Science: The Flying Seat

Airmen and scientists long ago conquered the problem of flight at supersonic speeds, but they are still wrestling with the jet-age problem of bailing out. Both the Navy and Air Force have been betting that as speeds rise, the pilot who bails out will have to be protected from the killing blast of the airstream by a detachable, parachute-fitted cockpit that can be blasted away from the crippled aircraft. But no aircraft now being made is designed to take a capsule cockpit.

Taking a simpler approach to the problem, the Air Force and Lockheed...

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