Sorry we slid off the rail again, but blame it on overseas duty or something...inability to pay attention. I did think about us rambling during my last post...
No worries.....I come here not only for the actual knowledge...but for the info-tainment that accompanies it! Keep those tales coming.....
Enjoy, the thrill of the mix from 2 PARA...........YEE HA
Last one 82nd/101st Fort Bragg
'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA
Always marvel at the rigs of the U.S Airborne lads. Seems a tad tidier then ours when strapped to the leg. Also the chutes look spot on..........whats the failure rate with all that weight?
'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA
Also the chutes look spot on..........whats the failure rate with all that weight?
I was marvelling at the sheer size of the US chutes. Way bigger than the ones we used to use. Deeper...look like they hold more air for a slower decent.
Drop rate according to Wikipedia: The canopy has an increased inflated diameter of 14 percent and a 28 percent increase in surface area, when compared with the T-10D assembly. The T-11 main canopy utilizes a unique deployment sequence to reduce the opening shock and canopy oscillation. The T-11 is designed to have an average rate of descent of 19 feet per second (5.8 m/s) for the 95th percentile service member, compared with 24 feet per second (7.3 m/s) with the T-10C. This reduction is intended to result in significantly lower landing injury rates for jumpers.[2]
It also says that it is in use by the Canadian Armed Forces as well.
Makes you a nice stable target for the bad guys shooting up at you.
With an 800 foot exit the T11 will give you 42.1 second hang time but the T10 will give you a 33.3 second hang time. 9 seconds is an eternity with bullets zipping by.
Being able to land safely is why they stress the importance of Parachute Landing Falls (PLFs).
My son was a parachute rigger for the 82nd and he had nothing good to say about the T11. In fact he called it a dangerous canopy.
Paul,
Yes fully aware of this load of BS, which has been around ever since the Parachute Regiment was formed in 1940. However, whilst we still retain a Parachute School 1PTS at RAF Brize Norton, and also 3 Regular Battalions and one Reserve Battalion, parachuting will remain.
Its a boring story that goes round and round, and fits in nicely with everything else "special" in our country to do with the Military, including the Royal Marines, who are set to lose a Commando Group or indeed merge with the Parachute Regiment. Heard it all before, and clearly being driven by shiny arsed Whitehall MOD jealous upstarts!! We have 1 PARA stationed and permanently slotted in with the SAS/SBS at St Athens, who are part of the Special Forces Support Group. They are permanently in Afghanistan and other hot spots around the world and parachute regularly, so not sure why this old old story has resurfaced.
Whilst HRH Prince Charles is our Colonel in Chief we aint going no where!!
Not sure where the 80 men figure came from as 650 men of 2 PARA jumped in with the French Foreign Legion in Corsica:
Colchester-based B Company, 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) has been working alongside 2e Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes (2e REP) at their base on the rugged island of Corsica.
As part of Exercise Blue Legionnaire, the two units have fired each other’s weaponry and practised fighting together in urban areas. The 2 PARA soldiers earned French parachute wings by jumping from a French C-160 Transall aircraft, while jumps from an RAF C-130 Hercules earned 2e REP soldiers their British wings.
The French unit has also passed on survival and climbing techniques on Corsica’s snow-capped mountains while in the Mediterranean Sea its soldiers worked with the Colchester unit on handling assault boats and attacking and defending beaches.
Last edited by Gil Boyd; 03-24-2018 at 08:23 AM.
'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA