The time the Air Force shot a bear out of a B-58

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 03/28/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history, wingspan

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When the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! entered service with the USAF in 1960, it was the first jet bomber capable of Mach 2 speeds. However, nobody really knew what would happen if a pilot ejected at twice the speed of sound. Back in 1955, test pilot George Smith ejected from a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! at Mach 1.05. While he survived, he was very seriously injured and spent five days in a coma. At twice that speed, normal ejection seats could not be used. So engineers devised an ejection capsule for the B-58 that would fully enclose the crew and, they hoped, allow them to eject at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet at speeds of Mach 2. But they needed to test it to see if the crew would survive.

A human pilot had already done a test ejection from the Hustler on February 28, 1962, but that test was undertaken at subsonic speeds. To test the ejection system at supersonic speeds, the Air Force initiated a program to eject live, sedated black bears (and a few primates, for good measure) and then see how they fared. On March 21, 1968, a bear named Yogi was strapped in, taken up to 35,000 feet and ejected at a speed of Mach 1.3. After a nearly 8-minute descent, Yogi landed unharmed. Though the ejection didn’t kill him, Yogi was later euthanized so doctors could examine his internal organs for signs of damage.

Following this initial experiment, the Air Force, along with contractor General Dynamics, carried out more tests at increasing speeds, including a ground test where a bear was ejected from a Hustler taxiing at 100 kts. The worst injury to one of the test bears was a broken pelvis, whiplash and a nosebleed when he ejected at Mach 1.6. Thanks to the service of these “heroic” test animals, the ejection capsule system was eventually certified for human use at supersonic speeds.

Photos and video via US Air Force

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If you enjoy these Aviation History posts, please let me know in the comments. And if you missed any of the past articles, you can find them all at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 12:40

29

Good thing the ejection system worked. If it hadn’t, I can’t bear to think of the grizzly scene they would have found in the wreckage. Poor fella would have sustained more than the average boo boo.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 12:42

12

I hope those guys were given an honorary rank in the U.S. Bear Force.

$kaycog > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 12:45

14

“I’m outta here!”

boredalways > Chariotoflove 03/28/2016 at 12:46

3

+1 for “uncle jokes"

Jcarr > $kaycog 03/28/2016 at 12:52

12

Bye!

My citroen won't start > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 12:52

17

“Humans kill bears and apes to ensure that human killing machine would not kill those same humans while they tried kill other humans that are trying to kill them”

McMike > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 12:55

8

Leave the Bears alone!

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 13:05

2

Heard over the coms during the flight:

Pilot: Man, my co-pilot today is unbearable

$kaycog > Jcarr 03/28/2016 at 13:08

8

Later!

Takuro Spirit > $kaycog 03/28/2016 at 13:12

8

OH NO BEAR IS DRIVING

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 13:26

7

While Yogi survived the ejection due to having the use of a capsule, I am afraid the rest of our Hanna Barbara favorites were not so lucky. Only Huckleberry Hound and Snagglepuss really knew what was coming as the aircraft hit Mach 2.

RPM esq. > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 13:51

3

Fascinating story, thanks. Although I’ll bet the bears in question did not consider it particularly heroic to be kidnapped, tortured, and killed in order to test the safety of the jerks who kidnapped him...such a strange choice of words we use for test animals.

ttyymmnn > RPM esq. 03/28/2016 at 13:52

1

It was meant to be sarcastic.

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 03/28/2016 at 13:52

0

Boo Boo never had a chance.

RPM esq. > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 13:53

1

I know, you just got me musing about how they always talk about Laika and the space chimps and the like in those terms.

ttyymmnn > My citroen won't start 03/28/2016 at 13:53

1

I think you have struck at the heart of the irony in this situation.

ttyymmnn > Jcarr 03/28/2016 at 13:55

3

Boo Boo. Because one boo isn’t enough for that joke.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 14:38

3

Boo Boo had it coming.

The Compromiser > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 17:18

15

I thought a “bear in the air” meant something totally different. ..

ttyymmnn > The Compromiser 03/28/2016 at 17:20

8

You been listening to your C.W. McCall 45s again?

The Compromiser > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 17:28

6

I’ve been in a few great big convoys. It is an interesting experience.

And that’s a big 10-4 rubber ducky.

Nauraushaun > ttyymmnn 03/28/2016 at 18:16

16

Thanks to the service of these heroic test animals

These animals were unwillingly shot out of aircraft at >1000mph. Calling them heroic sounds like you’re naively trying to dress up an act of torture.

ttyymmnn > Nauraushaun 03/28/2016 at 18:35

16

It was an attempt at sarcasm.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Chariotoflove 03/29/2016 at 00:04

1

code brown, code brown

SaintClarence27 > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:23

1

I thought, “Hey, this has to be the April Fools post!”

