VX,
thanks for the clarification. On the Hastings the para doors were indeed staggered with the starboard door being further forward. As I understood it this for for structural reasons and any para benefit was a bonus. We used to drop below safety speed with the inboards throttled back and as soon as 'Troops gone' was called the inboards were banged up making manual bag retrieval a very physical job.
Sorry about the thread drift but it does show that the A400M problem is not unique and there are no easy solutions.