The Ejection Site

These photos of a SAAB J-35 Draken seat are from correspondant Kevin Patrick, a former F-16 Crew Chief. The seat is in his personal collection. It is one of the SAAB designed seats which vary significantly from other seat manufacturers. There is a good web page for further information on SAAB seats here

This seat is a 'Raketstol fpl 35 gen 2'. This is the fourth type of seat used in the Draaken. The first and second were pure catapult seats (Katapuktstol), and the latter two are rocket seats. This being a Generation 2 seat, it has an upgraded parachute, more powerful seat ejection cartridge, side supports for feet and quicker leg restraining, and an improved stabilizing drogue.

The parachute system fitted to the mid-to-late versions was based on the parachute system developed for the Foland Gnat aircraft. The parachute system for this version is an improved KFF-50. All versions used a seat separation strap and a central catapult tube down the back. The Raketstol versions added a traverse rocket tube under the seat with five rocket nozzles. This gave the seat better ground level performance. The rocket is actuated by gas from the seat catapult.

The dual firing handles actuate an electrically controlled canopy jettison system. In two place aircraft a sequencing system is fitted to eject the aft occupant first no matter who initiates the ejection.