Innovative Ejection Seat Windblast Protection Devices for Improved Pilot Safety

It has been well documented that pilot ejection injuries drastically increase with increasing dynamic pressure. Further, in combat situations pilots tend to eject at much higher airspeeds leading to even higher injury rates. With the evolution of higher performance aircraft it is critical that we develop windblast protection technologies to insure the safety of current and future pilots. This proposal presents several novel concepts for windblast reduction which may be incorporated into current- technology ejection seats. These windblast reduction concepts will be developed, analyzed, and refined using a unique combination of in-house aerodynamic simulations and ejection seat dynamic modeling capabilities. The development of these new windblast reduction concepts promises to both greatly improve pilot safety, while simultaneously expanding the operational capability of current- and future-technology ejection seats to higher dynamic pressure environments.