SHIELDED MILD AND FLEXIBLE CONFINED DETONATING CORDS

The firing mechanism is secured in the safe position by a safety pin that passes through the handle. The safety pin prevents the handle from being squeezed and pulled. When the initiator handle is squeezed and pulled for a distance of 0.75 inch, the firing pin separates from the sear pin. From this point, the sequence is identical to the external canopy and hatch jettison sequence. SHIELDED MILD AND FLEXIBLE CONFINED DETONATING CORDS The SMDC and FCDC segments act as the plumbing for the emergency egress system. They provide all internal and external jettison initiators with manifolds and one-way transfers to all explosive charges. Some S-3A aircraft have been modified to incorporate FCDC in place of the SMDC at the four locations where the canopies and/or hatches meet the airframe. The use of the FCDC alleviates the installation problems encountered with SMDC. The SMDC and FCDC focus extremely high velocity and pressures onto the ends of adjacent SMDC segments. The high reaction speed of 8,000 to 9,000 feet per second makes the SMDC very difficult to unintentionally detonate from extraneous sources such as sawing, filing, drilling, and hammering because the speed of these operations does not approach the 8,000 to 9,000 feet per second requirement. From the standpoint of manufac- turing and maintenance personnel, the system is virtually inert when safety pins are installed. Figure 2-16.—Hatch/canopy detonating cord assembly. 2-20