Here at Martin-Baker, we run an exclusive club that unifies all pilots whose lives we’ve helped save: life membership of the Ejection Tie Club is confined solely to those who have emergency ejected from an aircraft using a Martin-Baker ejection seat, which has thereby saved their life.
To search our collection of Ejectee testimonials please enter information in the below search bar. If you have an Ejection story of your own that you’d like to share with us to be shown on this page, please forward to information@martin-baker.co.uk.
The first pilot to be accepted into the Club was an RAF serviceman who ejected over what was then Rhodesia in January 1957. Since then, the Club has over 6,000 registered members.
The primary objective of the Club is to provide a distinctive tie to be worn with civilian clothing which provides a visible sign of the members' common bond. Every Club member is given a certificate, membership card, patch, tie, pin or a brooch for the women. All Tie Club memorabilia depicts a red triangle warning sign, the recognised international danger symbol for an ejection seat.
The Ejection Tie Club was founded by Sir James Martin and is now run by Andrew Martin, the grandson of Sir James.
“On 2nd August, 1983, during a fleet support mission in a Mirage IIIO in miserable weather, I had just turned inbound towards HMAS Hobart for another simulated attack, when my engine failed. I initiated the ejection at 220KIAS using the lower handle this time. The seat worked perfectly, and seconds later I deployed my dinghy,…
“Long ago (Jan 9, 1974 – I believe) my pilot and I used two fine Martin-Baker products to exit a burning F-4E (tail number 70204) and left the seats somewhere in the jungles of northern Thailand. The system worked exactly as advertised. I fell in the seat under the 5’ chute for several seconds from…
“The sense of security that Martin-Baker provides proved itself real in practice and allowed us to avoid all chances of crashing onto people and destroying properties, when the seats released ourselves at approximately 150 feet AGL with ~300ft/min descend rate near Alexander the Great airbase (LGKV) from the burning and incapable of flying F-5B No…
“On February 18, 2014, I ejected from my Kfir approximately ten minutes after takeoff. We had a critical failure in the engine, which led to having to use our ejection seat. Thanks Martin-Baker for allowing me to see, once again, my beloved wife and my dear children.”