MK 1 Ejection Seat Blueprint Art

MK 1 Ejection Seat Blueprint Art vintage style military aviation travel poster art by Squadron Posters!

A bungee-assisted escape from an aircraft took place in 1910. In 1916, Everard Calthrop, an early inventor of parachutes, patented an ejector seat using compressed air. Compression springs installed under the seat were tested. The modern layout for an ejection seat was first introduced by Romanian inventor Anastase Dragomir in the late 1920s. The design featured a parachuted cell (a dischargeable chair from an aircraft or other vehicle). It was successfully tested on 25 August 1929 at the Paris-Orly Airport near Paris and in October 1929 at Băneasa, near Bucharest. Dragomir patented his “catapult-able cockpit” at the French Patent Office. The design was perfected during World War II. Prior to this, the only means of escape from an incapacitated aircraft was to jump clear “bail out”, and in many cases this was difficult due to injury, the difficulty of egress from a confined space, g forces, the airflow past the aircraft, and other factors.

The first ejection seats were developed independently during World War II by Heinkel and SAAB. Early models were powered by compressed air and the first aircraft to be fitted with such a system was the Heinkel He 280 prototype jet-engined fighter in 1940. One of the He 280 test pilots, Helmut Schenk, became the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejection seat on 13 January 1942 after his control surfaces iced up and became inoperative. Check out this stunning MK 1 Ejection Seat Blueprint Art by Squadron Posters!

Squadron Posters offers the world’s largest collection of Squadron Specific Art! Check out our stunning vintage style military aviation themed travel posters, honoring All Branches of Service. Our artwork not only represents aircraft, armored cavalry, or ships, it represents adventure and travel. This means we create posters featuring the Space Needle, New Orleans, the Golden Gate Bridge, Mt Rushmore and the National Mall. Of course, McChord AFB isn’t in Seattle but if you’re stationed there your adventure surely involves the Space Needle! (See our Facebook page HERE)

This is what makes Squadron Posters different–it’s about remembering where you’ve lived and what you’ve seen with a vintage themed travel poster. – Collect your travels and tell your story!