I’ve been checking with alt.binaries.pictures.military lately, and some of the pictures there made me wonder:
Is the USAF still using those obsolete old-style circular parachutes?
Don’t they want to switch to modern paragliders (for the sake of maneuverability and stuff)?
I visited West Point last month, and saw a bunch of cadets doing training jumps from a helicopter. They were definitely using the modern parachutes.
Their drop zone was a courtyard in between a bunch of buildings, and the old circular parachutes wouldn’t have given them the control to hit that small a patch of land.
But the Army at West Point and the Air Force have different goals in parachuting. The Army is trying to hit a small patch of land. The Air Force is only interested in hitting the ground at a speed slower than fatal velocity.
Since I don’t imagine that pilots regularly practice parachute jumps, and since they might be more than slightly out of it when they do jump (or eject), they might opt for the simpler old canopy style chutes. Less chance of screw-up leads to greater chance of surival.