brenthutch 383 #1 Posted September 6, 2019 What is the deal with Russian military parachutes? I have seen videos that look like they go out on a short bridled drogue Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #2 September 6, 2019 (edited) Russian paratroopers pull a drogue release handle a few seconds after exit. Dumber Russian paratroopers wait until they scare their KAP3 AADe. That drogue ystem softens openings when the jump plane flies faster than 130 knots. It also allows pseudo-free fall from high altitudes, with minimal training. American smoke-jumpers copies the Russian drogue system. Back in the early days of tandem, they used the same F-111 canopies as both main and reserve. Strong Enterprises was already sewing drogues for American smoke jumpers; so adapted a drogue to their Dual Hawk Tandem. Hard openings suddenly became a minor problem along with far fewer torn canopies, reserve rides, etc. An unexpected offshoot was the slower free fall allowed free fall photographers to keep tandems in frame and, a new revenue source for DZs. Edited September 6, 2019 by riggerrob Spell check hates the word rogue :... er ...... droves Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 261 #3 September 9, 2019 I'm not sure what their current system is, but the one I'm familiar with is the D-6 which is or was a common Russian paratrooper rig. There the drogue is static lined on exit, with the drogue attachment basically at the top of the pack behind one's neck. A rotating disc release mechanism can be activated by a KAP-3 style mechanical AAD, or by ripcord. The drogue then pulls the main canopy out. The whole system allows one to have a relatively light and large main canopy yet jump at very high exit speed. A few pics from my system are attached. (I posted years back on DZ, but the new dropzone.com system has made the old photos disappear) 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimp 1 #4 September 9, 2019 Just as Peter has explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lACUXqfFmV8 and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT12xDwXq8E 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deimian 43 #5 September 9, 2019 Very interesting video! Jumping in front of a turbofan engine gives me the shivers. It seems like the engine is off during the jumps, but still. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
