During my time as Weapons Technician in the Royal Air Force, I had the opportunity to maintain numerous variants of Ejection Seats including the Mk10a (Tornado GR1 and F3) & Mk10b (Hawk).
As a member of a dedicated team of committed professionals, our ultimate objective was: Life-Preservation. This became all but too apparent when 2 aircraft (on separate dates), from an air base in which I was stationed, where placed in difficult positions where ejection was their only means of escape.
It is with great pride, and relief at the time, to tell you that both crews ejected safely.
Years later I was lucky to meet up with one of the ejectees who still felt indebted to the team ensuring his quality of life was able to continue, although he was unable to fly again.
I now continue to share and gain experience in this important field of life-saving by instructing on the Mk16a in various areas of the world, highlighting the importance of maintenance on Martin-Baker crew escape systems.
