Re: HAHO

[Shawn Mulock <salamndr@xxxxxxxx>]

Arclight wrote:

> Ok, I've got a question. It's not really about HAHO I guess, because the
> altitude the person would jump out of the plane is about 30km ;)  I know
> that there are parachutes developed for these heights, so I mainly want to
> know what the temperatures would do to a person in normal business
> clothing. And how big such a chute is.
>
> Arclight

Jumping from HAHO Deployment Altitude (HAHO-DA:
~7,600m-10,000m/25,000'-32,000' Temperatures run from -35C to -65C) would
require several pieces of specialized kit, first off you would need a thermal
jump-suit, load harness, boots, jump harness,  jump helmet (High Altitude)
with regulator suite, standard ram air chutes 4:1 Ratio Main for directional
control and good glide path and a secondary, at least one 30 minute bottle and
BOB. Without at least this kit, you are a dead man. If you choose to wear a
business suit under all that, be my guest.

A good HAHO team can depart an aircraft at ~10,000m and make it as far as
60,000m horizontally (wind permitting). Once out of the aircraft the best
method involves all parachutists forming up in a tight formation at an ARP
(Air-borne Rally Point) and flying in formation. Sounds easy? This is usually
done at night. No good being used for target practice by the local ADA (Air
Defence Artillery).

Of course the difficulties of navigation actually increase as you approach the
DZ, hope for a low wind speed as you "fly" towards the DZ, or else your
Approach (Wind) Cone will narrow significantly, increasing the already risky
difficulty of effectively navigating to your DZ. I recommend that you work
closely with the flight crew when doing this kind of business.

And last but not least, do not drop your pack until you are 3-4m off the
ground, or it could drag, catch and pivot you into the ground at a frightening
speed. The last thing you want is a broken/sprained anything 40,000m behind
enemy lines! (The Spetznaz are said to kill and hide the bodies of their men
when they are wounded thusly, nasty bunch they are...)

There are several nations that practice HAHO insertion and each has mostly
minor differences in how they conduct this business.

Having said that, I would rather fly with Irvin!

S.