Introducing: The First Crash-Test Dummy, Elmer

Elmer, the Pilot’s Friend – Continental Oil Co., 1952.  Illustration: James R. Bingham

‘Born’ in the CAA machine shop, Elmer is a remarkably lifelike steel and rubber dummy, designed for studies in improving shoulder harness for pilots. Elmer is so cleverly designed that his compressibility, flexibility, center of gravity, muscular contraction and natural relaxation are almost exactly that of the human body. He even has a roll of ‘flesh’ above the belt when he is bent over! Elmer is an example of how Civil Aeronautics Administration scientists worked to improve air transportation.

(Source: Plan59)