ejection seat

ejection seat

[ē′jek·shən ′sēt]

(aerospace engineering)

Emergency device which expels the pilot safely from a high-speed airplane.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

ejection seat

A seat, normally fitted on combat aircraft, that permits the occupant to be ejected out of the vehicle in the case of any serious emergency that necessitates abandoning the vehicle. The seat is ejected by an explosive charge (i.e., cartridge or rocket). The occupant is separated from the seat normally automatically or, in some cases, manually. The parachute, thereafter, deploys at a preset height.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Ejection Seat

 

a seat designed for cosmonauts; it isequipped with a device for catapult ejection from the cabin andsubsequent descent by parachute. Cosmonaut ejection beforelanding (at a height of a few km) is used in several spacecraftlanding systems, such as that of the Vostok. Ejection seats arealso employed in case of accident during the spacecraft launchand entry into orbit. Ejection seats have a number of systems anddevices, including mortar-deployed parachute systems, oxygensupply, ventilation devices for the spacesuit, a transceiving radio, food supply, and survival equipment to be used by the cos-monaut upon landing. The cockpits of modern aircraft areequipped with catapult ejection devices.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.