Unique Airborne Ops?
 

Finally got on a German jump off a CH-47 Chinnook and it was scratched today; rescheduled for next Tuesday.

I've never jumped off a damn helicopter. Was just wondering if anyone had any unique Airborne experiences they would like to share.

Ill be sure to post a pic on my pearly new German wings... Cross your fingers for decent weather.

-CV

German
 

Do the Germans have CH-47s in their inventory? It been a few years, but I recall they used 2 types of cargo/utility airframes: CH-53 & UH-1. Personally I never observed or ever heard of them using CH-47s. Certainly this may have changed or are you jumping German chutes and using German JM's out of US. aircraft?

Anyway, I always enjoyed rotary wing jumps, except combat equipment out of a UH-1-----that damm skid can sure hurt if you hit your backside on the exit.

USAF Commander in charge of the bird-side-of-things will not let us jump out of a foreign aircraft. I as of yet do not know why. So in the meantime we will be jumping out of the 47s.

Jumping out of CH-47s is like taking a nice short walk, with that last step being a long one.

We had a jump on the Naval Academy Dairy Farm once where we jumped in 8-12 mph winds gusting to 20-30. I think our Group Commander was in a hurry to get to altitude to do his HALO jump, so as soon as the DZSO reported a break in the winds, we started jumping. People were dragged all over the DZ. This DZ was full of troublesome obstacles (a culvert full of concrete chunks, a power relay station at one end, a manure pond at the other end), but luckily no one was seriously injured that day. We did have a cherry jumper drown in the manure pond once though.

A DZ in Hondo that one of the things to avoid was was the mine field at the trail edge.

Another DZ in Hondo that you had to land between the rows of pineapples.

Jumping Static Line at Raeford out of Casas and not landing in the farmers field. He chased the 4th Psyop Group commander across the field with his shotgun!

Chasing a FARRP out of a MC130 Blind Drop that was on Fire (The airplane, not the FARRP). This was on Venado in Panama. FARRP didnt make the DZ, landed dam near on top of the FSG BBQ on the Beach.

I believe I was there that day, jumping HALO with some boys from Navy EOD and ST4.

Jumping Hondo with Hondo chutes out of Honduran aircraft (or any other country for that matter).

C5A

The pool at Davis (watch the light poles in front of the TMC).

Any demo jump (something always seems to go...)

Static Line on the Battlefield at Gettysburg, PA.

Jumping over Siena, Italy with the Italian Parachute Brigade CG.

Jumping Stroessner International Airport with Paraguayans who had been issued either steel helmets, or liners, but not both. They tied them on with 80lb. test they borrowed from our riggers. They were using paper clips or strands of stripped electrical wire as safety wire on the static line snap hooks. Most of them were under 100 lbs., we later found out that some of them were as young as 13 and had never actually jumped before.

HALO from the ramp of a C-141B over Grenada, postage stamp Drop Zone between the ocean and the mountains, with a parallel active highway and power lines for added excitement, 135 lb. ruck and a total of over 200 lbs. of gear strapped to each swinging Richard, finally break through the overcast to see the DZ at about 2,000 ft., yelling to the JM (the Team Sergeant), "screw it, lets go for it!" Discovering that Team Sergeants are pretty smart guys when he gives us the "No Jump" signal.

HALO train-up with the Golden Knights, where they ask us what kind of rigs we have (MC-3 with chest mounted reserve), and then telling us they saw one in a museum once. Also asking about us jumping rucks (what are those for?) and we had to explain why you would want to have a ruck upon arrival.

Any jump with Gary O. on board.

TR

Ain't that the truth. LOL

Gettysburg - very cool.

NDD, sorry to do this to the thread, sent you email. End.

Awesome experiences

Unique Airborne Ops?
 

Nothing really unique about my story!! Anyone been 10th man out the door on a 6 second DZ?? Circa '65 the Branch Committe used a DZ at the North end of Lake James Pisgah NF. WX front moving in and they decdided to jump 10 each pass from a C-123.

I got a peek at the DZ . You have all seen pictures of a small country chruch with a graveyard. Opened over the trees and no way to run towards the DZ.

My choice was the chruch steeple, powerlines,gravel road or the graveyard. The graveyard looked most promising and that were I slipped to land. More family size headstones than I had ever see.

I landed between some of those giant size headstones and recovered.
Preacher cameout and said"son why didn't you land on the road?" I said because of the powerlines.Hesaid the power been off all afternoon,like I knew they were dead.

BMT

Made the jump off the UH-47 and got the German Wings, but this pails in comparison to all of your great experiences. I hope I can experience a few in my career.

-CV

Over-Oranges.
 

While in the 7th in 1974 we had winter training at Ft. Greely, Alaska. The final pjhase was to be a one week trek across the frozen tundra to "blow up" the Alyaska Pipeline.

We inserted by parachute from a Chinook. It was -40 deg in the AO and we dressed accordingly, plus rucksacks, weapons and skis. When inserting troops the crew of the aircraft are to maintain a temperature below 32 deg. This crew didn't do so. I don't know what the temp was but the crew wasn't wearing much more than their flight suits.

Since it was to be the last "decent" meal for a week we chowed down copious amounts of SOS, and whatever else was available. We were on triple rations. I also had copious amounts of orange juice. When we boarded the shithook it was unbearably hot for us who were dressed for minus forty degrees. In addition my breakfast started reacting with the libations of the previous night. We asked the crew chief to turn down the heat and he just grinned. Well, finally, about ten minutes out from the DZ my stomach had had enough. I knew I was going to barf so instead of using a barf bag I saw and used the tray from the crew chief's tool box -- he, he, he.. I wasn't the only one and I hope the stench and mess got to the crew. My overwhites ended up over-oranges from the orange juice.

BTW: We jumped German Nord Atlases while in Germany. We also jumped Wellingtons while in Scotland with the SAS. You exit through a hatch in the floor.

hatch in the floor!? Damn, I want that jump...

That's how many OSS agents were inserted during WWII. The hole was pretty tiny from the photos that I saw.