On May 30, 1949, in the heart of Britain, Armstrong Whitworth's deputy chief test pilot, John Oliver Lancaster, better known as "Jo,” took the reins of the first Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52 prototype, TS 363.

The weather that day was near perfect, with imposing cumulus clouds providing intermittent shelter. Strapped into an ejection seat, a new and untested innovation, Lancaster contemplated the risks ahead. Many doubted the efficacy of these seats in emergencies, but he forged ahead.

Lancaster meticulously executed his series of tests, primarily in the speed range of 270-350 miles per hour at an altitude of 10,000 feet. As he initiated a shallow dive and approached 5,000 feet, turbulence unexpectedly engulfed the aircraft. Violent pitching and escalating oscillations rocked the cockpit, pushing Lancaster to the brink. With seconds that felt like an eternity, he made a critical decision—to activate the ejection seat and abandon the aircraft.

No one had ever done so successfully in Britain…
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