El bombardero más increíble del mundo: el Vulcan ✈️ | ICONOS DEL CIELO | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ESPAÑA
Video from the channel National Geographic España about Avro Vulcan, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 2:10. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.
Documentary excerpt that starts from the risk of Vulcan crews being shot down over enemy territory to explain the origin of the ejection seat.
Previously, abandoning an aircraft meant standing up and jumping with a parachute, something increasingly difficult given the speed and G-forces of jet aircraft. Automatic catapult systems were already being tested back in the 1920s.
British inventor James Martin developed the ejection seat and successfully carried out the first in-flight test in 1946. When a lever is pulled, an explosive charge ejects the seat, the parachute opens and the seat separates. The system is still in use and has saved thousands of lives.