UPDATED 12 September 2009
Operation: Dark Claw
The Paratrooper here, LT Sparks lowers the folded ATB in its airdrop bag at about 200 feet to prepare to land, where it dangles on the hook, pile tape (HPT LL: which is military jargon for velcro) lowering line. The 15 foot HPT LL is standard G.I. gear that attaches to equipment "D" rings on the steerable MC1-1B parachute shown above and the T-10 series of non-steerable parachutes. The lowering line is a WWII British Airborne invention allowing combat equipment/rucksacks to be jumped along with the individual Paratrooper instead of separately as the German Fallschirmjaegers learned at the Battle of Crete in 1941. Team Leader LT Sparks uses steering line toggles to turn his canopy into the wind prior to landing using the built-in 8 mph forward drive the TU slots at the rear create. The 3D virtual C-212 picture depicts how the aircraft looked from the point of view of the 1st TSG (A) Paratroopers if they looked back after exiting.
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