>> Sam Morgan: OK, she's off.
>> Art Nalls: We're moving with live explosives here.
OK, stop right there.
Each of those rocket motors is four or five sticks of dynamite.
Y'all back up. Stop, Pete.
>> Sam Morgan: God damn, just had it.
>> Pete Weiskopf: Those things are dangerous,
they do kill, and if you don't know what you’re doing with the thing,
you stay away from ’em.
>> Art Nalls: Up!
Today what we are doing is we're gonna remove the live ejection seat.
It has the explosives in it and it's ready to go
as soon as that pilot pulls the handle.
>> Narrator: In the event of an emergency,
a pilot can rescue themselves
by activating the ejection seat mechanism.
Once the pilot pulls the lever system,
the canopy explodes and the solid rocket boosters
fire the seat and pilot
up and out of the cockpit to help them escape safely.
>> Art Nalls: Only specialized mechanics are allowed
to actually do a detailed inspection.
If everything is good today,
we hope to get the seat out, inspected
and then back in, in one day.
Our mechanic for that is Kevin Reed.
>> Kevin Reed: I've been inspecting ejection seats for close to 30 years.
I work on military aircraft.
So I have a primary job and I do this on the side.
Hey, Art. How you doing? >> Art Nalls: Good to see ya.
Thanks for coming out and giving us a hand.
>> Kevin Reed: It's the first civilian-owned military aircraft
to be flown in air shows, and I thought it'd be a great chance
to be a part of history.
>> Art Nalls: The ejection seat is a big deal
because we don't have a lot of spares readily available.
And if something were to not pass inspection,
then we could have some issues
and that just adds to the stress of trying to get it all done in a short period of time.
Well, you want to check up there and see what we got going on
and what we need to do?
Sam here's gonna help you.
>> Kevin Reed: Awesome. >> Art Nalls: He can do anything.
He's been working with us for a better part of a year here now. >> Sam Morgan: Hey, how's it going?
>> Art Nalls: Kevin's been on the team for, this is our 10th year now.
>> Sam Morgan: Cool. Cool.
>> Kevin Reed: So if you wouldn't mind stepping up on the other side
and giving me a hand? >> Sam Morgan: Yeah, no problem.
Yeah, no problem.
>> Pete Weiskopf: Usually it would either be Rich or myself that would be up there,
but we wanted Sam to get the experience on it.
>> Kevin Reed: We're gonna take and loose these two lines on this side.
>> Sam Morgan: This is my first time ever
working on taking the ejection seat out of a Harrier.
So, I mean, this is, like, an exciting thing for me right now.
>> Kevin Reed: You good, Sam? >> Sam Morgan: Yeah, we're good.
>> Kevin Reed: Up! Up a little bit.
>> Art Nalls: Kevin has completely freed up the seat.
It's ready to lift back up.
And Pete's on the forklift ready to drive in. >> Kevin Reed: Easy.
>> Art Nalls: And we'll use our crane to lift it out.
>> Narrator: One false move can set the explosive rockets off >> Kevin Reed: Keep going.
>> Narrator: putting everyone in danger.
>> Art Nalls: We're moving with live explosives here.
And these aren't firecrackers.
Each of those rocket motors is four or five sticks of dynamite.
>> Kevin Reed: You're good. Up!
>> So we have to be very careful not to trigger anything
that could create a problem.
>> Sam Morgan: OK, she's off.
>> Pete Weiskopf: Those things are dangerous, they do kill,
and if you don't know what you're doing with the thing,
you stay away from ‘em.
>> Narrator: Trying to avoid any sudden movements,
the team lowers the seat to the ground.
>> Art Nalls: OK, stop right there.
>> Narrator: After the chair is lifted safely from the plane,
it has to be perfectly seated into its housing.
>> Kevin Reed: How you doing over there? >> Sam Morgan: Good.
>> Kevin Reed: OK. >> Art Nalls: Ya'll back up. Stop, Pete!
>> Sam Morgan: God damn, just had it. >> Art Nalls: Can you move the stand a little bit.
>> Kevin Reed: Up! >> Art Nalls: Stop!
>> Kevin Reed: Up! We kinda got a little hectic here for a second
trying to get the seat in the stand.
I need to come down.
>> Kevin Reed: I'm in. >> Art Nalls: OK.
We got the seat out, we got it installed in our seat stand,
and we got a chance to look at it from all angles.
And then we're preparing to put it back in.
>> Kevin: We'll clean the cockpit up,
make sure there's no foreign object damage
that could get stuck in flight controls and create an emergency in flight.
We can find M&Ms, of course pens.
Pilots always lose pens.
>> Narrator: After meticulously cleaning out the cockpit,
the crew starts to put the ejection seat back in.
Then Art discovers a critical piece is missing.
>> Art Nalls: What we're worried about more now
is we've somehow lost a washer,
and we can't tolerate that.
You cannot tolerate any lost parts,
bolts, washers, screws or tools or whatnot.
You've got to find it.
>> Narrator: Even the smallest objects can create the biggest problem
for a pilot's safety if they're not found.
>> Art Nalls: I’m gonna hope to find that washer laying right...
>> Narrator: If it's not found, it could mean life or death for the pilot.
>> Art Nalls: Murphy's Law would say that it would probably end up
in the most critical moving part and jam that part so it wouldn't work.
>> Pete Weiskopf: It's right there. Art?
>> Art Nalls: That's it.
Yep, that's it. Perfect.
Saved the day.
Thanks, Pete.
>> Kevin Reed: Everything has been checked out on the seat.
I feel confident that if they have to use it or need it
everything will work great.
>> Sam Morgan: All clear.
>> Art Nalls: Yeah, one thing checked off the list.
We got a dozen more or so and then we'll be ready to rock and roll.
>> Narrator: The Harrier and the L-39 are ready to go for the season.
On the next episode of “Badass Pilot,”
we meet a new pilot that could be the future of the team,
but she still might need a little more flight time.
>> Art Nalls: OK, let me try one.
>> Female: Oh, you're gonna make me sick, Art.
Eventually, all pilots have to hang up their wings,
so it's important to find the right person
to pass the controls to.
Flying the Harrier is complicated.
I mean really complicated.
So it's crucial to prepare our next
pilots so they're ready for
this hot rod. The future of Team SHAR takes to the skies next
week.
So please like
and share this video
and subscribe to AARP's YouTube
channel so you don't miss your flight.