Photo By Senior Airman Ryan Zeski | Staff Sgt. Chris Mueller and Staff Sgt. Jared Kowalski, 127th Maintenance Group egress...... read more read more
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Deep inside the back shops of the 127th Maintenance Group, two Air Force ACES II ejection seats are under examination. The seats, pulled from A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft assigned to Selfridge Air National Guard Base, are undergoing an extensive once-every-36-months overhaul.
"We pull out every component, check it, test it, take it right down to the bare metal of the seat and build it back up again," said Staff Sgt. Jared Kowalski, an egress system technician with the 127th Maintenance Squadron.
The ejection seat is used on more than a half dozen different types of Air Force aircraft. It includes an explosive charge that can send the seat - and the attached pilot - out of the aircraft in an emergency situation. Two different types of parachutes are attached to the seat to ensure the pilot is able to have a safe landing after ejecting. Other systems in the seat include sensors so that the pilot is automatically detached from the seat if it lands in water; an emergency supply of oxygen and a place to hold emergency rescue gear, such as a raft and signaling devices to allow a pilot to aid in his or her own rescue.
The Airmen of the egress shop begin their work on the seat by disarming its explosive charge. Once it has been made safe, the real work can begin.
"All of the components have different tests and steps that need to be taken to ensure they are still serviceable. It is a highly reliable system," said Staff. Sgt. Chris Muller.
The 127th Maintenance Group maintains several more seats than it does aircraft, so that seats can be rotated in while others are in the heavy inspection phase.
"These seats are the last line of defense for a pilot in trouble. We don't let them go back in the jet until we are 100 percent good on every single component," Kowalski said.
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.05.2017 13:39 |
| Story ID: | 254161 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 187 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Selfridge Airmen Keep Seats Safe, by SMSgt Daniel Heaton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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