Being Ejected for The First Time

 

On this date in 1945, while flying at more than 300 miles per hour at 6,000 feet over Patterson Field, Ohio, First Sergeant Lawrence Lambert, U.S. Army Air Forces became the first person to eject from an aircraft in flight in the United States. The test aircraft was a modified Northrop P-61B-5-NO Black Widow night fighter, redesignated XP-61B. The airplane was flown by Captain John W.McGyrt and named Jack in the Box. The ejection seat was placed in the gunner’s position, just behind and above the Black Widow’s pilot. A 37 mm cartridge launched the seat from the airplane at approximately 60 feet per second with Lambert experiencing 12–14 Gs acceleration.