Tu-154M as F-5 ejection seat test bed (Iran)

[kerick]

I hope the hanger door is tall enough.

[NARSES2]

Must admit on a Air Malaysia flight to Singapore I saw the flight attendents go upstairs at the tail for a sleep. So they had bunks up there somewhere ?

[Hobbes]

Probably in the fuselage above the passenger area.

[bearmatt]

Ok....now seriously, this has been photoshoped, hasn't it?
I agree absolutely this topic has been posted in the right section! "The Idea Bank" 

[bearmatt]

Now I got it....
That's for a new movie


Hot Shots 3 - "Tigerblood" 

[PR19_Kit]

Ok....now seriously, this has been photoshoped, hasn't it?
I agree absolutely this topic has been posted in the right section! "The Idea Bank" 

Apparently not, I've seen it reported in more than one place. And you have to admit it's JUST the sort of thing the Iranians would do! 

[pyro-manic]

Serious.  They used live bears which had been drugged to test the ejection seats.   Must have made recovery interesting if the bears were waking up by the time you reached them.   

But surely a bear weighs a hell of a lot more than your average pilot?

[Mossie]

Whether its a test pilot or a crash dummy, how do you get it up there? Seems like a waste of time.

Presumably the same ladder that they use for maintenance on the tailplane?

Having the test cockpit up there makes some sort of sense as it's in free stream air-flow with no vortices to spoil the simulation of what it would be when it's a 'real aircraft'. Having said that it must have been a real bitch re-stressing and modifiying the fin to take the extra loads.

One of the biggest problems with an ejection seat test bed is find an aircraft that has suitable intakes.  Most modern aircraft have there intakes in position where fireing an ejection seat results in hot gas and debris being ingested, not a problem if Elvis is leaving the building but if a pilots still in there things have the potential to get hairy.  This is why Martin Baker still operate their very elderly Meteors, they have trouble finding anything newer, I think Mig-21's are still used in the east somewhere.  Putting it high up on the tail eliminates that problem at least!

[James]

How to wreck a cracking looking plane like the Tu-154!

But flipping crazy! 

[Gondor]

But surely a bear weighs a hell of a lot more than your average pilot?

If I were a pilot I would insist on a flight suit, get a bit nippy otherwise..... oh wrong bare

Gondor

[philp]

Close up for those of you interested in a conversion.

[kerick]

Does make some of the Gerry Anderson stuff look more believable!

[Go4fun]

Who was driving the fighter that got rear-ended? Traffic is getting rediculious around airports anymore!