George 435 TFS F-104 pilots at Udorn RTAFB, Thailand 1967 showing the "Donut" seat cousin

The pilots from left to right (standing): Capt Bill Sedor, LtCol Robert T McIntosh, LtCol Vernon Sandrock and Maj Karl Hoffman
In the front from left to right: Lt Tom Mahan, Lt Addison "Ace" Rawlins and Capt Roger Wicker.

"Ace" Rawlins explained:
We were flying really long missions and the seats were hard and a bit uncomfortable after 3 or 4 hours.
Our missions were averaging 5 hours with some going as long as 8 to 9 hours.
The life support types told us the reason the cushion was hard was to reduce back injury upon ejection and of course it was not legal to use a soft cushion.
Anyway, I got an inner-tube from a start unit tire and tried it out. Worked fine and caught on fast.
My first flight was a big learning curve and I figured out right away that you didn’t need much air in the tube cause it expanded as you went to altitude.
I had too much air in it and had to release some. Lesson #2 was to place the valve stem in the front so you could get to it to release air
and to have your survival knife handy in case you needed to puncture the donut.
After a flight or two the air was set right and didn’t have to be changed any more. It made a big difference on the long flights and most of the pilots began to use them.

copyright © Tom Mahan