Hmmm ! - Looking at two different areas here ... underslung and winch suspended. Involved in both
Underslung both for inanimate and intended live loads were attached via the underslung load hook a device which was manufactired by Hobbies of Dereham (not necessarily the most reassuring labelling
Had two occasions of inadvertent release and the 'foot stamper' method had obvious potential for problems. At Boscombe,did the initial trial flight with the six man 'jungle penetrator' , which may be what Simon K put into practice. We used the Sea King with 300' of nylon rope attached to the u/s hook and 6 dummies on the penetrator. The test schedule was vertical lift to low level, then progressive speed increments checking for stability etc. The forward flight position became increasingly to the rear well behind the tail rotor and as we reached (from memory ) 60kts-ish, the rope attachment started to develop a rotary motion which quickly combined with a sinusoidal component and, before we could take action, the 'load' went solo ! ! I understand the principle was that this was intended as a 'last ditch' recovery procedure for specialist troops in the jungle ... as I wrote at the beginning ... Hmmm !
Re, the winching process, we used 30cwt cable with (obviously) control of deployment and a built-in explosive charge for cable cutting in the event of such being essential. Trust and faith in one's fellow man was an essential ingredient for S&R crews -particularly the winchman.! ... that trust was strained somewhat with a check flight for a new navigator winch-op who decided that deploying me at 1500' en route was acceptable. ! Words and (especially) gestures quickly disabused him of the idea !
As regards engine failures, my winching experience was primarily with the Whirlwind and, thankfully, have no such experience. but it would, likely, have been a rock and hard place choice !
