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I got to jump out of a UH60 Blackhawk for the first time.

Started by USArmyParatrooper,

38 posts in this topic

Brian48

Brian48

Posted
Posted
Hello all,

 

So finally today I got to jump out of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for the first time, and find out why those who've gotten to jump them rave so much about them.

 

Most of our jumps are from C-130's and C-17's (fixed wing), and to be honest there's not a lot of fun factor there. You go through about 6-8 hours of pre-jump headaches, when you're jumping full combat load wearing your chute and all your gear is literally painful, it's cramped and you're stepping all over each other trying to prepare to exit the aircraft. All of this for about 30 seconds (guessing here) of free fall and a very hard landing.

 

Jumping the Blackhawks about 75% of the BS goes away. We lined up with 22 different chocks, and three birds making very rapid back and forth runs. Without going into the boring details, you essentially mount the bird, sit on the edge with your feet hanging off and when the jumpmaster says "Go!" just push off and away you go. The jump elevation was (I heard 1000 and someone else said 1250) above ground level. Normal fixed wing training exercises are from 800 feet. Lots and lots of time to enjoy the view.

 

Some guys have been known to take photos while they're in mid air. I can neither confirm nor deny whether I've ever done it, but if the wrong person catches you you can get in a lot of trouble. It's a safety violation.

 

 

Man, that looks like fun. If I was only 20 years younger and back in the Corps.

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ashsaytr

ashsaytr

Posted
Posted
Oh, did you ever play the "find me the DZ keys" prank on newbies?

 

Find me the keys to area J.

 

Go get the backblast bag for the AT-4.

 

Go tell Staff Sergeant Smith you need some E6 nuts.

 

Go to supply and get me some chemlight batteries and a box of grid squares.

 

Go to S1 and tell them you need to fill out an "i d 10 t" form.

 

I have an endless supply of them.

 

tell the PSG your looking for a E-7

 

 

 

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JonesieD13

JonesieD13

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Exciting. Shouldn't there be another zero on those heights? Is this static line jumping?

 

No, those numbers are accurate. The idea is you get your boots on the ground as quickly as possible so you're not a floating duck. If it were a real combat jump it would be from a significantly lower altitude, and your reserve parachute would be mere decoration.

 

Crazy, I never would have guessed you'd deploy the chute from that low on a static jump, I assumed only HALO jumps opened that low. Very cool experience, thanks for posting about it. :thumbsup:

 

 

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Barbarian

Barbarian

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I have a few hundred jumps out of an MI 8 (civilian) Helicopter, all from 15.000 feet but I must say that I would probably mess myself if I had to jump a round chute from 1000 or minus feet + equipment!

 

Any of you guys have any knees left? :o

 

Congrats on the new experience

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USArmyParatrooper

USArmyParatrooper

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I have a few hundred jumps out of an MI 8 (civilian) Helicopter, all from 15.000 feet but I must say that I would probably mess myself if I had to jump a round chute from 1000 or minus feet + equipment!

 

Any of you guys have any knees left? :o

 

Congrats on the new experience

 

A lot of guys' knees go bad after a while, but so far mine have held up pretty well. I've heard an actual combat jump would be from about 300 feet. That's probably just enough time to exit the aircraft, lower your equipment, pull a slip and land.

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