Articles

Thanks to our ACES® II ejection seat, this pilot is safe and lives to fly another day.

ACES 5’s unique features include a faster deploying drogue parachute and a stability package (STAPAC) to compensate for pitch changes due to varied aircrew weight and aerodynamic effects, thereby reducing the risk for injury.

A small team of Collins Aerospace employees within our Ejection Seats & Propulsion business in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was honored recently for designing an innovative seat retrofit kit and qualifying it to meet the latest U.S. Air Force airworthiness requirements.

The U.S. Air Force recently notified Collins Aerospace of its intent to sole-source the Next Generation Ejection Seat (NGES) program with our ACES 5® ejection seat.

When then-U.S. Air Force (USAF) Lt. Col. Bob Harvey took off in his F-16 for a training mission at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina on Nov. 19, 1998, he had no idea he wouldn’t be landing as usual. Almost at the very instant he raised his landing gear, his engine immediately shut down.

With recent appearances at SAFE EU and the Paris Air Show, the ACES 5 ejection seat and team have been a busy.

Collins Aerospace has conducted several major reviews on the upgraded version of its ACES II ejection seat for the U.S. Air Force’s Safety and Sustainment Improvement Program (SSIP) for B-2 bombers. After closing out final action items, deliveries are on track to begin this summer.

Credited with saving more than 664 lives since 1978, another ACES save can be added to that counter when a pilot had to eject from a F-16.

In our first profile, meet John "Barney" Fyfe. As Director of Air Force Programs, Barney interfaces with US and international Air Forces, Joint Staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to promote safety and awareness of ACES 5.

When the U.S. Air Force flies its new advanced pilot trainer from Boeing and Saab, it will be equipped with an ACES 5® ejection seat from Collins Aerospace, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), along with a fully integrated landing gear system.

United Technologies Corp (UTC) will start deliveries this year of its upgraded ejection seat for the Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit bomber, according to a company spokesman.

The ACES 5 team recently completed the latest in a series of tests. To simulate realistic conditions, the rocket-powered test rig accelerated to 600 KEAS (Knots Equivalent Airspeed) before successfully ejecting two advanced flight test manikins on ACES 5 seats. Several media outlets joined, resulting in the coverage below.