US Army Air Force (1) by Gordon L. Rottman

Author:Gordon L. Rottman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: US Army Air Force (1)
ISBN: 9781782000532
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

A C-54 pilot wearing A-12 arctic gloves (actually one-finger mittens) made of light OD gabardine with brown leather palms and lined with fleece. He also wears an A-11 intermediate helmet and B-15 intermediate jacket.

A navigator, operating an AN5738-1 astro compass, wears the F-2 electric heated gloves with an AN-H-16 winter helmet, and the F-2 electric suit’s outer jacket.

The B-4 and B-5 parachutes were standardised on 31 August 1939 and 15 March 1940 respectively. Both were improvements over earlier models, but were outclassed by the B-7. Both were made limited standard in 1940, saw little use in the war and were declared obsolete in 1942 and 1944 respectively. The B-7 parachute (from 1942, AN6512–1 and –1A) was a back type standardised on 1 October 1940. It used a three-pin ripcord (all back types had the handles on the left side of the harness) and a buckled waist band integral to the pack and in addition to the three-point connection (deleted on the later AN6512–1); many had old bayonet-type harness fasteners. Its harness and pack were uncomfortable and it was replaced by the B-8 parachute standardised in late 1942. B-7s continued to be used though. The B-8 had a more comfortable harness and soft pack, moulding to the contour of the wearer’s back, deleted the waist band, and used a four-pin ripcord. Some early harnesses used bayonet fasteners, but most had snap hooks. A small number were modified with a larger container to accommodate the 28 ft. canopy. The B-9 parachute was standardised on 1 January 1944, using the B-8s soft pack, but with a single-point QRB harness connection, which caused the same release difficulties as the A-4; improper fitting could also cause groin injuries, and the riser adapters sometimes inflicted head injuries during opening. The B-10 parachute was standardised on 5 January 1945 using the B-8 container, an improved QRB and harness, and was the first parachute to feature a ripstop nylon canopy.

While all QAC and back type parachutes in use at the beginning of the war were recent designs, the then current seat models were of much earlier origin. All seat types had a 2 in. thick seat cushion made of OD duck-covered sponge rubber. In 1943 these were replaced by bound hair-filled cushions due to the rubber shortage that year. Even though the rubber cushions had replaced a pneumatic model in early 1939, this model was sought by pilots in the Pacific flying long-range missions, due to its comfort. Special seat pads for survival gear were also used (see Emergency Kits). All seat types were fitted with a two-pin, long cable ripcord with the handle on the left side of the harness.

The S-1 parachute (from 1942, AN6510–1), standardised on 11 May 1928, used a 24 ft. canopy. The S-2 parachute (AN6511–1) was standardised on 19 June 1929 and identical to the S-1 except for a 28 ft. canopy. Both were used through the war. (The S-3 of 1932 used a 23 ft. triangular canopy and was dropped from use prior to the war due to production, packing, and maintenance problems.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.