PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Any military aircraft still using braking parachutes ?
Old 5th Aug 2019, 17:03
  #18 (permalink)  
oldmansquipper
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
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TTN.... only 5 of you?

As a young SAC dispersed on Ex 'Micky Finn' out of Waddo, I can recall many occasions when I was required to either fit a new Vulcan chute or do an OOP life ex change, on my own. (The Vulcan chute weighed about the same as the Victor one)

One wet and windy night on HMS Goldcrest I had two changes to do. I did the first one before going across to the mess deck for scran. The matelots were very helpful and 'spliced the main brace' for us as the weather was so bad. It would have been churlish to turn down their offer so I had a couple ......so as not to offend the senior service.

On return to the flight line, I changed the second chute on a particularly arsey jet where the dodgy door microswitch made life a bit more difficult. Finally I got the hook closed and the door down and locked. Thankfully, I took the closure tool off and stood back to admire my work....

Now, Those safety raisers were not very wide (or safe) and I was very grateful that I had thrown the old chute off onto the deck when I fell onto it. The scoops of rum from jolly jack and his shipmates helped make it a relatively painless process anyway.

5 of you? For goodness sake! Man up.

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