Three Humvees Totaled During Airdrop

[tomahawk6]

Looks like a rigging failure. :camo:

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/watch-these-army-humvees-violently-crash-into-the-groun-1772040340

 

[Loachman]

Priceless. Nothing like that ever happened during my time in Hohenfels.

And that led me to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa2dDXZwkro.

Some dark, dark humour there.

 

[cupper]

A little rubbing compound and that will buff right out. Good as new. [

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Unless they can show faulty equipment, splat is the sound of someone' career hitting the wall. One failure would be realistic, but 3 in a row? Someone takes their failure seriously.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

I guess this is the reason why, contrary to Hollywood stunts, they don't para-drop Humvee's with people already in them. [:-[

 

[jollyjacktar]

IIRC, the Soviets tried that with tanks back in the 50's.  Didn't go well for the crews inside.

 

[tomahawk6]

Isnt it Canadian practice to drop the troops first,then the equipment ? This would be one reason not to follow that protocol.

 

[Loachman]

I thought that it was the other way around.

I would not want to be underneath improperly-rigged vehicles, or even ones with parachutes that do work properly, and cushioning their landing...

 

[brihard]

That was glorious.

 

[Old Sweat]

Isnt it Canadian practice to drop the troops first,then the equipment ? This would be one reason not to follow that protocol.

In the airborne battery the heavy loads went first, followed by the jumpers.

 

[OldTanker]

I remember dropping some of our Lynx one year in Pet (or maybe it was a LAPES, foggy memory). One of our Lynx had a particularly hard landing regardless and spent most of the following year being repaired. I was never quite convinced of the "airborne armoured recce" concept, although jumping was good for the soldiers' morale and a good challenge. Maybe not so good for the Lynx . . .  [

 

[Staff Weenie]

Is it wrong for me to laugh my a$$ off thinking about WKRP's Turkey Drop episode?

 

[cupper]

Is it wrong for me to laugh my a$$ off thinking about WKRP's Turkey Drop episode?

:rofl:

 

[Colin Parkinson]

IIRC, the Soviets tried that with tanks back in the 50's.  Didn't go well for the crews inside.

I believe they still do

 

[brihard]

"As God is my witness, I thought humvees could fly!"

 

[medicineman]

Is it wrong for me to laugh my a$$ off thinking about WKRP's Turkey Drop episode?

My favorite episode ever...

On another note, I recall an old dude at the Airborne Museum when it was in Edmonton telling my dad and I about how the Soviets tried a novel way of getting their airborne forces on the ground against the Germans when the war began for them.  As they were a tad shy on parachute silk, they decided to try this - fly the planes in low, look for a snowdrift, line the boys up on the wings, and dump them into the snow from about 100ft AGL or so...apparently the casualty rate was >90%, so they had to try something different.

MM

 

[Loachman]

I have heard that story as well, and have seen drawings of windscreens on the wings of ancient bombers that had hand-holds immediately behind them for the convenience and comfort of troops who would grip them securely from taxi to drop. Supposedly, there was a marksman on each side of the fuselage to reduce the casualty rate - casualties from the drop might have been 90%, but casualties from not letting go were 100%.

Alas, I can find no confirmation of this tale, just mention of a "legend", and that is likely all that it was. The Soviets were airborne pioneers and considered paratroops to be elite and less disposable than regular conscripts.

The shortage, apparently, was not of parachutes, but of suitable transport aircraft during WWII, as priority went to the production of fighters and bombers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzMb_ue4aG4

http://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/114081827573/the-soviet-airborne-disembarking-the-tupolev

 

[George Wallace]

On another note, I recall an old dude at the Airborne Museum when it was in Edmonton telling my dad and I about how the Soviets tried a novel way of getting their airborne forces on the ground against the Germans when the war began for them.  As they were a tad shy on parachute silk, they decided to try this - fly the planes in low, look for a snowdrift, line the boys up on the wings, and dump them into the snow from about 100ft AGL or so...apparently the casualty rate was >90%, so they had to try something different.

MM

I have actually seen photos of them doing this. 

 

[George Wallace]

Army launches investigation into airborne Humvee mishap: Video

Link includes these photos of Humvee wreckage:

 

[Privateer]

Are the vehicles fueled up when they are dropped?