Friday, December 15, 2017

Bernard Lynch, BEM, Martin Baker

Bernard Lynch has always been a hero of mine for cold-blooded courage in being the first man to test Martin Baker's prototype ejection seats.

http://www.airspacemag.com/videos/category/new-label/footage-of-the-first-martin-baker-ejection-s/

Great video from the Smithsonian Channel.

Though not noted in the video, he was rightly awarded the British Empire Medal for his work.
(The RAF pilot style moustache clearly deserved an award of its own, it's another example where the hero wasn't a pilot, not was a member of the air force, but a civilian technician.
And another note, illustrating the dangers of reporting: a journalist from The Aeroplane was hospitalised with crushed vertebrae after trying out the rig for himself.)

https://www.airspacemag.com/videos/category/new-label/footage-of-the-first-martin-baker-ejection-s/