canadian student ejects

The Canadians decided to buy a variant of the newest Air Force trainer, what I'm currently flying. They call it the Harvard II, we call it the T-6 Texan II. It has a great ejection seat, 0/0, which basically means the pilot(s) are able to eject at zero feet, zero knots. Let me tell you that's nice when you've only got one engine. Well, last week, a Canadian student ejected, and not on purpose.

Ejection shock for first-time student
The Canadian Press
Published: Thursday, April 05, 2007

MOOSE JAW, Sask. -- An instructor and a first-time student pilot at an air force base were slightly injured yesterday when an ejection seat on a Harvard II accidentally deployed during a training session while the plane was still on the ground.

A spokesman for the base said the two, who were not seriously hurt, were treated and released from hospital.

"The ejection occurred, [the] seat worked as advertised, parachute opened and the student landed on the ramp," said Lt. Paul Goddard, acting commander for 15 Wing Moose Jaw.

This is not the first time this has happened, and its a pretty big deal. The seats themselves cost about a million dollars apiece, and the whole rest of the aircraft costs about the same as the seats. I'm sure this guy is on the hot seat for screwing up something fairly basic, but then that's what students do best, right?

On a lighter note, she's a fun jet to fly, and she gets great gas milage. The Texan II can go about 800 miles on 160 gallons of good ol' jet-a. And let me tell you, its nice knowing you got that rocket under you.... so to speak.