On the 30th May 1949, 75 years ago today, a Martin-Baker Ejection Seat was used to save the life of a young test pilot by the name of Jo Lancaster.
Jo was flying an Armstrong Whitworth AW.52 and sat aboard a pre-mk1 ejection seat which would save his life and seal his fate as Ejectee #1.
In 2019, Martin-Baker celebrated the 70th anniversary of the first ejection with Jo, who was also celebrating his 100th birthday. Today, he is sadly no longer with us but will forever be remembered and cherished by Martin-Baker as a highly valued ambassador for our life saving emergency equipment.
Since 1949, Martin-Baker have saved the lives of 7,722 aircrew to date from 107 different operators and 188 aircraft types.
Jo (right) visited Martin-Baker shortly after his ejection and met Benny Lynch (left, seated), our original ejection seat test subject. They are pictured talking here with Jo leaning against the forebody of a Gloster Meteor.
In 2013, Jo visited our Denham headquarters again and met with the Martin family. He was also reunited with his pre-Mk1 ejection seat that saved his life.
(From left to right: Robert Martin, James Martin, Jo Lancaster, John Martin, Andrew Martin)
Jo was invited to the world-famous Farnborough International Air Show as a special guest of Martin-Baker in 2018. He is pictured here standing with an early version of our Mk18 ejection seat.
You too can see the pre-Mk1 ejection seat that saved Jo’s life 75 years ago, at Farnborough Air Show this year. It will be on display at our stand (Hall 1, #1260) alongside the latest in ejection seat technology.