Anastase Dragomir (1896–1966) was a distinguished Romanian inventor, most famous for his "catapultable cockpit" patent (with Tănase Dobrescu) as an early form of

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rock ...

, although preceded by

Everard Calthrop Everard Richard Calthrop (3 March 1857 – 30 March 1927) was a British railway engineer and inventor. Calthrop was a notable promoter and builder of narrow-gauge railways, especially of narrow gauge, and was especially prominent in India. His ...

's 1916 compressed air ejection seat, and others. Anastase Dragomir, born 6 February 1896 in Brăila,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, was the sixth child of his family. He worked in France at several aircraft factories where he perfected a system to save pilots and passengers in case of accidents. On 3 November 1928 he applied for French patent #678566, "Nouveau système de montage des parachutes dans les appareils de locomotion aérienne". Issued on 2 April 1930, the invention was, "a new system of parachuting from the apparatus for air locomotion, each passenger having his own parachute that allows, in critical moments, the assembly detaching from the plane, so the parachute with seated passenger passes through an opening." After several attempts, Dragomir managed to obtain financing and began construction of his "catapulted cockpit". The invention was tested in a

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...

airplane piloted by

Lucien Bossoutrot Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius. Lucien, Saint Lucien, or Saint-Lucien may also refer to: People Given name * Lucien of Beauvais, Christian saint *Lucien, a band member ...

Paris-Orly Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

airport on 28 August 1929. French newspapers later reported on the invention's success. Dragomir returned home to Romania after the Paris-Orly experiment where, with Romanian aviation engineer captain Constantin Nicolau, he successfully repeated the experiment in an Avia airplane at Băneasa Airport in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania on 26 October 1929. He continued to refine his invention and obtained Romanian patent #40658 in 1950 for his "parachuted cell". In 1960, he received Romanian patent #41424 for a transport aircraft equipped with ejection cabins. Anastase Dragomir died in Bucharest, Romania in June 1966. The photograph shown on the stamp is of the independently designed and developed British Martin-Baker ejection seat.

Sources

French patent FR678566Observatorul
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragomir, Anastase 20th-century Romanian inventors 20th-century Romanian engineers History of aviation Aviation inventors 1896 births 1966 deaths Date of death missing