Nice to see the Jag mobile again. I can claim some knowledge of the Brake chute system on all jags, but it’s not all my fault!
The original chute design was of french origin and very similar to those in Mirage jets, the canopy had to be laced into a bag and the lacing progressively tightened over time, packing it was a very labour and time intensive job (30-40 minutes per pack IIRC) add to that the damage to the noddy caps on every landing and the general lack of spares it was not a good system. Exercises were a nightmare! Thankfully BAe (I think) came up with the hinged door mod. The chute could now be packed straight into the metal chute can without fabric pack to lace. You did need a big But simple piece of ground equipment (as opposed to a big and simple packer for the original) but it was much much better. In a bay packing took no more than 5 min per chute! HOWEVER it rapidly became apparent that pilots were not (For whatever reason) going to repack their chutes on land away. The old type chute would no longer fit into the can of course so a hybrid system was developed at in our bay at Laarbruch (By SEM & STF) An old style bag was reduced in size and a fabric deployment system added. It was packed at base by Squippers. The chute could be carried as a spare on the jet and fitted by the pilot on land away. It slotted into the can from which the first chute had deployed. Pilots could handle that.
Which brings me on to Jag Mod 1148 itself! Wonderful idea. By the time the programme was in full swing I had moved to the SE Eng Support Authority and was responsible for (among other things) provisioning the non interchangeable chutes for a mixed fleet. Deep joy! I can still recall the call from Abingdon saying that the mod had been embodied using the BAe mod kit on one Jet, and the the chute would not go right in! try as the might it would not fit!
Eventually it became apparent that positional variations of the ‘frame‘ used as a datum point for where to cut the ‘hole’ on a cone shaped rear fuselage were somewhat random. Tolerance build up didn’t help either. Some jets could not be modded at all and a mixed standard continued until its withdrawal from service, I think. I know we had to keep buying all three (my SEM was now a qualified chute in its own right) types until I left the job.
Why have I written all this rubbish which nobody will be interested in?
Well, I’m in lockdown, being of a certain age, and I’m bored!
Who would have thought that my Shelter Marshall knowledge and training would be useful 40 plus years on