The Ejection Site
Republic F-105 Thunderchief Seat
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was equipped with this
seat designed by Republic Aircraft. The F-105 seat used a set of rollers that were arrainged to fit over a set of channel rails mounted on the cockpit bulkhead. This rail unit covered the ROCAT except for the attachment point at the top, and the seat height actuator at the base. The seat used a gun-deployed, backpack-style parachute with a seat-mounted set of shoulder harnesses and associated lap belt to restrain the occupant. The seat was fired by a set of armrest mounted handles. They worked in a two stage manner. The first stage raised the armrests and jettisoned the canopy. The second was by squeezing the trigger grips fired the Rocket-Catapult (ROCAT). It was fitted with a leg restraint system. Late versions of the seat were fitted with a drogue parachute for stability.
One oddity of the system is some evidence that has surfaced that some of the leg restraint lines were made of rope, and I am researching that, so if any of you readers know about that, please drop me an email. This seat was used in a successful ejection.
The ROCAT used in the F-105 was a typical type with the catapult cartridge
and initiator at the base of the unit. The ROCAT was mounted to the cockpit via a linear motor
seat height actuator at the base. This installation was partially hidden by the rails for the F-105 seat which were a unit that wrapped around the ROCAT and interfaced with rollers on the inner side of the seat back. The ROCAT itself, the Talley Industries 10100, used an extension tube from the top of the unit to the base for the initiator to be hooked up while the seat was installed. The unfired ROCAT is about 3.25 inches diameter, and 45 inches long. Weighing 32lbs, it provides a total impulse fo about 2700 pound-seconds. The Rocket portion of the unit burns for approxamately .5 second.
Thanks to the anonymous collector who is
allowing me to use these photos, and F-105 Diagram courtesy Rick Versteeg's Thud Ridge Web
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was equipped with this
seat designed by Republic Aircraft. The F-105 seat used a set of rollers that were arrainged to fit over a set of channel rails mounted on the cockpit bulkhead. This rail unit covered the ROCAT except for the attachment point at the top, and the seat height actuator at the base. The seat used a gun-deployed, backpack-style parachute with a seat-mounted set of shoulder harnesses and associated lap belt to restrain the occupant. The seat was fired by a set of armrest mounted handles. They worked in a two stage manner. The first stage raised the armrests and jettisoned the canopy. The second was by squeezing the trigger grips fired the Rocket-Catapult (ROCAT). It was fitted with a leg restraint system. Late versions of the seat were fitted with a drogue parachute for stability.
