Before the B-66 series aircaft had individual crew escape hatches installed. The entire top of the crew compartment would come off prior to crew ejection. This was the configuration of the five (5) prototype RB-66A aircraft. During sled tests of the RB-66A escape system configuration, Chimpanzees were strapped into the seats of the three crew positions. The tests were not good. I don't remember the track speed, but the navigators instument panel broke free and came back into the navigators seat and air pressure on the crew positions was unacceptable in the open seated position. The large canopy was removed from the aircraft during ejection with two very large thrusters, one on each side of the canopy. When these thrusters fired and when certain seats were fired, the occupants of the rear seats were burned.

It was then decided to go to individual hatches and subsequent sled tests used cadaver flesh strips on dummy occupants. I don't know what percentile dummy was us! ed at the gunners position. I think current ejection seat personnel criteria is 5th thru 95th percentile. Anyway, I never did see or hear of and personnel restrictions unless it was obvious. Two B-66 pilots, brothers Art and Cecil Smith 6'4" were definately not suited for gunner's seat occupancy.

During the RB-66B mid-air at Shaw AFB in 1959, Lt James Young was an instructor navigator in the gunner's seat of the aircraft that crashed, He ejected without leg injury and I remember him as being 6'1" - 6'2". One ejection does not imply a trend.

When the B-66B, RB-66B/C and WB-66D were originally delivered from Douglas Aircraft to the Air Force using units, they were not equipped with an automatic lap belt separation system. Without an automatic lap belt separation system, it was the crewmembers responsibility to manually unlatch the lap belt in order to obtain man-seat separation. Wasn't good, but that's the way it was.

Shorty after B-66 aircraft were delivered to the squadrons, a automatic lap belt system was installed that incorporated a time-delay initiator that would fire after the ejection seat cleared the aircraft. This would separate the lap belt from the crewmember, but it would not assure separation of the crewmember from the seat. There were numerous cases where a crewmember ejected but held onto the pre-ejection/ejection handles and did not separate from the seat, usually with fatal results. There was a need for a system that would automatically separate the crewmember from the seat after ejection.

During the late 50's (?) a man-seat separation system was incorporated onto all B-66 crewmembers seats.This modification was incorporated by Technical Order Compliance (TOC) and consisted of a wide strap that the crewmember would sit on. The strap was connected to a reel that was attached to the seat and operated to the "reel up" or "reel in" position by a time delay initiator that fired after the seat ejected from the aircraft.

OPERATION: The crewmember sits on his seat on a wide strap that was on the seat bottom and back (next to crewmember). When the crewmember pulls the pre-ejection/ejection handles, the hatch departs the aircraft and the catapult fires. The seat then exits the aircraft, and, after a time delay, the lap belt initiator fires (releasing the lap belt). The man-seat separator initiator fires next, and the reel retracts the strap on the crewmembers bottom. It was affectionately called a "Butt Snapper." Hope this explanation helps.

No further news on the tail# of the WB-66D that crashed near Bermuda. I hope to talk to someone at the Nashville B-66 Reunion in October that may know more of this accident.

We are trying to contact a crewmember that was on the RB-66C that crashed at Spang due to rudder separation. I'm very interested in this, since I have never heard of structural failure of this type on a B-66. We will let you know as soon as we receive any firm information on this accident.