TOUGH SLEDDING
Sign in to track this film in your collection or want list.
Year Published: 1950s
Format: 16mm
Description: One of the most infamous "gag" films ever produced under the auspices of the Department of Defense, "Tough Sledding" was apparently created by the staff at Northrop Corporation in the late 1950s. No, we don't know what they were smoking! In this era Northrop was heavily engaged in conducting human factors research, and developing escape systems including ejection seats and parachutes for use in aircraft and spacecraft. This included the work of Dr. John Paul Stapp, who famously rode rocket sleds at Edwards AFB where he became known as the "Fastest Man on Earth". (Stapp also helped name "Murphy's Law" -- see "A History of Murphy's Law" on Amazon for more details). Made by "Lower Rank Productions", "Tough Sledding" is a full color blast into irony, the kind of film that could only have been made in America. It's just surprising it emerged from the very conservative 1950s, where such artistic creations were often frowned upon. Incidentally, the rocket sled shown is likely the one used for the T-38 Talon, which Northrop produced beginning in 1961. Apparently the system required a great deal of work to perfect...as this five minute wonder aptly demonstrates!
Complete Record:
Transcription
[Music] [Music] in recent years the air force investigation of accident reports has revealed that 73% of pilot fatalities occurred while aircraft was still on the ground in order to reduce this high on the ground fatality rate a program was initiated to develop an ejection seat which would allow safe ejection from the aircraft even during the takeoff or landing role one of the primary requirements of the new seat was that it separate from the pilot quickly and effortlessly after preliminary development of the new seat was accomplished testing began at Edwards Air Force Base first came static firings from a dummy nose section static firings completed the dummy nose section with feet installed was mounted on a rocket-propelled sled for further testing the first test was on April 1st 1958 the purpose of this sled run was to confirm the parachute operation and seat separation system the sled was propelled at a planned velocity of 300 miles per hour to simulate flight speed condition booster firing and sled operation were normal those seed ejection was normal speed separation was not accomplished and the parachute failed to deploy much valuable information was gained and except for the seat and parachute malfunctions the firing was a complete success after the information from test number one was assembled and evaluated and further testing and altering was done on the seat separation system the sled was ready for the next run sled run number two was scheduled for July 4th to demonstrate the NA perfected seat separation device the results of test number two were very similar to test number one more valuable information was gained leading to further improvements on the seat separation system two more tests were scheduled test number three for September 1st and test number four for October 12 at the completion of test number four the need for further refinement of the seat was being felt by the project engineers an additional test was therefore scheduled for December 25th 1958 this final test firing was the most successful of all in the peak separation was demonstrated parachute deployment might also have been demonstrated however due to a personnel error the subject was not fitted with a parachute on this firing a detailed report of these tests will be published early in 1959 [Music] [Music]
1 user has this film:
Periscope Film
No related films.
Original permalink · Record added: 2025-01-23 16:41:11