Parachute HUPRA Use
 

Does anyone have a copy of the video or a link to the video shown on the BBC 999 of the use of the Hung-Up Parachute Release Assembly on LXX Squadron C130 in the mid-90's? I suppose an episode number and year, 1995?, would be a start. Thanks in anticipation.

This one?

HUPRA
 

Engineering authority for them a while ago, packed em many times, fitted em lots, never seen one used!

thanks AA :ok:

Take it he was ok, fascinating stuff, would put me off for life! I take it he could be dropped anytime, the delay being bringing him back over the field.

He didn't do very well, he was miles away from the pit when he landed! :E

I thought they and he did well, dropped from 1000+ft, small chute,
no steering what so ever.

Better landing on the flat grass away from the pit than in the trees, the road
or the water they flew over.

What happens if the short drop and stop renders the parachutist unconscious (whiplash for example)?

Suspension trauma could also induce fainting or even death if there is a long carry back to a safe drop area.

I thought the video was going to show a clever method of recovering the parachutist to the aircraft.

HUPRA Link
 

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Here's a Link with some further links on HUPRA. Also a link on Arrse

That must have been terrifying, especially the second between the static line being cut and the chute deploying, as he probably had no idea what was going on.

On my basic para-course we were never trained nor even briefed on HUPRA deployment. I only became aware of its existence a few years later. He probably had never been briefed on it either.

The drill used to be that upon realizing you were hooked up you were to tap your helmet with one hand to indicate you were conscious and they would cut the cable. You were then expected to pull your reserve. HUPRA was developed after a man was cut free when he was unconscious. The slipstream had caused one arm to flap and appear to be tapping his helmet. He died. The HUPRA can be used whether a man is conscious or not because it has it's own parachute though they prefer you to be conscious in case of a malfunction, (you pull your reserve if that happens). When I was taught HUPRA drills we were to hold one hand or the other firmly on your helmet to indicate you are conscious.

Trim Stab:

I did my course in 1979 and we were taught it there at Brize. When did you do your course.

I did basic para course in May 82 and I know we were briefed on and shown the HUPRA. I think we even had a run through on the ground in the dummy fuselage.

He does give them a thumbs up at 55 seconds,
one would have thought you would need to be briefed as if when cut loose if he pulled the reserve that could cause complications when the other deployed..

Still a frightning thing

If memory serves, I believe HUPRA was due to be withdrawn due to it never having been used and the week before it was due to be removed from all S/L Para sorties they had the first live hang up over WOTG. HUPRA was successfully deployed and HUPRA continues to be carried to this day. :D

Nutloose:

I know that was a worry for the crew. The claim is that jump speed, (120kts IIRC), was sufficiently close to stalling that the deployment of a reserve would stall the aircraft.

On the bright side, once someone has done a couple of aircraft jumps the sequence and timing of events and the associated feelings is so consistent that one would very quickly realize that they were hooked up and, like all else in the parachuting, the training kicks in automatically*.

* I really can't say enough about how good basic parachute training was for causing men to immediately revert to training when things go wrong.

Reminds one of why Para's are a special group of folks!:ok:

But then parachute jumping.... is just a way of getting to the Work Place.

One of my favorite statements regarding those of the Airborne fraternity is paraphrased as follows:-

What sets the Airborne soldier apart from his earthbound brothers is that he knows all his battles will begin with him outnumbered and surrounded. :ok:

Prior to emplaning for any descent, the sky gods will be given, from the PJI, a DZ brief and then a brief on all phases of the jump which include the do's and don't when being hung up and a HUPRA being deployed.

The main point being emphasized is you DO NOT pull the reserve. If you do, it would probably cause the aircraft to stall and so the pilots, switiching to survival mode, would apply full power to keep the aircraft flying.

The deployment of the reserve would cause either
1. The aircraft to potentially stall and so the command to cut the cable regardless of wheter HUPRA has been attached or not will be given.
2. The deployed reserve parachute to be ripped from the harness.
3. The harness itself tearing apart .
4. Or the static line detaching from the main parachute.

If this causes the main chute to be deployed then the parachutist would be a very lucky guy otherwise he'd be enjoying his first and most probably his last free fall jump.

The "hands on the head" is more to keep your hands away from the red handle rather than indicate you are okay. You can wave or give the thumbs up if you want to.

The aircraft will then climb to a safe height, do a gentle turn on the side the parachutists is hung up on to stop them from bouncing and denting the side of the aircraft and then the cable is cut!

Then I guess the big paperwork moutain will appear!
CF.

I have read with interest your comments on HUPRA and it's use. For my sins, and there are many, I was the operating Air Loadmaster on the first use of the HUPRA from the C-130. Before my remuster to Aircrew I had the privilage of being a PJI. This I think allows me to comment on the subject in hand.
MURPHY'S LAW APPLIES !!
If it can possibly happen, then it probably will. For years the debate about the need for HUPRA simmered and then undoubtably the question was answered. A life saved with very little drama, but pure professionalism from training by the RAF. The question of taking HUPRA on any parachuting sortie is simple. YES.

Dutch

Forgive my ignorance but are you able to explain more clearly than the video shows how the system works. My guess is that you attach one end of the HUPRA to the static line and the other end to a hard point on the aircraft. you then release the original static line from the aircraft and away goes the parachutist. It would look like the individual on the bottom of the chute now has no control on where he goes but does he have any control on how he lands (in particular adopting 'the position') or will he become like any FJ aircrew and land like a sack of spuds?

Wrathmonk:

A hangup like you see in the video is usually the result of a mis-routed static line that goes under another of the harness straps preventing the parachute bag from being pulled off the back.

The HUPRA is similar to that parachute bag in that it contains the parachute and stays with the aircraft as the parachute is pulled from it by the falling body. The HUPRA bag is affixed to a strong point on the floor adjacent to the door. A steel(?) cable attached to the parachute in the HUPRA is then passed through the D-rings of all the static lines on the affected anchor cable, (to avoid mistakes), and the devices on either end clip together to form an link that can't be undone. As has been said, the aircraft is taken to a safe height over as safe an area as possible in a gentle turn to the side the para is and the anchor cable is cut at the forward end, (I think that's where they cut it).

The warning we were always given was that once we felt ourselves go not to look up because, invariably, the metal parts of all the static lines come raining down on your head...

My guess re: control is practically none depending on how the static line was mis-routed.