Chute deployment handles

[erdnarob 1]

A spring loaded pilot chute, especially the main parachute one can be caught in the foot of a jumper or make possible that the bridle is going around the foot or leg of the jumper and that way generates a horseshoe malfiunction. You have to remember that there is a partial vacuum behind a jumper in freefall. Since the spring loaded pilot chute is heavier than the throw away pilot chute it can possibly stay in that partial vacuum and do weird things. In the seventies, a guy of 900 jumps making a demo over Niagara Falls got a horseshoe malfunction because his spring loaded pilot chute/bridle get caught on his leg or foot. He couldn't solve the problem and died. Earlier spring loaded pilot chute were equiped with air vanes to get them more stable. However those vanes type pilot chute were the best design to get hooked by the foot.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[riggerrob 558]

All old World War 2 emergency parachutes - and most modern pilot emergency parachutes - have ripcords on the front so that pilots can see and find them and pull when in a panic after bailing out of of uncontrollable airplanes.

The same rationale determines why sport reserve ripcords are still mounted on the front of harnesses. A secondary factor is that all AADs require some sort of spring to launch the reserve pilot chute.

Early sport main containers were merely military PEPs modified with sleeves, but still used four pin ripcords. Second generation main sport containers were "cut down" so that they only needed three pin ripcords.
But since skydivers spent more time packing than jumping, they were always looking for ways to save time packing.
Bill Booth's invention (circa 1975) of the hand-deploy pilot chute eliminated all the struggle of compressing a spring-loaded pilot chute.
Various pilot chute pocket locations were tried. Most first-generation hand-deploys mounted pilot chute pockets on belly bands, for two reasons.
First, large (230 square foot main canopies) floppy skydiving rigs needed belly bands to prevent them from sliding sideways in freefall and secondly, skydivers were accustomed to pulling main handles on their fronts.
In 1979, Gananoque started telling students to toss their own pilot chutes from belly bands.

After several skydivers died with main bridles twisted around belly bands, fashionable pilot chute locations shifted to leg straps.
My second rig had the pilot chute mounted on the front of the leg strap. Supposedly that was more difficult to mis-route a bridle.
My third rig had the pilot chute mounted on the back of the leg strap.
Then (early 1990s) tandems and videographers changed the fashion to mounting pilot chutes on the bottom of the container: today's fashion.
My fourth rig had a BOC.
While all previous designs depended upon Velcro to control exposed bridles, BOC finally made it possible to completely protect bridles with extended side flaps. Fortunately, this innovation was introduced shortly after sit flying became fashionable (mid 1990s).
USPA stubbornly resisted BOCs for students for many years, but that fashion changed in the late 1990s and it was amusing watching USPA DZs rush to convert to BOC!

Meanwhile, large floppy military freefall rigs still use belly bands and front-mounted main ripcords. Main ripcords because it is very difficult to find a BOC with thick gloves and a ruck-sack flopping around near your BOC.
Rigging Innovations and UPT (Bill Booth's company) are now advocating belly bands to limit the amount that student rigs can flop around.

[mjosparky 3]

You win I can’t possibly argue with such logic.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[piisfish 135]

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Okay, that's an exception, from way back.

The Original Poster was asking about WWII parachutes

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[yarpos 4]

there was also a system (pull out) that left the pilot chute inside your container and has your BOC handle to open your container and then withdraw the PC into the air. I always prefered this system. Downside was that a dislodged handle left you with a total...which I had once due to poor maintenance. In general I liked this system as I knew my container was open and when I let go of my pilot chute the opening was quick and positive. Failure mode (rare) left a clean container and no trailing pilot chute. And no I dont want another pull out vs throw debate, the world has moved on...

regards, Steve
the older I get...the better I was

[JohnRich 4]

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Okay, that's an exception, from way back.

The Original Poster was asking about WWII parachutes

Indeed he was. The point is, that there haven't been reserves without spring pilot chutes in common use in a very long time. There's a good reason for that - they work well.

[Snypam118 0]

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Just an odd question - the old WWII chutes had a ripcord handle on the chest. How and why did it move to the back of the container? Wouldn't a chest handle be easier to use?

The current military freefall rigs are ripcord activated with spring loaded pilot chute. My first jumps were on a MC-5 and the ripcord is easy to locate. Its on the right side buy if your right arm somehow becomes useless you can use the left hand. Its a bit harder to pack because it take some effort to collaspe the spring.

i dropped my 1rst ripcord after pull but held all others after. It was "stressed" to do it by cadre.

One example of a horseshoe malfunction is if the jumper is backsliding during deployment. Saw a couple of pics in Yuma.

"Nobody believes me when I say riding a motorcycle is scarier than jumping"...

Have 60 static line jumps and thought I was cool until i discovered REAL FLIGHT

[riggerrob 558]

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Just an odd question - the old WWII chutes had a ripcord handle on the chest. ... Wouldn't a chest handle be easier to use?

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Yes!
However, looking at front-mounted handles tempts students to de-arch and front loop through their lines during openings.

[mnskydiver688 0]

Neat trick...

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters