Abstract: A crashworthy helicopter cockpit having a pyrotechnic system actuated by a stroking pilot seat for repositioning the upper portion of the cyclic control stick upon a severe or crash landing that is independent of aircraft electric and hydraulic systems.

Abstract: A ballistic tolerant control actuator of the hydraulic cylinder-piston type and having a hybrid housing comprising a structural outer wall of selected characteristics and wall thickness "t", a central sleeve snuggly fitted within the outer wall and being of selected characteristics and selected wall thickness so that when the outer wall is impacted and/or penetrated by a projectile of diameter D, impact induced stress waves from the outer wall pass into the central sleeve with sufficient intensity to locally disintegrate and clear the central sleeve in the vicinity of the projectile impact, and so that the petals formed in the outer wall will not project farther radially inwardly than the petals which would be formed in the most critical case by a projectile whose diameter D produced the ratio t/D=1/3.