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Emergency escape hammer

I had a military style like above post in our RV-10 , but never liked it because I felt I would drive my hand into the glass. For the RV-14 I made my own. I made out of alum. a head similar to the military style and purchased a small hammer and cut off the handle and mounted it to the head I made.
Tried it out on the rear window I messed up and it works great.
 
Antisplat

Antisplat makes a tool that most customers have not heard about. It is light and small, with a proper size notch to remove pieces of canopy for egress.
In my opinion, better than whanging away with a hammer when inverted.
 
There was a video at one time showing tests of automatic center punch, Life Hammer and one other device that I can't remember. I searched but can't find a link to that video.

During that search, I found still images in a post that showed the same results as the video. The Life Hammer worked best out of the items tested.

I got mine at Ace Hardware.

Here is the link.
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=454702&postcount=1
 
I have one of these mounted next to the fuel selector. I figure it'll get me through the plexiglass AND if I were stranded, I could cut down a tree, make tinder for fires and if I were attacked by a bear, I could at least get a lick or two in!:D

2zejzvl.jpg
 
Aggie78 said:
Mounted to the flap actuator housing between the seats:

https://www.amazon.com/Tools-Life-T...5725835&sr=8-2&keywords=emergency+escape+tool

I figure if it will break auto glass, it will do the same with a plexiglass canopy.

Also note the seatbelt cutter, which might come in handy as well...
Click to expand...


I've got one of those someone gave me as a gift one time. I like the seat belt cutter, but I seriously doubt its ability to break plexiglass. I tried it on an old canopy once, and wanted away for awhile before I gave up. Auto glass is easy to break because it is quite stiff. Plex flexes under blows. I broke LOTS of car windows and windshields in my years as a firefighter. Easiest way was an automatic center punch. Plex is totally different.

Paul
 
Paul,

Did you see the PIREP and link in post #6 of this thread posted by rzbill?

That link took you to a VAF posting made in 2008 using the LifeHammer and compared it to a center punch and another device...The LifeHammer looked like it worked great on an already-damaged RV canopy.

Outside of a canopy jettison device, I'm all ears if someone has a better device to extricate yourself in an emergency situation...

Rob
 
Veetail88 said:
I have one of these mounted next to the fuel selector. I figure it'll get me through the plexiglass AND if I were stranded, I could cut down a tree, make tinder for fires and if I were attacked by a bear, I could at least get a lick or two in!:D

2zejzvl.jpg
Click to expand...

Not to mention this unit would also be helpful if you were forced to land in a zombie infested area ..
 
Aggie78 said:
Paul,

Did you see the PIREP and link in post #6 of this thread posted by rzbill?

That link took you to a VAF posting made in 2008 using the LifeHammer and compared it to a center punch and another device...The LifeHammer looked like it worked great on an already-damaged RV canopy.

Outside of a canopy jettison device, I'm all ears if someone has a better device to extricate yourself in an emergency situation...

Rob
Click to expand...

Yes - but if the canopy is already damaged, you can just kick out the rest. I guess the only point I was making is that the Lifehammer was (I believe) designed for automotive windows, and they are totally different than plexiglass canopies.
 
I think you will be better served by wide-mouth pliers and a pair of leather gloves when it comes to exiting an inverted airframe with a partially shattered plexiglas canopy. You will need to tear away sharp shards of tough flexible plexiglas with your hands and maybe feet.

ps -- Back in the good old days of airport CFR, we were taught to chill plexiglas windows with CO2 fire extinguishers and then try to shatter the plexiglas -- even that didn't always work well.
 
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Holy Game of Thrones!...

I have an old survival knife. Been thinking about mounting it to the airframe, Murphy says mine will be hard to reach upside down with one broken arm.

Veetail88 said:
I have one of these mounted next to the fuel selector. I figure it'll get me through the plexiglass AND if I were stranded, I could cut down a tree, make tinder for fires and if I were attacked by a bear, I could at least get a lick or two in!:D

2zejzvl.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Veetail88 said:
I have one of these mounted next to the fuel selector. I figure it'll get me through the plexiglass AND if I were stranded, I could cut down a tree, make tinder for fires and if I were attacked by a bear, I could at least get a lick or two in!:D

2zejzvl.jpg
Click to expand...

I like it, how do you secure it? Hate to see that thing come loose during aerobatics, "Ouch my eye, Hey! my finger! fly straight already"
 
Ironflight said:
Yes - but if the canopy is already damaged, you can just kick out the rest. I guess the only point I was making is that the Lifehammer was (I believe) designed for automotive windows, and they are totally different than plexiglass canopies.
Click to expand...

