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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1452.PDF
HAD 1 BIT 1FIXGS . . . FLIGHT, 26 1960 reserve and administrator. Unfortunately, we had no practisingwomen parachutists of the necessary standard. As usual the team had been organized on a private-enterprisebasis, and the members had provided their own equipment and most of their fare money. This contrasts rather oddly with theState-subsidized contingents from most other nations. The following fifteen countries were represented : Rumania, Hungary,USA, Austria, USSR, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Britain, Switzerland, Germany, andChina. The tournament consisted of the following three events, in allof which the competitors were required to jump from 6,600ft (2,000m) and delay opening their parachutes for between 23 and30 sec:— (1) Individual precision landings. The target is a cross 9m in radius, enclosed in a circle of 100m radius. Two hundred points are scored for landing on the centre of the cross and this figure is progressively reduced for every centimetre and metre away from the centre. Four jumps are made, and the best three scores are recordod. (2) Team precision landing jumps. All four team-members jump in a rapid "stick," aiming for the same target as in event No 1 and their average landing distance is recorded. Four jumps are made, and the worst collective effort is discarded. (3) Style jump with aerobatic figures ("Sky Diving"). Two jumps only are made in this event, and each competitor must perform five turns of 360° (whilst maintaining a prone horizontal position) followed by a loop. The sequence in which these turns are made is dictated by a signal panel which is switched on as soon as the jumper leaves the aircraft, and is extinguished five seconds later. Bonus points can be scored for completing the sequence in less than 20sec and penalty points are deducted if this time is exceeded. For the first time, the team championship was being determinedsolely on the result of the team ("stick") jumps. Individual champions would emerge from the other two events, and, inaddition, there would be an overall individual champion based on the highest combined score in Events 3 and 1.The two practice jumps, which were made by all entrants before the opening of the contests, gave some indication of the improvedstandard attained by all teams since the last championships in 1958. Landings were made regularly within less than 3m andanyone who landed outside the 9m circle of sand enclosing the cross was considered to have made a mediocre jump. New Canopy Designs Several revolutionary designs of steerable parachute were onshow, and it was significant that most teams used a low-porosity fabric which provided an extremely slow rate of descent, andcould be steered across the sky at twice the speed of our British equipment. Almost every country favoured some version of the"blank gore" parachute canopy, but few older British jumpers would credit the astounding manoeuvrability ox these foreignimprovements on what was, originally, a British invention. The "blank gore" canopy has one complete segment (a gore)removed, and through this hole the uprush of air, caused by the descending body, is deflected as a "jet" that propels one acrossthe ground. This gore is usually positioned behind the jumper, and, by pulling oil one or other of two control lines, he can rotatethe canopy so that he faces in any desired direction. The con- ventional British "B.G." has a forward speed of approximately4% m.p.h. in still air, but Tony Charlton, Denis Lee and the writer had modified canopies with two separate blank gores, whichprovided a speed of 7i m.p.h. When one considers that com- petitions take place in winds of up to 18 m.p.h., this is obviouslyinadequate, and accuracy will often be dependent upon jumping far enough up-wind to ensure that one drifts correctly to thetarget—the slightest arithmetical miscalculation, in these con- ditions, can mean failure. Most other countries have such a low porosity-rate in theirparachute material that the air which is prevented from escaping through the weave is deflected through the open gore in a farstronger "jet," and speeds of 11-12 m.p.h. are achieved. In addition, the slower rate of desecent permits more time formanoeuvring. The most impressive designs are the Bulgarian "triple gore," which has two further small panels cut awayon either side of the main gore; the Russian double "angled" gore; and the French triangular gore, set in a dome-shaped canopy. Ofthe high-porosity canopies, the American "Conquistador" (or TU) parachute is the fastest and most steerable, but the greaternumber of cut-out panels give it an extremely fast rate of descent (22ft/sec). Following the official opening ceremony a very impressive airdisplay was presented by the Central Aero Club. The wind was far too strong to permit the start of the actual championships, inwhich the maximum permissible speeds are 6m/sec for women and 8m/sec for men; but the Bulgarians dropped 150 parachutistsusing static-line-operated square parachutes. Landings were made Pierre Arrussus, France, roars in with the triangular-gore canopy developed by the French team (Right) The writer of this article using the British horn 3 - made double-gore parachute at express-train speed, and six of these intrepid aviators wereinjured—one seriously. The "drifters" for this mass descent were six gallant young men who left the cockpits of light aircraft inthe middle of slow rolls or bunts! Weather would clearly be the predominant factor in this tourna-ment. The nearby Balkan mountains seem to produce violent winds, and almost every second day witnesses strong gustyconditions. In these circumstances accurate landings are often unpredictable, but are nonetheless a fair indication of skill. In order to entertain the large crowd which gathered onMonday, August 8, the organizers started the programme with Event No 2 (team jumps). It is a most impressive sight to seefour white-clad figures streaking earthwards before opening their 'chutes, and then juggling for position above the target. TheRumanians drew first position and were unfortunate enough to miss the circle and land in the crowd, due to running-in on thewrong alignment. Most teams were jumping in very close forma- tion, and their accuracy was helped by sending one man down ina spiral and letting the remaining three study the effect of the wind upon his descent. The British jumpers, regrettably, varied greatly in their accuracyand scores ranged from 5m to 96m, with the result that our three best averages became 30m, 49m and 60m. The young Canadianteam, using mainly the American TU shaped-gore, performed extremely well and achieved averages of 13m, 15m and 16m.These scores contrasted with 4m by the Russians, 5m by the Czechs, and 41m by the Bulgarians. The American team were below their usual form, and seemedto be having trouble with last-second turns above the target. Their parachute rotates so rapidly that the jumper is swung outwards bythe centrifugal force, and any last-minute manoeuvre which is performed too violently can lose valuable metres if the para-chutist happens to land at the wrong end of the swing. Many teams experienced this difficulty, and the most stable turns seemedto be produced by the Bulgarians, whose canopies rotated flatly above the desired spot. Surprisingly, the Hungarians were using a plain canopy (withno blank gores), but this had a large skirting fringe around the bottom edge and a larger-than-usual apex hole to perrrit air toescape and so prevent oscillation. They were amazingly accurate with this equipment and achieved averages of 24m, 8m and 8-2-m. The final results of Event No 2 were as follows (points out ofa possible 600): — (1) USSR, 542; (2) Czechoslovakia, 539; (3) Bulgaria, 535; (4) USA,523; (5) France, 516; (6) Hungary, 464; (7) Canada, 447; (8) Rumania, 446; (9) Poland, 432; (10) Great Britain, 207; (11) Austria, 16. The remaining nations were competing only in the individual events. If any explanation is sought for Britain's low placing, the answeris simply lack of practice, the need of a good steerable parachute, and, frankly, shortage of experience. We had the best team we hadever fielded and performed better than in previous years; but all the other countries have improved since the last championships,and most of their jumpers had made an average of 130 descents this year in preparation for the tournament. In contrast theBritish team had an average of 30 jumps since January, and none of these had been made as a team. However, we were improving with every jump, and could lookforward with greater confidence to the results of Events 3 and 1. * * * By the evening of Saturday, August 13, the championships bad produced the most dramatic ending to a parachuting tournament that any of the competitors could recall. The ingredients ot excitement, suspense and prayerful anticipation had been sv.cn
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