Westland Plc

William S Clifford

David C Netherway

Peter W Trickey

An aircraft seat (11) particularly adapted as a pilot seat for a helicopter includes a seat bucket (12) having a back-rest portion (13) supported by an articulated support structure (14) adapted to react vertical, longitudinal and lateral loads and to permit normal vertical stroking of the seat by extension of any energy absorber (32) in the event that the support structure becomes mis-aligned in a hard landing. The structure comprises two parallel generally vertical guide tubes (15a, 15b). The lower ends of both guide tubes are attached to a cabin floor (17) by universally pivoted joints (18), the upper end of a first one of the guide tubes (15a) is pivotally attached to one end of a generally horizontal straight link (20) to react longitudinal loads only and the upper end of the second guide tube (15b) is pivotally attached at the apex of a generally horizontal triangular link (21) so as to react both lateral and longitudinal loads. A pair of spaced-apart collars (30, 31) are slidably mounted on each guide tube and are attached to the seat bucket in a load reacting manner that is compatible with the attachment of the respective guide tubes.

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Martock, United Kingdom

William S Clifford