I joined the Royal Air Force, as a Boy Entrant, in January 1961 serving until March 1999, leaving as a Flight Sergeant.
My first experience of an Ejection Seat was in the Javelin that was in our training Hangar. Following 18 months training, there followed a succession of postings over the next 38 years. The majority of which entailed working 1st line on Squadrons. This entailed a myriad jobs of Armament nature including Before Flight/After Flight/ Turn Round Servicings and Removal and Fitment of the various marks of Martin-Baker Ejection Seats.
Starting with 90 Squadron Valiants at RAF Honnington (who were disbanded and scrapped within 2 months of me arriving. A “cross posting” to 55 Squadron Victors (who were then still Bombers) followed. Many detachments with 55/57 Sqn were topped by 3 X 3 months in Singapore. Several times per day necessitated the normal AF/BF of the Ejection Seats. Removing the Ejection Seats in the blazing sun was no fun (especially as at that time, the aircraft were painted in gloss white!!
In the following years, I was fortunate enough to have 6 tours (20 years in total) to Royal Air Force Germany (2ATAF as was initially). Each Squadron posting, 17Sqn Canberra PR7’s, 14Sqn Canberra’s B(I)8’s. In later years, Phantom FGR11 and Jaguar’s of 6/14/19 and 20 Squadrons always entailed Removal and Fitting the Ejection Seats on a regular basis (6 monthly servicing as it was then).
Canberra removal and fitment were not too bad, as were the Jaguar. But, the constant “Seat Pan Removal” on the Phantom’s were a guaranteed task on every shift due to INAS(?) problems. Seem to remember that the worst part of that job (prior to H & S intervention), entailed removing the pan by lifting it out of the cockpit and manhandling it to the ground via the wing!! Tying the connector at the rear left of the seat with cord was no easy task either!!
On one posting to RAF Leeming I was NCO I/C the Ejection Seat Bay doing 2nd line Servicing. It was during this posting that I visited your Factory with various items of the Tornado seats on a couple of occasions.
Promotions and postings followed and I ended up at 5 Site RAF Stafford where we did the 3rd line servicing on a multitude of Armament Equipment. Not least of all were many marks of Ejection Seats. I left the RAF here but returned as OC Armament as the first civilian OC.
I was lucky enough during my Service Career to have “back seat” trips in a Phantom and a Jaguar. Confident in the knowledge that I had, coincidently, fitted the Seats as part of my Squadron tasks.
