FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0627.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 May 1960 627 |tit in good order: the end-product (right) of instruction at Abingdon as trainees make their first "lire" descent from a Hastings of Transport Command, putting into prac-tice all they have hitherto been taught on the ground. Below is shown one of the pre- liminaries, a descent from the gantry; and as tailpiece, an assault course hazard a ski lift), to teach approaches to the ground and actual landings. All this would no doubt have fascinated Robert Cocking, and it demonstrates how cut-and-dried parachuting has become (largely through its wide military employment in the last war) compared with precarious early experiments. It is now almost 20 years since No 1 Parachute Training School opened at Ringway, Manchester (in 1940), and No 510 Course is just about going through Abing- don. This month the school is making a new departure with the Army pupil course in.free-fall parachuting, a technique which some of the instructors studied last year at the French Army Parachute Training School near Pau. As a painter, Robert Cocking would quickly have noticed the difference in colour between the uniforms of the Abingdon in- structors and their pupils. The former are all RAF, the latter mainly regular Army or TA. "Mainly" implies certain exceptions, and these are u/t RAF parachute instructors; AQMs of Transport Command, who are trained to assist in dispatching but can jump if they wish; RN and RAF personnel on AMO courses, who do four jumps, two from a balloon and two from an aircraft; WRAF personnel, who can do two jumps from a balloon; and physical fitness officers, who come to Abingdon for a fortnight and do two descents from a VMll^AA" ariH rnw\ ffrun an aimraft afiH may yolunteeT to train as PJIs. But the majority of trainees at No 1 PTS at any one time are the 300 men who make up the two Regular and two TA basic courses. The source of the Regulars has already been described in the first part of this article, from the two streams which come to Aldershot, of volunteers from Army units or recruits who are joining the Parachute Regiment from "civvy street." The TA men do evening or weekend training with their units and 15 days' summer camp; they are supposed to be reasonably fit when they come to Abingdon, though they can hardly have acquired the same kind of resilience inculcated by the Army at Aldershot, and it is a tribute to their keenness that they go straight from office or factory environments into the disciplined adventure of parachute training. Once the trainees have learned the fundamentals at ground level, and acquired' some confidence, they are given their equip- ment, which basically means two parachutes. (The reserve para- chute was introduced four years ago. Carried at the front, it makes it more difficult for the parachutist to see the ground imme- diately beneath him. It also adds 131b to his total weight.) During the four weeks' course at Abingdon, eight training descents are made, the first two from a balloon (at 800ft) and the remainder from aircraft, including two with weapon container and one at night (though the TAs do not do a night descent). The half-dozen jumps from aircraft are made (1) in consecutive sticks of three, (2) simultaneous sticks of three, (3) simultaneous sticks of ten, (4) with equipment, in sticks of five, (5) by night and (6) en masse, 40 to 60 men deplaning at a time. The DZ for these training exercises is Weston on the Green, a disused grass airfield near Bicester, from which the troops are brought back to Abingdon by coach. Aircraft used are Beverleys from the resident squadrons, Nos 47 and 53, or Hastings from Colerne; for training purposes, the Hastings carry 32 parachutists, the Beverleys 70. All the instructors at No 1 PTS have been through a much more comprehensive training programme than their pupils, on a course of about 14 weeks. In the first month they take the course given to Army personnel, to equip themselves with basic tech- niques and also to taste instruction from the receiving end. The second month they spend learning how to be instructors; in the third, they put their training to the test by taking charge of a section under the eye of a qualified PJI. Trainee instructors com- plete their course with practical experience of water descents, selecting and marking DZs, and parachuting with special equipment. Although the PJIs at Abingdon are all RAF officers and NCOs, and the Army staff are responsible for administration and disci- pline, there is what both sides describe as "a happy relationship" between the Army and RAF at No 1 PTS. For the Army, the senior officer, Maj J. N. Sim (OC Parachute Course Administrative Unit) pays tribute to the co-operation and friendliness he receives at all times; only on matters of pay and discipline is the Army independent at Abingdon. There are three squadrons at No 1 PTS, two of them (A and B) giving basic training and the third (C) a support flight. The commander of the school, Wg Cdr E. J. Brice, explains that its title is not an anomaly although it is in fact the only military parachute training unit in the UK. If conditions necessitated, two of the squadrons could be "hived off" to form the basis of other schools. It is "C" Sqn which will be responsible for the free-fall course due to start at Abingdon this mondi. The trials officer, Fit Lt Peter Hearn, was one of the four instructors who went to the French Army's Parachute School near Pau to study their free-fall techniques; and now the benefit of this experience is being passed on. It was Fit Lt Hearn, too, who showed Flight round No 1 PTS and provided an authoritative and courteous commentary. His frank and modest personality showed the calibre of instructors at the school, and their high sense of responsibility. He stressed that instructing "involves teaching men who are under considerable mental strain." Personality was important in building up con- fidence between instructor and pupils, and getting things across. Once the fundamentals have been taught and live jumps are to be made, the weather must be watched carefully and the instructors have to decide whether conditions are suitable. At No 1 PTS the trainees, have something more than instruction transmitted to them. They receive inspiration and enthusiasm from their in- structors for what still is, despite the advances in techniques and safety since Cocking's day, a dangerous occupation. The Army still has to fight its battles on the ground; but as far as training parachutists goes, it is in good hands at Abingdon.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
