"Ron" wrote in message
...
"Les Matheson" wrote:

Interesting stuff, Les. I recall someone bouncing a Herk doing
a LAPES drop near Ft. Bragg some years ago - I think during a CAPEX.
It made the evening news, and perhaps there was a shift away from it
after that.

Early to mid 80s, and I think the vehicle it was dropping got stuck in the
back. I remember seeing footage of it..Was it possibly at an airshow
too??

No, it was during a CAPEX; the USAF used to do a LAPES demonstration every
summer during the Advanced ROTC Camp held at Bragg as part of the
joint/combined arms CAPEX (included CAS from A-10's using Mk 82's and 30mm,
attack helos firing about everything they could lug, heavy and troop
paradrops, 155mm and 105mm arty (with the latter brought in as slung loads
under UH-60's), tank and IFV engagement of targets downrange, mortar and
Dragon (now Javelin, I guess) engagements, and a light infantry LFX
culminating in sappers breaching an obstacle and demo'ing a bunker. I don't
recall anything about the load getting stuck--it was apparently and
unfortunately a case of pilot/crew error due to misreading their descent and
flare altitude. If you watch the video of the crash you can see they
pancaked in quite hard (flexure of the aircraft structure allows you to see
daylight through the upper fuselage as it strikes), bounced back up as if it
was going to make it back up, and then comes back down and fireballs.

Brooks



Ron
Tanker 65, C-54E (DC-4)