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Army Airborne: Later model T11 chutes versus T10’s

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  • claymore504

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    We jumped into JRTC. Rigged at green ramp and flew down in C-130s. That was the worst jump I had. Hit like a ton of bricks. Not even close to as bad as that jump, lightflyer1.
    DK Firearms
     

    lightflyer1

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    Did that too on Bragg, twice, same thing. Fully loaded with ammo and tangled with another jumper coming out the door at the same time. Chutes were tangled up and we spiraled down to the ground like that. Reserve landed on the ground still fully packed except the lines had played out. Thought I would explode on impact! Not even hurt though. I was a M60 machine gunner, so lots of weight. When we were alerted for Zaire I figured I weighed over 300 lbs fully loaded and chuted. Big fat blob going out the door.
     

    Bozz10mm

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    I can't remember exactly how many night jumps I made, maybe 15, maybe 20, but two of them stuck in my memory. One was at some small DZ near Hondo, Tx. Bright full moon, no wind. C-119 flying box car. My chute had just deployed and I looked up to check canopy. There was someone on my canopy. My chute had stolen his chute's air and he just plopped right on top of it. We exchanged a few words like "Hey got off my chute." and "Yeah, I'm trying." before I saw him slip off and fall below me. Fortunately his chute fully deployed again.

    The second one, again from a C-119, was at Ft. Hood. We took off from Gray and jumped in to Antelope DZ. Pitch dark, no moon, no stars. As I descended, I could barely make out some dark objects on the ground. Trees! Couldn't slip away and ended up landing right in the fork of an Oak about 8 feet off the ground. The chute draped completely over the tree. I got out of the harness and climbed down, but we had to leave the chute there until the next day and used a crane truck to retrieve it.
     

    Wudidiz

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    Tomball
    I can't remember exactly how many night jumps I made, maybe 15, maybe 20, but two of them stuck in my memory. One was at some small DZ near Hondo, Tx. Bright full moon, no wind. C-119 flying box car. My chute had just deployed and I looked up to check canopy. There was someone on my canopy. My chute had stolen his chute's air and he just plopped right on top of it. We exchanged a few words like "Hey got off my chute." and "Yeah, I'm trying." before I saw him slip off and fall below me. Fortunately his chute fully deployed again.

    The second one, again from a C-119, was at Ft. Hood. We took off from Gray and jumped in to Antelope DZ. Pitch dark, no moon, no stars. As I descended, I could barely make out some dark objects on the ground. Trees! Couldn't slip away and ended up landing right in the fork of an Oak about 8 feet off the ground. The chute draped completely over the tree. I got out of the harness and climbed down, but we had to leave the chute there until the next day and used a crane truck to retrieve it.

    I experienced your first example only I was the guy on top. Jumping T-10’s on Yomitan DZ, Ft. Buckner Okinawa w/1st SFG, I did a short exit from an Air Force C-130 (from Kadena AFB). The inboard engines had not been cut and on opening, I ended up with my boot in this guys apex right next to the angel ring. I literally struggled to get my boot free from his shrouds while sinking on his chute and losing air on mine. I finally managed to pull out my foot and slip off the end of his chute, yelling at him (as if it was his fault). I finally got a full canopy. By then, I could see that I was heading for the middle of an old Japanese runway. I couldn’t judge whether to pull risers to drop before the concrete or pull far risers and try to go past. I smacked right in the middle and the wind drug me down the old runway until some oxen farmer ran out and collapsed the main for me. Quick releases didn’t work. Probably full of the sand covering the runway. I will never forget the sparks from my dragging helmet flying at my face as I was being dragged. My only injuries were to my forearms, they had sandy pea gravel embedded. Shitty day.
     
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    majormadmax

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    If you think the little "steerability" of a T-10 is a bad thing, try a Czechoslovak OVP-80, which has four toggles! :eek:

    (The first pic is of me in 1994, the other two are of the OVP-80 chutes I found off the ol' Interwebz!)

    Mike.jpg
    OVP-80 (1).jpg
    OVP-80 (3).jpg


    I have five jumps using these with the Slovak 5.Pluk Špeciálneho Určenia ("5th Regiment of Special Purpose"), and can attest firsthand such maneuverability can be a "bad" thing! :cool:
     

    jetz92

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    You can still technically steer the T-11 by pulling on the risers but unless you’re 200 plus pounds it’s not likely to make a difference. They do however make the landing quite a bit softer (still dependent on wind) than the T-10. I think I still preferred the T10 but last few years of jumping were all T-11.


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    Wudidiz

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    You can still technically steer the T-11 by pulling on the risers but unless you’re 200 plus pounds it’s not likely to make a difference. They do however make the landing quite a bit softer (still dependent on wind) than the T-10. I think I still preferred the T10 but last few years of jumping were all T-11.


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    I only weighed 155 lbs in the Army and even with the T-10, I would “climb up” a riser, then it would slowly come down to me. It worked, but slower than the heavier guys.
     
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