Capsule Cockpit

The heroic, traditional act of bailing out with a parachute is getting less and less popular as airplanes fly faster and higher. Pilots have landed alive (though in poor condition) after bailing out above the speed of sound (TIME, Nov. 21), but according to experts of the Office of Naval Research, no ejection-seat and parachute combination can save a pilot flying more than 1,900 m.p.h. at 70,000 ft. Less speed would be fatal at lower altitudes, because the thicker air would hit the pilot with a harder decelerating jolt.

At last week's Chicago meeting of the Aero Medical Association, the Navy and Douglas Aircraft Co. described their solution to the high-speed bail-out problem: a detachable cockpit. It would form the whole nose of the airplane and would contain all the expensive instruments and electronic gadgets, which are nice to salvage along with the pilot. It would also be standardized, so that the same cockpit would fit the bodies of many different airplanes.

When a bail-out is indicated, the pilot throws a switch, and the capsule cockpit separates neatly from the rest of the airplane. Since the pilot is still behind a streamlined windbreak, he does not get the full impact of deceleration. A small parachute opens and keeps the capsule headed into the wind. When it has slowed down enough, a big parachute opens and lowers it to the ground.

While in the air the pilot still has his oxygen supply and air pressure, as well as protection from cold. If he happens to land in water, the capsule floats, and a stabilizing weight (the airplane's battery) is lowered to give it a heavy keel and make it reasonably seaworthy.

Preliminary experiments performed by Douglas have been encouraging, and the capsule cockpit is now approaching the practical testing stage. Besides saving pilots' lives, it has other advantages. It can be used as a training device, and dress rehearsals for combat missions can be performed with formations of pilots sitting safe in grounded cockpits and going through the motions.

The Navy does not expect to have its cockpit perfected before 1958, and it does not expect it to solve all problems, such as an enemy hit on the cockpit itself. "In many cases, however," says Douglas Engineer Albert Mayo, "it will enable the pilot to survive. It will not guarantee him a comfortable bailout, and if the jet is headed earthward at Mach 2 and 6,000 ft. off the deck, nothing can save him."

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