PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - On the 30th of May 1973 the First RAF Jaguar was delivered to the OCU and so began
Old 5th Jun 2023, 20:09
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ex-fast-jets
 
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No-one has yet mentioned the joy of fitting the drag chute.............

Deploying the chute was an absolute "must avoid" on a land away requiring a pilot turnaround. Thus most land away landings were completed using aerodynamic braking and absolutely under no conditions other that dire stress was the chute deployed. Great benefit of the nice lengthy American runways!!

My recollection tells me that to fit a replacement chute required a stepladder, at least three arms and four hands, some considerable swearing and the opportunity to provide a great deal of amusement for anyone watching.

Groundcrew seemed to cope with little bother, but pilots..................!!!

If a chute replacement had been done during a pilot turnaround, the ultimate challenge on landing back home was to deploy the chute to see what happened. Again my memory tells me that quite often the whole chute in its container would land on the runway in a lump with no hint of deploying properly to do the job for which it was designed. Not a chute problem, but a "pilot turnaround" glitch.

Great fun though!!
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