RAF Aircrew Parachute 'Cocked' Related Question

Reading Dunkirk-Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's book in Chap 5 he is writing about the Fairey Battles sortie on the briges across the Albert Canal and mentions that a Air-Gunner in one of the aircraft (Account from AG's diary) does his normal checks then:

'cut through the strings that normally had to be broken when the rip cord was pulled after jumping out of the plane.'

In the booked it is referred to as 'Cocking' the parachute and goes on to say that it probably saved the AG's life as he was knocked out as he bailed out of the aircraft.


Was cocking parachutes common practise?

Anyone know when Pilots/ Air Crew started doing this?

Were parachutes later modified during the war to compensate for this?

Cheers

 

I can only speak from my experiance. ( 58 jumps and a combat jump, all static line)and frankly very lttile has changed as far as equipment and procedures, ID NEVER EVER EVER modify a chute once its packed or rigged. ya fiddle with the bands on it strings it could be disaterous

 

Sounds like a modified line-drop to me.
Don't know when adjustable altitude (pressure) releasers were introduced, but they take care of the problem.

 

He is a Air Gunner in the RAF flying in Fairey Battles. Nothing to do with static line jumps or the like.

It appears he has 'self-modified' his chute to allow it to open without the need to pull a rip cord once he has exited the aircraft.

The aircraft (A medium bomber) was with other bombing the bridges on the Dyle so 'alltitude chutes' even if available would not be effective due to the heights involved. It's quite a well known raid as two Victoria Crosses were awarded for the raid and they were the first to be awarded in this campaign.

I will mod the title to attract the 'Bryl chaps'.

Cheers
A

 

Was cocking parachutes common practise?

Anyone know when Pilots/ Air Crew started doing this?

Were parachutes later modified during the war to compensate for this?


Cheers
A

 

He is a Air Gunner in the RAF flying in Fairey Battles. Nothing to do with static line jumps or the like.

It appears he has 'self-modified' his chute to allow it to open without the need to pull a rip cord once he has exited the aircraft.
A

OK. Well THAT sounds risky to me. Agree with Ranger6 ! Have spent some time with the chute packers and that's a rather sobering lesson on why never to tamper with anything.

 

BTW, have you read "Jump for it - stories of the caterpillar club" by Gerald Bowman ? It's from the 50s and includes all these hair-raising stories of jumps that should have gone wrong but miraculously didn't.
If not, I can lend it to you. (Yes, I trust you.) It sits on the bookshelf of my residence, which I hope to reach NLT tomorrow.

 

dude was nuts if ya ask me LOL

 

Well if it saved his life maybe he wasn't ALL nuts ?

 

I would have thought there was a high risk of the chute snagging part of the airframe, if it partially deployed whilst abandoning the aircraft. I wouldn't have thought this was a common practice at all. I've certainly not heard of it until now.

Would it have meant the chute had to be repacked after every flight, if it wasn't used?

 

No ya dont have to repack a chute unless ya use it... but after a wwhile the rubber bands used in the packing do rot, but it could take months or years,

 

No ya dont have to repack a chute unless ya use it... but after a wwhile the rubber bands used in the packing do rot, but it could take months or years,

I was thinking more if had been tampered with in the way that has been suggested in post#1. Not knowing a lot about parachutes I would have thought cutting the strings would have been enough for the chute to become unpacked, even without using it.

 

Never heard of it, Andy. Maybe it's about low level flying and it's a way of getting the parachute to deploy very early in case of a hasty exit.
Never heard of it in all the Bomber Command books either. Be nice to know.

 

No ya dont have to repack a chute unless ya use it... but after a wwhile the rubber bands used in the packing do rot, but it could take months or years,


120 day repack cycle.

 

Can I just remind you that we are talking about 1940 aircrews and whilst the principals of parachutes are the same I suspect they have developed considerably in 70 years.

The information comes from the RAF crews own memoires and was discovered as part of the authors research.

Cheers
Andy

 

DREW can I remind you parchutes ESP rounds, Not ram air parafoils are almost identical today as they were in the 1940s... and they certinly didnt use ram airs. The harnesses are changed slightly from the mcb-1b and charlie models from the t-10s they used in ww2. ya asked for info on chutes maybe ill find a damm rigger for ya to debate with...

 

Futhermore, the harnesses and parachutes used by all allied forces were developed in the UK. as well as the Jump sequences and safety checks, (JUMPMASTER PERSONELL INSPECTIONS) and the the only difference between a static jump and bailing from a plane is use of the static line to deploy the chute, if that main doesnt open or ya have a malfunction. you pull youre reserve.. ya exit the aircraft and count to 4. by then youre chute should deploy. if it does not or you have a blown panel in youre canopy or issues with youre shroud line ya pull the cotter pins on youre main and pull your reserve... The Parachute landing fall ya use for landing is identical. almost everything is Identical. except for ya have 2 chutes and a static line in the airborne, they told us if ya jump below 300 feet above ground level your chute wont have time to fully deploy and youre probably gonna die. YOU ASKED ABOUT CHUTES AND IM giving ya from my experiance i told ya im no expert but i have actually used them a few times

 

Just checked The Battle of France Then and Now and it only mentions the following on the sortie:

Sunday 12th May 1940.

12 Squadron, Amifontaine.

Battle L5241.

Petrol tank set alight in attack by Fw Sawallisch of 2/JG27 during sortie to bomb the Vroenhoven Bridge over the Albert Canal 9.35am. Force-Landed at St-Germain-les-Mons.

Pilot Officer T D H Davy unhurt. Sergeant G D Mansell baled out north-east of Maastricht, returning unhurt. AC1 G N Patterson also baled out but hit the tail and slightly injured, landing outside the Hospital des Anglais in Liege where later captured. Aircraft PH-G later burned to prevent capture.

Sebag-Montefiore quotes his source as Patterson, Personal Autobiography, P.69.

 

OK did some checking, "cocking" a parchute refers to a mechanical ignitor assmebly...
Igniter assembly actuated by parachute deployment, and flare containing the same - US Patent 6412417 Description

 

Could this be the type of chute that was used in 1940 in Bombers or is this one used by fighter pilots?