Ntovorni > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:24

0

Does someone else read War is Boring??

Although I think your article had a bit more background info...especially about further tests.

Jcarr > Takuro Spirit 04/01/2016 at 10:24

1

Car full of midgets!

The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL > Nauraushaun 04/01/2016 at 10:26

7

They’re animals.

Humans have been sacrificed in the wild for less, from bears themselves.

We’ve been literal playtoys to them - the same as a ball would be to a human

I think you’re taking this whole “act of kindness to animals” thing too far..

Alfisto > The Compromiser 04/01/2016 at 10:27

1

Thanks, that brought a chuckle to my already stressed out day.

SlowpokeTexas > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:31

13

And the Bears have only been the NFL Championship twice since then. Bears fans have a reason to be pissed.

WCWinger > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:38

5

Good thing PETA wasn’t around back then. They’d have been suing NASA for mistreatment of animals.

Like they say... if you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs. Sometimes sacrifices are necessary for progress to be made.

ttyymmnn > SlowpokeTexas 04/01/2016 at 10:39

1

As a lifelong Bears fan, I approve this message.

idleshell > The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL 04/01/2016 at 10:43

1

Nooooope. Humans have choice and free will. Animals don’t. The examples you gave are the results of human beings making rational choices that led to consequences. Strapping animals to an ejection seat is unethical and immoral.

I’m not alone on this. There’s a reason you can’t get public funding for testing on primates and the like any more: it’s fucking horrific.

MachineReplica > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:43

12

The bear looks so high, he probably didn’t care. I need whatever he was on.

bag_of_bees > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:44

0

Did they tell him to just grin and bear it?

ttyymmnn > MachineReplica 04/01/2016 at 10:45

39

He really does look high as a kite.

HumaLupa2016 > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:46

1

What about The Cubbies???

Bubba Fett, Seymour-Baus,Inc. > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:46

1

“Yay! I survived the ejection! Lets have a party, guys!

Wait...what’s with the dart gun?”

SaveDaManual > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:46

3

Animals had to bear this burden as well?

ttyymmnn > HumaLupa2016 04/01/2016 at 10:47

1

I blame the Wright Brothers.

HumaLupa2016 > The Compromiser 04/01/2016 at 10:48

4

Kojak with a Kodak at mile marker 69!

burninaballoffire > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:48

0

sad. we should have been testing on death row inmates or something. testing like this should never have been done to animals. humans should deal with their own shit, and not bring in poor animals so they die and we dont. there are plenty of worthless people in the world we could test on first.

Lith > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:49

2

Pissed myself at this.

Mike Murthy > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 10:53

1

All that work and they still killed him. sadface

F1guy hates duck billed F1 cars > Nauraushaun 04/01/2016 at 10:54

1

Aircrew are alive because these tests were a success. That's heroic on my end.

Vince Pack > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 11:09

6

Yep - now we know why Yogi Bear was always stealing food. MUNCHIES!

MachineReplica > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 11:09

1

THIS IS PERFECT!

The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL > idleshell 04/01/2016 at 11:15

5

Animals don’t have free will?

Shit, how do they fend for themselves? Their dictators must be so cruel...

It’s sheer luck that we even let them out of a tree once a day for food, right?

Too bad we order all of them into slavery. Otherwise they’d be able to live free and fulfilling lives in the wild, hunting at will, playing at will, eating at will, running at will, sleeping at will, etc.

They can’t do that?

That’s really sad.

Burnie McHothot > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 11:31

3

I’m going to say it was the 100 watt flash bulb.

Kahless > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 11:34

0

hooray the bear made it. quick, kill it so we can make sure hes ok.

ttyymmnn > Vince Pack 04/01/2016 at 11:34

4

Pick-a-nick baskets!

RazoE > MachineReplica 04/01/2016 at 11:43

0

SMOKEY the bear...

frankenheidi_LIIIIVES > Burnie McHothot 04/01/2016 at 11:44

2

Get outta here with your logic!

Chariotoflove > The Compromiser 04/01/2016 at 11:44

0

Loved that 45! Ah, memories!

RevengencerAlf > The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL 04/01/2016 at 11:45

0

They’re bears, wild animals. It’s their evolutionary instinct to do those things. We claim to be a higher evolved species. Quite frankly we should be above that if we are. I’m ok with animal testing when necessary, but it’s pretty apparent that a lot of the animal testing done in aerospace programs varied between ineffective to outright irresponsible. Maybe they needed to use animals for these tests, but euthanizing them to poke around inside was nothing more than a lazy shortcut.

albo > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 12:07

1

The Hustler was a weird aircraft. Really not useful except in a nuclear war, didn't serve that long I think.

