Greetings my friends at Martin-Baker.

My pilot and I were fortunate enough to be strapped into a pair of your seats on March 1, 1995 when our F-4G (69-7208) decided it was ready to retire. We were at a little over 1000 feet AGL and 250 KTAS, trying to land at Tonopah Test Airfield in Nevada when it became readily apparent that we would be unable to make it to the runway. Due to the bleed-air duct failure emergency, we were flying without the cockpit canopies and wound up ejecting out of sequence. The pilot, Capt Michael “Ike” Manning, initiated the ejection–getting an immediate seat–while I flew underneath him and got out seconds later.

I am eternally grateful to the Martin-Baker company for the brilliant design and manufacturing of the H7AF ejections seats we used that day. I was able to serve another dozen years in the US Air Force, watch my kids mature into adults, and grow old with my wife thanks to all the men and women of Martin-Baker.

Capt Michael T “Ike” Manning, Ejectee #4653 & Maj Michael J “Leggs” Leggett, Ejectee #4814