Ejector seat lands on 2Covet portal

The Martin-Baker Mark IV seat is listed on the 2Covet portal by Chelsea dealers, Hatchwell Antiques. With military aviation pieces scarcer since 9/11 and fewer military aircraft being built than in the post-war years, the prices are rising. Interior designers, businesses, as well as collectors are moving into the market that is growing rapidly.

The seat for sale flew in the 1980s in a French Dassault/Dornier Alpha jet, a light attack aircraft manufactured by French and German companies. Made from aluminium, it has a superb look that is appreciated by those with an eye for design, and comes with a price tag of £12,500. When operational the handles above the pilot’s head or between his legs would be pulled and a series of blasts would see the seat blown free of the aeroplane and a ‘chute would discharge.

Allan Hatchwell from the second-generation family business said: “We managed to acquire this through contacts, but they are getting much harder to find. Martin-Baker began making ejection seats in 1948 and they have saved many thousands of lives since. Ejection seats became necessary in the jet age because a pilot couldn’t simply climb out of his aeroplane – and if he did he’d probably be killed. It required the pilot and his seat to be blasted clear of the plane and its slipstream. It’s like being shot upwards by a 75mm cannon.

“These seats and other aerospace parts are becoming more collectable – partly because they are becoming rarer to source, but also because people recognise the quality of engineering and the design. We have sold 12 to one customer who wanted to use them as dining room chairs and another re-purposed his as a gaming seat for his son. Listing it on the 2Covet portal brings it to a whole new audience and we’ve already had a number of enquiries.”

https://2covet.com

www.hatchwellantiques.co.uk