Title: Everything You Need to Know About Ejecting From a Fighter Jet
Headings: Everything You Need to Know About Ejecting From a Fighter Jet
Everything You Need to Know About Ejecting From a Fighter Jet
A Fire Under Your Ass
Hiccups
Come on Down

Content: Generally speaking, a pilot would know the altitude at which they punched out, but it can be difficult to tell how high you are once you are free falling. The instructor at Langley simply said, "If you see the ground coming up big and fast, pull the rip cord." If the chute deploys above 14,000 feet and you are having trouble breathing, there is a "green apple" knob on the right side of your harness that you can pull to buy yourself about eight minutes of oxygen supplied to your mask from a reserve in your parachute rig. Hiccups
If you ever have to punch out of a fighter jet, you will quickly want to assess your situation, which will determine the next step. You are over either water or land, and more importantly, you are either at a high enough altitude to prepare for the landing or too low to do anything but brace for impact. A typical dome canopy parachute, like what is used on ejection seats. In the case of a low-altitude ejection, all you can do is glance at your canopy to make sure it opened fully and then tuck your feet, bend your knees, and prepare to hit hard. The proper technique is to hit with the side of one of your feet first, and then collapse with the momentum so that the impact spreads out over the side of your leg, your hip, and then below the shoulder on your back, dissipating some of the energy. If you land straight on the balls of your feet, or with stiff legs, you're liable to break something even if you have had adequate time to slow down with the parachute. If you eject up around 10,000 feet, so you have a little time in the air, there is a standard checklist to run through, one that fighter pilots can rattle off in their sleep: