Parachutes have come a long way! If we go back about 100 years, this is
what it would have looked like, possibly followed by a visit to the chiropractor!
The development of modern parachutes and how personnel were trained,
the variety of applications that they have and the nations that pioneered them,
and why after more than 70 years, American troops are moving away from round parachutes,
to this other style, and not to this one, is not what you think!
The word “parachute” was coined by the French inventor, Louis Sebastien Lenormand, who also
constructed his own parachute and successfully jumped from the tower of the Parisian Observatory
in 1783. 300 years prior to that, Da Vinci took a break from painting the Mona Lisa designed a
conical parachute, but the concept goes way back, to over 2000 years ago, as documented by Chinese
historians. But the utility of parachutes became more obvious once humans could fly.
Pilots can now survive burning airplanes, cargo can be quickly delivered to remote areas,
and astronauts can safely come back to Earth, all thanks to parachutes.
Contrary to popular belief, you actually
don’t need a parachute to go skydiving. But you do need one, if you wanna go twice!
Even as late as WWI, most American pilots did not wear parachutes,
and their use was mostly limited to stuntmen. In contrast, France and
Germany were some of the earliest adopters of parachutes for their military pilots.
Wearing parachutes for US Army aviators only became compulsory post WWI, in 1921.
In the early 1930s, Russia started experimenting with parachutes for other military use.
Russia led the way in the use of jump towers in the training of paratroopers. These towers
were used, with specially constructed parachutes, for their training.
Successful large-scale assaults from the sky were first carried out by Germany.
The invasion of the Netherlands in 1940 and the Battle of Crete in 1941 saw some of the
earliest mass paratroop drops, to occupy tactical points and assist the advance of ground troops.
Similar to Russians, Americans also built training towers at Fort Benning,
Georgia that were 250-feet high . The training was made up of “ground week”,
“tower week” and “jump week”. During Ground week,
trainees would simulate jumping off the airplane, but jumping off a platform. This was followed by
other exercises to get used to the feeling of the parachute opening and in some cases ouch!
Tower Week was when the trainees would get some height for the first time!
It started by getting pulled up and released in a controlled manner, to get used to parachutes.
The next training was to get them accustomed to the jerk when the parachute opens.
Then practicing how to land, which is possibly one of the most important parts,
as we’ll discuss later, and the final step was a descent, on their own.
Jump Week was when it would all come together, as trainees would get into airplanes,
get up in the sky, and jump out for their graduations.
80 years later, and much of the training is still done
in a similar fashion for ground week, tower week and jump week.
The T-5 parachute was standardized in June of 1941
and was heavily employed in all theaters of action.
The Americans were the only airborne troops in World War II to use a reserve parachute. It rested
below their chest toward their stomach and could be pulled in case the main chute malfunctioned.
Easily identified with its round canopy, the T-5 underwent numerous upgrades throughout the years,
all the way to T-10D.
A study of more than 131,000 jumps showed that on average, every 1000 jumps resulted in 8.4
injuries. But 88% of those injuries were associated with ground impact.
This is why in recent years, the US Military started replacing the T-10s with T-11 parachutes,
which for the first time, do not have a round canopy.
The main canopy on the T-11s is a modified version of a cross or cruciform platform.
The new canopy has increased inflated diameter and surface area, when compared with the T-10D.
The T-11 is designed to have an average rate of descent of 19 feet per second (5.8 m/s) 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. The unique design characteristics of
cruciform parachutes also reduces oscillations and swinging back and forth, during descent.
You might find it interesting that T-11 and its predecessors are not really maneuverable.
Some versions allow you to turn, but that’s about it. And there are good reasons for this.
Just imagine the sky filled with hundreds of paratroopers, steering all over the place.
Lack of maneuverability also helps keep the forces together
when deploying substantial numbers of paratroopers.
The job of these parachutes is to get you down on the ground quickly and safely. That’s about it!
Ram Air parachutes are typically rectangular. The canopy is divided into a set of individual cells.
When air enters, or rams, into the front of the canopy,
it inflates the cells and gives the parachute an airfoil shape,
which is not only quite maneuverable, it can make landing a lot easier.
With non-maneuverable parachutes which are incapable of generating lift, it is crucial to
use the parachute landing fall or PLF technique, in order to land safely and without injury.
The military does employ Ram Air parachutes as well, but they are primarily used by
Special Operations Forces and Special Mission Units , not conventional forces.
Today, just about everyone who uses parachutes for sports or recreational purposes,
uses ram-air canopies. But the utility of parachutes goes well beyond that!
The Russian experiments with parachutes in the 1930s were not limited to pilots or other military
personnel. They were developing parachutes that could deliver vehicles and weapons.
The Russians developed an early method for cargo drop,
where the chute was deployed first, which is essentially how cargo is airdropped these days
They even tried low altitude drops without parachutes. Not sure what those guys were
doing in there, but they sure look happy! This technique evolved into Low Altitude
Parachute Extraction System or LAPES, even though it’s not common anymore.
With the development of cargo airplanes,
transporting large amounts of cargo became possible.
Korea came up with advanced ways of airdropping massive crates of cargo, from munition to large
military vehicles. Huge nylon chutes were used that could handle airdrop of artillery
and light armor. The ability to deliver large amounts of cargo over long distances
revolutionized the concept of military supply and cannot be underestimated.
Other uses of parachutes during WWII included planting mines in shipping lanes from the air.
The parachutes were used to slow the descent of the mines so they wouldn’t detonate on impact.
Before the invention of ejection seats, the only way of escaping from an incapacitated aircraft was
to bail out, but in many scenarios, this could prove difficult due to the pilot being injured,
impact of high G forces, or simply getting out of the confined space of the cockpit in a timely
manner. So ejection seats were invented. Although, as aircraft speed increased,
especially into the supersonic range, the ejection systems had to evolve.
Encapsulated Seat egress systems were developed for use in the B-58 Hustler and B-70 Valkyrie
supersonic bombers. These seats were enclosed in an air-operated clamshell, which permitted the
aircrew to escape at airspeeds and altitudes high enough to otherwise cause bodily harm.
These seats were designed to allow the pilot to control the plane
even with the clamshell closed, and the capsule would float in case of a water landing.
Whether it is used for aircraft deceleration, return of crew members from space missions,
or just a routine parachute jump,
the parachute riggers play a critical role in the safety of those involved.
In the US Armed Forces, parachute riggers wear red hats.
It may look casual, but riggers are authorized to wear this distinctive red baseball cap as
their military headgear when on rigger duties. The riggers frequently make parachute jumps
themselves. Not only does this help them better understand how the equipment that they prepare
and maintain works, it’s kind of a quality check too, because if you are not willing to jump with
a parachute that you and your colleagues have packed, maybe others shouldn’t either!