DOUGHNUT

You seem to have had a direct personal connection with the winch. Do you recall the structure holding the rewind limit switch? Was it a coil spring/wobble plate arrangement, or a rigid sleeve with the switch on the side? what model Herc were you operating on and during what years?

Early in 1966, the Lockheed Tech. Rep. embedded withour squadron operating A Models, advised that a problem had arrisen in the operation of the static line retriever winch, and the company was keen to hear of any potential solutions. The reported problem involved a paratrooper remaining attached to the end of his static line, and the retriever winch being unable to draw the static lines, with dangling body, back into the aircraft. Aparantly, the aditional load (weight plus aerodynamic) caused the retriever winch line to whip abnormally and trigger the Rewind Limit Switch on the carriage of the winch, releasing the Rewind Relay. Repeated toggling of the Rewind Selector switch merely repeated the sequence until the excessive load was released. It was never explained whether this was achieved by slashing the static line and droping the paratrooper (?) or landing with him still attached (!!). Can anyone clarify this story, and more importantly, the solution introduced? I am aware of the recent thread on this site reference electrical problems, and another 'Towed Paratrooper' one on .armyparatrooper.org going back to 2007, but this much earlier incident was not mentioned, and no remedies were mentioned.