SU

Zvesda is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of ejection seats - and as anyone who saw the film of Anatoli Kovochur ejecting from his MiG 29 at the Paris Air Show will testify.

Over the last five years Zvesda has been working closely with the Sukhoi Design Bureau on the development of a light weight substitute for conventional ejector seats, which typically weigh 100kg or so, and rely on either explosive or rocket power to push the pilot and the seat clear of the aircraft.

The technical path followed by Zvesda is totally new, and the result has been a revolution in pilot escape systems, in which for an extra system weight of only 15kg, the pilot now has almost all the advantages of an ejector seat, but for a fraction of the cost, and also at a weight which makes the system applicable to relatively small aircraft.

The essence of the system is an extremely ingenious device whereby the pulling power of a parachute is used to extract the pilot - in approximately 0.25 of a second - i.e. better than many former ejector seats.

The system is independent of the aircraft and the aircraft systems, and is comprised of the following:

O A conventional seat, with aerobatic-type harnesses.

O Behind the seat there is a telescoping metal cylinder - akin to the aerial on a portable radio, but significantly larger with the bottom segment approximately 10cm in diameter.

O A small quantity of explosive contained in the cylinder.

O A drogue parachute connected to a main parachute, both in a small housing behind the pilot's head.

The sequence of pilot extraction is as follows:

O When the explosive within the telescoping steel tube is detonated, the pilot's harnesses are simultaneously released.

O The telescoping tube extends some five metres clear of the aircraft, pulling out the drogue parachute and breaking through the canopy in the process.

O The drogue parachute deploys, and immediately extracts the main parachute.

O The main parachute extracts the pilot, from in the aircraft.

O Tests have shown that total extraction will occur in less than a quarter of a second, and can take place at any speed, flight regime or even any manoeuvre that is possible within an aircraft engaged in aerobatics.

The system has been tested initially from sleds, and then with dummies and finally with live pilots from Sukhoi SU-29 aircraft. The system is capable of extracting the pilot from an aircraft flying inverted down to 70 metres and indeed in some circumstances where even modern ejector seats would not be effective.

For the time being we are ceasing sales of Zvesda units owing to our inability to get support for them but hopefully the situation will change in the future.