My first flight with the ATC, waddling out with a parachute hitting the backs of my legs trying to act all cool.
FLCH,
I was in UBAS during the Chipmunk days and I can vividly remember cadets waddling, as you put it, across the pan, almost dwarfed by the parachute, to a waiting AEF Chipmunk. Did they do "running changes"? I can't remember, but I expect so.
When going out to a shutdown Chippie, we carried our parachutes, which was much more civilized or if it was a running-change, we took over the parachute already in the front seat.