First proposal for an ejection seat ?

[Jemiba]

The German magazine "Spektrum der Wissenschaft" (Spectrum of Sciences) regularly
features a retrospection of inventions or discoveries which were made 100 years ago.
In the latest issue an old newspaper article from "Technische Monatshefte" about a rescue
device for aviators is copied:
The pilots seat was mounted on a kind of pole and the pilot fitted with a parachute.
In the event of an emergency, the parachute would draw the seat with the pilot clear
form the plunging aircraft. The inventor isn't mentioned, but I think, this could be the
first description of an ejection seat, couldn't it ?

 

[Spark]

Hi,
A German inventor tried to sell a ejector seat to the UK pre First War, maybe to the RFC?

The German magazine "Spektrum der Wissenschaft" (Spectrum of Sciences) regularly
features a retrospection of inventions or discoveries which were made 100 years ago.
In the latest issue an old newspaper article from "Technische Monatshefte" about a rescue
device for aviators is copied:
The pilots seat was mounted on a kind of pole and the pilot fitted with a parachute.
In the event of an emergency, the parachute would draw the seat with the pilot clear
form the plunging aircraft. The inventor isn't mentioned, but I think, this could be the
first description of an ejection seat, couldn't it ?

 

[riggerrob]

That pole reminds us of very early parachutes (e.g. da Vinci and Veranzio) that had complete umbrella frames to spread them. Later, inventors like Blachard (1785) learned that most of those stiffeners are useless.
In this case, I suspect that the primary function of the center pole was to raise the parachute canopy above the tail fin.

 

[Dynoman]

It would be interesting to see the times of these early proposals and tests of ejection seats. The French were also looking at the concept at least as early as 1912.

"December 12, 1912 the ejection seat of Baron d' Odkolek is tested in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a dummy the weight of a man, equipped with a parachute, is ejected from an airplane in flight using an a small cannon. This invention comes at the right time, because 1911 was a catastrophic year for French aviation. Of 500 pilots listed, 34 were killed."

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