An ejector seat propels a human at speeds reaching 200 miles in less than a second. It can save a life... or snap a neck. John Nichol remembers pulling the ejector handle in his Tornado aircraft flying at over 500mph above the Iraqi desert, launching him back down to earth. It saved his life, but he wasn't able to recover in a hospital because he was captured and taken straight to an Iraqi prison. This makes him the most appropriate guest to take Dan through the history of the invention of the ejector seat, how it works and what it was like to eject. He delves into the incredible history of the Martin Baker ejector seat, still being made in London today and astonishing stories of the first ejection in combat, of American soldiers ejecting out of burning aircraft over Vietnam in the 80s and how they were all given a second chance at life by ejecting.
This episode was produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
His new book is called 'Eject! Eject!'
Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world-renowned historians like Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW. Download the app or sign up here.
We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Pegasus Bridge: The First Assault of D-Day
Las Vegas & Atomic Tourism
Julius Caesar's Sex Life
D-Day: The Deception that Made it Possible
D-Day: The Land Invasion
D-Day: The Air Invasion
D-Day: The Sea Invasion
Mutiny on the Rising Sun: Smuggling in Colonial America
Coming Soon! D-day to Berlin
Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s Third Queen
The Opium Wars
The British Empire, China and Opium
Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period
The Royal Navy's Darkest Night & The Origins of Longitude
Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt: The Impossible Alliance that Won WWII
Twelve Caesars with Mary Beard
Marshal Pétain: Hero or Traitor?
Merlin, The Occult and British Politics
The Dynasty That Made Medieval France
Why Are We Drawn to Dictators?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
History Extra podcast
Battleground
Gone Medieval
Key Battles of American History
WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk