Parachute evaluation trials

The commanding officer of the Richmond Air Movements Training and Development Unit, Flight Lieutenant Don K. Stott and his men have been carrying out extensive tests with conventional square or unicross shaped parachutes fitted with clear plastic panels. The tests are for a 32 foot diameter canopy for a 500 lb load. The load for test purposes was a 44 gal. drum filled with water until it weighed exactly 500 lbs. The task of slowing the 500 lb plummeting drum, ejected from a No. 36 Squadron C130 Hercules, to a gentle descent of 25 feet per sec on reaching the ground, seems a tall order for five flimsy panels of plastic sheeting. However, tests have proved satisfactory for a light cargo plastic parachute.