Eject! Eject!

Product Information

He apparently kept them in the fridge at his factory, “causing those looking for milk during tea breaks no little distress”. He devised and presented 2 series of Survivors, interviewing newsmakers who have been through life changing experiences. This rather begged the question of whether the human body could in fact withstand the force of the explosion. Packed with interviews with aircrew who know exactly how it feels to ‘Bang Out’ from an aircraft at high speed, both in peace and in war, the book gives the reader a vivid sense of what that life-saving experience feels like, but also features the moving accounts of what happens next, from the viewpoint of both the crews and their families, who often have little or no information about whether or not their loved ones have survived. In Germany, Heinkel had fitted their turbojet-powered fight He-280 with a catapult seat escape system, and on January 13 1942, the Luftwaffe’s Wolfgang “Bombo” Schenck became the first man to use an ejection seat in an emergency.

Sadly, although I chose it because I was fascinated by modern ejection-seat technology , it was the human stories that achieved most impact on me. In the wake of the war, that technological race to save aircrew lives using explosive seats continued at an incredible pace. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. He has served around the world from the Nevada Desert to the Middle East and Norway to the Falkland Islands.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Without doubt by its very nature there must be a constant battle between aircraft/missile performance and the safe deliverance of aircrew from an aircraft that is too fast, fatally compromised, too low, spinning too much, taking cannon shells or is on fire and for this reason no doubt work will continue.

In 1928, he moved to Denham in Buckinghamshire, where he hung a sign on the front of an old linoleum factory, “Martin’s Aircraft Works”. Spitfire, Lancaster, and Tornado all followed the same format of using the often fascinating stories of those involved to tell a bigger story, and Eject! Nichol tells the remarkable tale of how the ejection seat was first conceived during the Second World War as countless lives were lost in accidents and in battle.Please Note: By their very nature, all signed books will have been handled several times before they get to you. During 15 years service in the Royal Air Force John Nichol served as a technician and, after being commissioned from the ranks, as a Tornado Navigator in both the Air Defence and Ground Attack roles. Captured, tortured and held as a prisoner of war, John was paraded on television, provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the most enduring images of the conflict. There was clearly an urgent need for such a device: early aircraft escape techniques, notes Nichol, “were rudimentary at best: strap on parachute and jump.

Out of the 4 books in the group I thought this would be the one I least enjoyed, but it was fascinating and told the stories of each ejection featured very well. As the author has had to be diplomatic in some areas, feelings run deep and memories are long, the book has a feel of 'now it can be told' just not completely.I especially liked the way several airmen’s and navigator’s stories were interwoven through the book as it progressed.