That was my expectation too Paul (meaning it would not work). Unfortunately, I did not have scrap canopy left over for a test when I was ready to purchase a device. I relied of the video test evidence which if memory serves was an RV canopy. The Lifehammer is much lighter than some of the military canopy crackers I have seen so I thought it was a good compromise. Fortunately, the PMMA Acrylic used for our canopies is a LOT more brittle than Polycarbonate that is sometimes used in other craft. As you alluded to, both are tougher than autoglass so I was surprised in the video test results.

Found a link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRvQxGl4kt4&feature=youtu.be
 
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Repost of Frank Eldridge actual escape

See Frank Eldridge posts this site. (See friends who have gone on as a starting point)

Frank punched a hole out the baggage area of an inverted 6A lying in water. I was there.

10:53:49 AM PST US
From: "Frank Eldridge" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Safety Concern

--> RV-List message posted by: "Frank Eldridge" <[email protected]>

January 1, 2003, I had a forced landing in a RV6A. After a ground roll of about
20 feet in a swampy area the plane ended up on its back. I found myself in
the baggage compartment unhurt. I had always thought that I could kick plexiglass
in the canopy out, but I could not. I always carry a pocket knife with a three
inch locking blade and I was able to take that knife and break a hole in
the canopy to get out. The only blood in the airplane was where I cut my hands
on the plexiglass breaking a larger hole in order to extract myself. I strongly
recommend to all my RV friends that they carry a knife like mine in their
pocket because in my case I could not have got to a tool in the cockpit of the
airplane. I have followed RV accidents very closely since mine, and a large
number wind up on their back. So, please get a knife and keep it in your pocket
when flying an RV. There is a story about my accident posted on Doug Reeves
Van's Air Force Web page. Here is the link to m!
y particular article: http://www.vansairforce.net/articles/FrankEldridge0.pdf

Best of luck,

Frank
 
I've got a small Milwaukee brand sawzall. Got the idea here on VAF. I sawed two solid steel rulers in half at HD with the same blade in 90 seconds. Ought to be able to saw your RV in half around you if needed. I used to have a hunting knife. But I wondered about "arm throw" in a cramped RV 8 cockpit, especially inverted. I like the idea of being able to cut the airplane in half around me, if lying inverted on the canopy. Down side?? Guys have told me, because it is electric, it will make sparks. You get the picture. Decisions Decisions!! I still have it velcroed on the left side right where the back guys left ankle would be.

Now, per the guy in here who said "always carry a knife on your person", I have to hope my left arm wouldn't be broken.:eek:
 
I use a $5 welding hammer from the aviation aisle at the local hardware store. Sharp point on one end, chisel flat at the other.
 
rzbill said:
That was my expectation too Paul (meaning it would not work). Unfortunately, I did not have scrap canopy left over for a test when I was ready to purchase a device. I relied of the video test evidence which if memory serves was an RV canopy. The Lifehammer is much lighter than some of the military canopy crackers I have seen so I thought it was a good compromise. Fortunately, the PMMA Acrylic used for our canopies is a LOT more brittle than Polycarbonate that is sometimes used in other craft. As you alluded to, both are tougher than autoglass so I was surprised in the video test results.

Found a link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRvQxGl4kt4&feature=youtu.be
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link to the video.

Ok, so it's not 100% proof that one can predict escape using the LifeHammer, but it's the 2nd data point in this discussion that it WILL stand a decent chance of creating an escape path in an RV type of situation.

The designed-use "canopy breaker tools" that some folks are promoting, many of us have flown with in the military. They are very robust, and they need to be. They have to cut thru a canopy that can not only withstand a buzzard-sized bird impact at several hundred knots (windscreen and front/top behind at the canopy bow just aft of the windscreen aft support where the canopy is much thicker).

Many/most of them also carry some percentage of the cabin pressure load as well. As I recall in a T-38, it was ~5 PSID, which I think is typical for most fighter/attack aircraft.

That's going to call for a canopy constructed of a much thicker and sturdier type of material than the fragile plexi Van's uses for our machines, giving tools like a LifeHammer a decent shot at creating an opening.

Disagree? No worries-grab one of the other choices available...Fly Safe...and hope none of us ever have to use one.
 
bret said:
I like it, how do you secure it? Hate to see that thing come loose during aerobatics, "Ouch my eye, Hey! my finger! fly straight already"
Click to expand...

The one I have isn't exactly like this but close. It came with a very nice sheath that would keep it from removing an arm in bumpy conditions. Also, a piece of two sided velcro secured to the surface with a rivet keeps it in place.
 
On the 6, I used to always carry one of those cheesy plastic handled glass breaker hammers, thinking it was sufficient. I needed to hammer something in the hangar one day, and it was handy. The handle broke very easily. It scared me to think that my life might some day have relied on that piece of junk. I replaced it with a 2 pound ball peen hammer velcro'd to the tower down low between the seat backs. On the floor between the seats, up by the fuel selector, is the halon extinguisher.
 
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