Reader123,
So it's a Davy Descender ! (Isn't this the beauty of this - and all the other - PPRuNe Threads, that a fifty-year old question can be answered in a moment by Someone who Knows somewhere round the globe !) Thanks !
My recollection is that the line had a few feet of slack in it, so you landed at a parachute rate of descent, the object of the exercise being to get people out as fast as possible. Admittedly there might be a few broken ankles, but when the option was free-fall (as happened in 9/11), and the terminal velocity of the human body is about 176 ft/sec, it was acceptable.
Your: " presumably your speed is dependent on your weight." Not at all sure about that, I'd suppose that the brake would be effective at a given rpm and that any excess would prompt it to bite so much harder that any acceleration would be minimal. And then what about a small child coming down ? Would that be much slower ? (don't know).
The free-fall case was settled by one Galileo centuries ago, with the aid of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (IIRC).
I'm with you 100% in the matter of jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane for no good reason. Utter folly !
Parachutists, step forward. Is 10ft/sec about right ?......D.
Warmtoast,
Marvellous story well told. However, one told in various forms many times before and since. Laurel and Hardy did it very well with a donkey as I recall, the animal ending up on a roof !.....D.
ricardian,
Could it just be......an old ACR7C with antenna squashed flat on top ? The caravan below looks much bigger than mine (air-con, Malta gets hot in summer ?). Did Luqa/Takali ever have an ACR7C, anybody know ?....D.
Cheers, all. Danny.