F4 drag cute
RAF F4 drag chute was a bag type held in a dedicated bay under the fin. The bag strop shackle was held by spring loaded mechanical jaws. To fit the chute you balanced the chute on its drogue end on top of the steps on which you balanced. Hold the strop shackle in the left thumb and push it into the bay up to the closed spring loaded jaws which you opened by pulling the manual jaw release with index and middle finger of the left hand, trying not to drop the shackle. Push the shackle in with the thumb and let the jaws close, giving the strop a good tug to make sure it was secure. Pull the strop tight and then push the chute bag in with the right hand on top of the strop lying along the floor of the bay. Push the loose strop up the side of the chute and prepare to close the door.To close the door one had to haul on the door by using the right hand hooked into the door breather hole just under the rear most navigation light to pull the door against a pneumatic piston, to meet the fuselage. The door was closed by pulling it tight against the fuselage and at the same time pushing up and then down on a T bar just under the door on the fuselage side that opened and then closed a set of jaws onto a latch pin on the chute door. Before any of this one had to ensure that the small indicator tag was held in a small indentation and that the chute bag had been fitted the right way up so the long cable 'remove before flight' streamer could be pulled out. Once the T bar had been pulled and the door held, pull the streamer out, priming the drogue chute, then go into the front cockpit to make sure the door release handle on the left side of the seat was 'down'. On landing the pilot pulled this handle up, opening the door and releasing the spring loaded drogue chute, that pulled the main chute out. At the end of the runway the pilot then turned the jet and pushed the handle down opening the jaws and releasing the chute strop thus dropping the whole chute using the idle RPM to blow the chute clear. The increase in revs heard was due to the pilot increasing power to turn his aircraft back onto the taxiway as by now he would be on the left hand engine only. Most F4 aircrew were told that spins in the F4 were unrecoverable and to eject whenever entering a spin, especially the dreaded flat spin. I have no knowledge of an RAF F4 ever coming out of a spin by using the drag chute; its easier to replace an aircraft than two precious aircrew who could live and tell the tale later.