From: b645zaw@utarlg.uta.edu (Stephen Tice)
Subject: Re: Poifictly good aircraft?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: The University of Texas at Arlington
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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 02:17:00 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.190301.4207@berlioz.nsc.com>, alan@lancaster.nsc.com (The Hepburn) writes...
>In article <5JAN199320435776@utarlg.uta.edu>, b645zaw@utarlg.uta.edu (Stephen Tice) writes:
>|> 
>|> I've only jumped tandem, and only 5 times, and every time I had 
>|> company. (Ok, ok, so I was cargo.)
> 
>Civilian jumping, tandem or no, cannot compare to an airborne assault, when
>you have to empty several planeloads of troops onto a small DZ!  Try sitting
>in a small net sling along with 80 or so people, wearing a large backpack, 
>with a large duffle bag strapped under your chest pack reserve, with a rifle
>in a pouch (or even worse, an M60 mg) strapped to your leg!  Then when the
>jumpmaster says "STAND UP!"  you've got to actually try and stand up!

Doesn't sound nearly so much fun as HALO. But I am curious, doesn't 
that arrangement muck up a PLF.

>|> The jumps (except for the darn chute openings) were great.
> 
>It was my experience that the opening shock was the best thing I could ever
>hope to feel (Thank you, whoever you are, it opened!!!), seconded only by the
>look up to see a fully inflated canopy!  Everything else seemed to pale in
>comparison!  Would you rather not feel any opening shock? :-)

Ahhhm, your right of course. Good point. I reckon a cut-away and proper
deployment of the reserve might be even more of a "kick."

Then again. Rather than waste the opportunity by screwing around to undo a
hopelessly tangled reserve and main -- I'd rather ditch both, and free-fall 
in. (Might as well enjoy the ride.)

>|> But going up in that dang shoestring & glue plane sucked every time.
>|> 
>|> Youse guys were lucky you had something more "substantial" to laze
>|> away the time in.
>|> 
>The plane may be more substantial, but the jockeys, especially the sadists
>who drove the C130's, had a game they played:  let's see how many troops we
>can get to lose their lunch today.  Ask any one who's been the last plane in
>a trail formation how much turbulence they fly through!  Up until they actually
>turned onto the jump run they loved to adjust their formations for maximum
>troop discomfort.  

<grin> 

Yep, I hated the dang horseflies stampeding through my stomach;
so I reckon there's nothin like gettin out of the dang plane
after being "properly" shakin and tossed. Complete with bleu cheese
dressin.

>During my time with the 82D ABN DIV (by the way; the 82D is
>the only full Airborne Division in the US Army.  The 101st is more correctly
>called an Airmobile Division) back in the early '70's the best jumps are
>chopper blasts out of Hueys, followed closely by the C5 loads.  

Hardly seems worthwhile to jump several hundred feet up -- out the door
and on the ground. How long's it take, 10 seconds? You'd reckon they'd
have some sort of fancy fast-ropes by now, just to slide on down with.

>I'm not sure if they use the C5 much anymore, but we had several runs back 
>in 1972 testing various configurations and the hop off the tailgate was a 
>real blast.

I'll bet. Especially rolling along the ground for several hundred feet.
If y'all made films, that would make one heck of an FOIA request. 

Gotta admit though AH, youse caint be all nuts, not with a Will Roger's
quote.

-- Stephen     And one's good will deserves another. Asked to sum up 
               the gospel, Will Cambell said, "We're all bastards,
               but God loves us anyhow."