Anthropomorphic Dummies
The ejection seat had been developed and used successfully by the
German Luftwaffe during the latter stages of World War II. The utility of
this invention was realized when the U.S. Army Air Forces obtained an
ejection seat in 1944.33 To properly test the ejection seat, the Army Air
Forces required a dummy that had the same center of gravity and weight
distribution as a human, characteristics that parachute drop dummies did not
possess. In 1944, the USAAF Air Materiel Command contracted with the
Ted Smith Company of Upper Darby, Pa. to design and manufacture the first
dummy intended to accurately represent a human. 34 The dummy had the
same basic shape as a human, but with only abstract human features, and
"skin" made of canvas.
In 1949, the U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory submitted a
proposal for an improved model of the anthropomorphic dummyY This
request was originated by the renowned Air Force scientist and physician
John P. Stapp, now a retired Colonel, who conducted a series of landmark
20
Fig.17. (Left)Early
rope and sandbag dummy
used to test parachutes.
(U.S. Air Force photo)
Fig. 18. (Right) Parachute
drop dummies in use at
Wright Field, Ohio. The
historic Flight Test hangars,
Hangars 1 and 9, can be
seen in the background.
(U.S. Air Force photo)
Figs. 19 & 20. (Left & Right)
These early anthropomorphic
dummies, manufactured by
the Ted Smith Co., of Upper
Darby, Pa., were used by the
Army Air Forces beginning in
1944. They were replaced by
a more realistic dummy in 1949.
(Right) "Oscar Eightball," the
name given to this early model
anthropomorphic dummy by
Col. John P. Stapp, is shown
following a run of the high-
speed track at Muroc AAF (now
Edwards AFB), Calif., in 1947.
(U.S. Air Force photos)