OttoMaddox > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 12:10

4

Calling the test animals “heroic” implies that they made a conscious decision to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Of course they did not.

ttyymmnn > albo 04/01/2016 at 12:14

2

It was designed to haul ass into Russia, drop a nuke, and haul ass out. Things it did very well. However, the SAM pretty much put it out of business.

ttyymmnn > OttoMaddox 04/01/2016 at 12:15

6

My attempt at sarcasm was not picked on up by some readers.

JoshinGA > MachineReplica 04/01/2016 at 12:19

1

Probably a high dose of ketamine given the parameters of the test. In case you actually wanted to, you know, get as high as a bear getting rocket chaired out of a jet.

batchtots > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 12:53

1

Needs more quotation marks around heroic and we'd have picked up on it. Could they not use crash test dummies or did they even have those at this time period? Poor fucking bears, how is testing bears an apples to apples comparison.

ttyymmnn > batchtots 04/01/2016 at 12:54

0

Good call on the quotes. As for crash test dummies, I don’t believe they had anything remotely like what we have today.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:00

0

Many views. You must have gotten referred to a FP.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/01/2016 at 13:01

0

Yup.

Ocular Patdown > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:06

7

I honestly thought this was an April Fool’s joke until I saw the video.

ttyymmnn > Ocular Patdown 04/01/2016 at 13:07

33

Yogi thought it was too, until somebody pulled the ejection handles.

AuthiCooper1300 > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:08

2

I somehow understand the logic of the experiment but find it nonetheless extremely disturbing.

Guidelines now are stricter, but even so most experimentation with animals (including vivisection) goes under the radar, for obvious reasons. We laypeople just prefer not to know, as Col Jessup rightly pointed out.

It is not very widely known either that there is also a large and useful body of data on human physiology and pathology that unfortunately came precisely from unethical testing with humans, mostly (but not exclusively) during Nazi Germany.

A terrifying example that lasted from the thirties all the way up to the early seventies is the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment - and that did not happen in the Third Reich.

There have been dozens of similar, objectionable research programmes all over the world, by the way. I am not singling out anyone.

Devin Perkins > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:11

1

Somehow I when I read this headline I thought they has actually shot a bear, on the ground, out of a hustler with a gun.

AuthiCooper1300 > WCWinger 04/01/2016 at 13:15

1

Let’s hope you never find yourself on the wrong end of progress. Honestly.

toecutter (so grey, I gotta wear shades) > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:15

1

Yogi: “Thank god I survived. It’s wonderful to be so alive. Wait, NOW YOU’RE GONNA WHAT?”

The Old Man from Scene 24 > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:17

64

Yogi landed unharmed

So Yogi didn’t have a Boo-boo?

.

I’ll show myself out now.....

AuthiCooper1300 > JoshinGA 04/01/2016 at 13:18

0

You forgot to say: just don’t do it too often or you’ll end up slowly destroying your bladder.

ttyymmnn > The Old Man from Scene 24 04/01/2016 at 13:20

19

Exit, stage left.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:21

1

Bear ejector seats and bombing lakes with fish ... What a great time to be alive and in the military...

“Private Parts, I need you to test whether this parachute pack will work at altitudes below 300 feet.”

“Yessir, Major Nuisance, but can’t we just attach it to a white tail deer?”

“Good thinking, Parts! I’ll ask General Incompetence.”

EvilFD > PotbellyJoe and 42 others 04/01/2016 at 13:32

2

Aircraft are still used to stock remote lakes in the Colorado rockies. Quit whining.

EvilFD > AuthiCooper1300 04/01/2016 at 13:34

1

Most of what we know about that stuff came from the Japanese, not the Germans. In return for all of the documentation we let them sweep it under the rug at war’s end.

The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL > RevengencerAlf 04/01/2016 at 13:40

1

And it’s not our evolutionary instinct to do those tests either?

toecutter (so grey, I gotta wear shades) > Chariotoflove 04/01/2016 at 13:45

1

It really gives you paws.

AuthiCooper1300 > EvilFD 04/01/2016 at 13:48

1

You are probably thinking mostly about infectious disease/biological warfare research. Let me insist, I am not trying to say anyone (anyone, anywhere ) is free of sin in this particular field.

To explain my point: there was a huge amount of very methodical studies and tests undertaken by MDs and surgeons during Nazi Germany on many topics: from the ability to survive extreme temperatures, pressure (or lack thereof) to the effect of emotional stress on ovulation.

Not all doctors were eugenics-obsessed like Mengele and not all experimentation was done on concentration camps or military facilities. Many were “respected professionals” and died in their sleep many years later, after the war. They had conducted their research and testing in private clinics, as well as prisons or discreet wards of general hospitals, on what the regime considered “undesirables”.

