Jump to content

Canopy Breaker/ Escape tool?


C500
 Share

Recommended Posts

I picked up a aircraft escape tool at the local gun show, sort of looks like a small dumbbell with a short fat shearing blade on it. I am pretty certain it is a emergency tool.

Can anyone tell me what plane these were mounted in?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

northcoastaero

If it is like the ones that I have seen for sale in the past, they were for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II aircraft. I believe the canopy breakers came with

a stowage bracket assy. Possibly used in other aircraft also. Some ejection seats were fitted with fixed or flip-up canopy breakers. I have heard stories of

Vietnam War era helicopter crews using private purchase knives that were capable of sawing through the aircraft aluminum skin. I read in a book once

about an A-4 Skyhawk pilot that kept a small metal spear-like tool underneath the windscreen or canopy frame that was used to puncture the seat/man

separation bladders on the Douglas ESCAPAC ejection seat if they were to accidently inflate. Some other larger aircraft used crash axes to break windows and

possibly the aluminum skin. Just some misc. information. Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry I wasn't able to retrieve it when I posted, I didn't expect anyone to even answer! Thanks so much!

Mine is blued , has the stainless cover on it and is stamped U.S. 61D4383 it has a ball bearing loaded fancy release pin that goes in from the rear. Thanks so much I had been looking forever to identify the plane it came in. Looks neat on my bayonet and knife wall. I had picked it off a gun show table that had a bunch of out of the attic military junk in boxes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I bought one of these tools about a year ago. I love it. I like to show it at the gun shows as a "what is it" item. A couple of months ago, a couple of huey pilots knew exactly what it was. They had this knife in the huey because the huey is so flimsy that if it were to roll on its side, the doors would jam, so they would use the "canopy breaker" to get out. When I posted this tool on the edged weapons forum, some kind folks posted pictures of this tool mounted in the F-4 Phantom, the Sabrejet, and even mounted on the canopy of the A-10 Warthog in the Mid-East. Great piece of history which is still being used today.

Marv

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

In the Army they were called a "breakout knife".I never saw one mounted in a Huey,either in flight school or Viet Nam.When we started flying Cobras in 1986 they were mounted on a small bracket with a quick release pull pin.They were mounted on top of the glare shield in the rear cockpit on the left side.What I don't remember is if there was one in the front seat.When we got AH-64s in 1991 they didn't have them.The one I ended up with is not marked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...