I have been wondering specifically for the Blue Angels when they flew the F11F Tigers. The pilots obviously never wore parachutes out to the aircraft, which means that they had to have stayed in the jets. However, I have never seen a photo of a F11F seat with a parachute in it. To be accurate, a model of their Tigers would have the boarding step extended, canopy open, helmet on the cockpit sill, and a parachute in the seat. I have no idea where to even begin as far as the survival equipment goes. Does anyone have any ideas that can get me at least started in the right direction?

[Winnie]

I didn't find anything specific on the Grumman F11F Tiger, but in general, most aircraft of the Naval variety used a parachute integral to the seat with some form of harness to attach yourself to the chute. Thus you won't see the backpack parachute in the seat. Some Martin Baker seats lets you use the seat harness as parachute straps.

[Tailspin Turtle]

The Navy parachute installation  evolved over time. Before World War II, it was located in the bottom of the bucket seat. During the war, particularly aboard carriers, the parachutes were left in the cockpit and a separate harness was created that the pilots wore to and from the airplane. After jets were introduced, there was a gradual transition to backpack parachutes, which were again left in the cockpit (lots of straps involved). Finally, Douglas created a torso harness for the A4D Skyhawk that was worn to the airplane. The only straps in the cockpit were a seat belt and the short ones that combined the functions of the shoulder harness and the attachment to the backpack parachute similar to the Martin-Baker solution, which subsequently became standard.  Also see http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/12/wheres-his-parachute.html

 

To the question, the F11F ejection seat would have had a seat cushion (that may have doubled as a survival kit) and a backpack parachute in place. There were two sets of straps, one to restrain the pilot in the cockpit (i.e. lap belt and full shoulder harness that connected to the lap belt) and the separate parachute harness.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Tailspin Turtle
rewording

[jpk]

With the general migration of Martin Baker seats into all USN jet fighters, I wonder, did the MB seat make it to the Blue Angel F11F's or did they keep the original Grumman designed seat?

[Tailspin Turtle]

1 hour ago, jpk said:

With the general migration of Martin Baker seats into all USN jet fighters, I wonder, did the MB seat make it to the Blue Angel F11F's or did they keep the original Grumman designed seat?

Martin-Baker seats were bought for the F11Fs but they were not installed, except for two airplanes pulled out of Davis Monthan storage in 1974 for a flight test evaluation of the Rohr in-flight reverser. One was modified with the reverser and the other provided the unmodified baseline.

 

That seems inconsistent with the general changeover even though the F11F's deployed service was brief, particularly since the Training Command F9F-8Ts got M-B seats.

[chriss7606]

Tommy, 

 

Thanks for the reply- that's great! It goes along with what I was thinking. I didn't get a chance to reply to the Martin-Baker question. I did actually go to Pueblo and extensively photograph the ROHR aircraft with the M-B seat in it. I also photograph the Blue Angels jet at the Combat Air Museum and the original Grumman seat that all of the other Tigers carried. With the cancellation of Kitty Hawk's 1/32 scale model the F11F dropped way down on Detail & Scale's priority list though.

[jpk]

21 hours ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

Martin-Baker seats were bought for the F11Fs but they were not installed, except for two airplanes pulled out of Davis Monthan storage in 1974 for a flight test evaluation of the Rohr in-flight reverser. One was modified with the reverser and the other provided the unmodified baseline.

 

That seems inconsistent with the general changeover even though the F11F's deployed service was brief, particularly since the Training Command F9F-8Ts got M-B seats.

Yes, that is strange that the two seat Coug's got the seats but the Tiger's in the advanced training command did not get them.