James > Ocular Patdown 04/01/2016 at 13:48

0

The real question is who cleaned out all that bear shit

RevengencerAlf > The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL 04/01/2016 at 13:48

0

Not really no. This is a rational, sapient decision made ostensibly through a process of serious consideration and logic.

VirgilMungo > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 13:52

0

ah, the glory days of military testing, inspired by the genius of the Nazis and unfettered by rational human morality or oversight. When they could spray fogs of bacteria on unsuspecting American populaces and turn military bases into toxic waste dumps. those were the days, my friend!

The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL > RevengencerAlf 04/01/2016 at 13:54

0

And you’re telling me that a bear, fending for its life by way of attacking what it deems to be a predator, or perhaps attacking a human with the idea of gathering food or saving its young from danger, is purely intuitive and in no way shape or form a conscious decision? You’re telling me it doesn’t weigh the option to run, or stay quiet and still, and scare the human... only to attack it? Because that’s what it only knows?

For sure bears are not as mentally evolved as humans, but to say they have no conscience or are incapable of logical deduction based off of their own theory of what is rational, is equally as silly as what you claim for me to be saying.

Chariotoflove > toecutter (so grey, I gotta wear shades) 04/01/2016 at 13:58

0

:D

staghounds > idleshell 04/01/2016 at 14:11

1

Perhaps less unethical and immoral if you might have to use the ejection seat.

Or should we just use John Stapp for everything?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stap…

staghounds > Chariotoflove 04/01/2016 at 14:16

2

Ursus pected of liking those puns just a little too much.

staghounds > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 14:19

0

Did this happen at Cheyenne mountain?

Chariotoflove > staghounds 04/01/2016 at 14:21

0

Until the mods show me a claws that says I have to stop, it’s your cross to bear.

Stan84 > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 14:30

0

Sexy airplane, that B-58. Always found it interesting that American aerospace (particularly Convair) experimented so much with delta wing designs in the 1950s and early 1960s only to abandon it in favor of conventional designs, while at practically the same time Europe embraced the idea and hasn’t let go since.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 14:33

2

Jumped by 3,000 views since I commented to you this morning. I think my Robin-Bird-Strike post only got around 4,000 views and you are at 14,000+.

RevengencerAlf > The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL 04/01/2016 at 14:44

1

Bears are not sapient creatures, no. They can be taught certain problem solving skills and tricks, but they still have the emotional intelligence of an infant child. To compare the their decision making and cognitive processing to that of human beings performing experiments is either intellectually dishonest or outright idiotic.

The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL > RevengencerAlf 04/01/2016 at 15:02

0

That’s not what I’m doing. I’m saying that based purely off of evolutional and situational awareness, they are cable of cognitive, semi-intellectual sapience.

There is no dispute that they are not as intelligent or mentally evolved as humans. There’s no question on that front.

What I am saying is that they are capable of making decisions and do not act on a purely instinctive basis.

boxcarbob > James 04/01/2016 at 15:11

0

only if it was in the woods

RevengencerAlf > The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL 04/01/2016 at 15:22

1

Honestly I think you’re confusing sentience and sapience. Every mammal can arguably make decisions, but only a narrow amount of them are even worthy of a discussion for actual sapience. The bottom line is they are so far intellectually and cognitively separated from human levels of reasoning that they are not capable of making anything resembling an intellectual or moral decision. Human beings are.

It’s patently unfair to the animal and honestly offensive to humanity to even joke about comparing their fight or flight instincts to human experimentation.

The-Ever-Socially-Apathetic TBAL > RevengencerAlf 04/01/2016 at 15:25

0

I strongly disagree. I believe bears are capable of making moral and ethical decisions, it’s simply the case that the evolutionary and situational foundations for which they make those decisions are very different than those from which humans make them from.

R.S.D. > batchtots 04/01/2016 at 15:26

1

This is why sitcoms need laugh tracks.

GentleHatred > ttyymmnn 04/01/2016 at 16:13

0

“The worst injury to one of the test bears was DEATH.”

Fixed that for you.

If people want to learn about ejecting from airplanes, use some death-row humans, not bears and then kill them.

EvilFD > AuthiCooper1300 04/01/2016 at 16:14

0

Not really. I just keyed on the term vivisection. Definitely a Japanese “speciality”. Poor logs.

JoshinGA > AuthiCooper1300 04/01/2016 at 16:16

0

I guess I also forgot to include “I’m not a doctor and this is not medical advice” as well eh? Just sharing a bit of veterinary medical knowledge with the interwebs.

AuthiCooper1300 > EvilFD 04/01/2016 at 16:23

0

If you were just focusing on the vivisection part (by the way, a practice Nazi medical researchers were not exactly averse to performing on human subjects, either) you should have clearly stated it that way, don’t you think?

All are equally abhorrent, in any case.