Dating to 1973, this Pacific Scientific Co. test footage shows a human subject as well as a test dummy on an ejection seat mock-up. Seat restraints are clearly shown, so most likely this footage represents a test of that system. (Pacific Scientific was in fact sued by a rival company Aerotech Industries, over patent rights to a “inertia-operated safety apparatus for use with body harnesses which automatically functions to safely retain the pilots in their seats during crashes and the like.”)

Restraints such as those shown are extremely important in an ejection, as they reposition the pilot’s back against the seat to properly position the body during an ejection or crash sequence, reducing the risk of spinal injury. Modern seats such as ACES II and V use a ballistic powered inertia reel (BPIR) for this purpose. At (8:30) and at (9:37), slow-motion footage shows how the restraints operate to pull a slumped pilot backwards to proper position.

Motion picture films don’t last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we’ve worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies — including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you’d like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com