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PLADS anyone?


Spectre623
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Anybody out there remember the PLADS system (Parachute Low Altitude Delivery System) for C-130's? Anybody fly any missions using it or was involved in testing it? Oh yea and the scuttlebutt about using it to get troops out the back end in a capsule and they used live bears for the tests. Bill

Edited by Spectre623
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I was on some plads drops in RVN in 1966. These were at special forces camps. We never dropped more than two containers on one mission. The extraction chute was reefed and deployed about 1 minute out, if I remember correctly. The retaining strap was cut by a squib. Also we carried a large knife and cut on the drop command in case the electrical squib did not work properly.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did lots of PLADS at Dyess and some in SEA. Anybody else drop Live Cows in RVN using CDS? Basically a reverse "L" made of plywood with a cow strapped to the upright board. Had a chute on the front side of the board which acted as a steering chute to get the cow into a clearing. Used to supply Special Forces units with fresh meat.

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O.K., wait a minute

Is this something like sending the 1 striper down to parts for a bucket of prop wash?????

If you mean the cattle drops. Nope, Operation Mule Train was quite real and supported by C-130's and C-123's. Livestock drops were in support of LRRPS, Special Forces and remote villiages.

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  • 11 months later...
Course I'm an early 1970's maintainer, but I only remember the LAPES system. Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System.
AS a Maintenance Officer in 67,68 at Naha I remember the LAPES drops used to watch them make practice drops in the grass next to the runway at Naha.
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Did lots of PLADS at Dyess and some in SEA. Anybody else drop Live Cows in RVN using CDS? Basically a reverse "L" made of plywood with a cow strapped to the upright board. Had a chute on the front side of the board which acted as a steering chute to get the cow into a clearing. Used to supply Special Forces units with fresh meat.

Dropped live cows from C-123s to Special Forces A-Teams WITHOUT parachutes from about 50 feet. No refrigeration, so no storage needed. Really tenderized them. After a journalist reported this in the states, the PC police stepped in and made us use crates and parachutes. Which got them safely to the ground whereupon they were promptly dispatched with a handy .45. Was easier on us loadmasters because they were a real bitch to tip off the end of the ramp, blindfold not withstanding.

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  • 1 month later...

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